The House of Delegates has approved, 60-40, the transportation bill hammered out in conference committee.
The yeas and nays broke down like this (click on the image to enlarge it):
House vote on transportation bill. twitter.com/chelyendavis/s… [1]
— Chelyen Davis (@chelyendavis) February 22, 2013 [2]
What made the difference? It was, very likely, a deal reached to expand Medicaid coverage [3]under Obamacare. This gave just enough Democrats cover to vote for the transportation bill, which is now before the Senate.
Those with long enough memories will recall that during Tim Kaine’s term as Governor, Republicans fought him at every turn when he tried to raise taxes for transportation — even thwarting him during a special session called specifically to deal with road funding.
Congratulations, then, to Sen. Kaine. Your legacy moment comes a bit late, but the GOP finally gave you what you sought for so long.