Kaine: Time to fund Va. roads is now

RICHMOND -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine told lawmakers Monday that Virginians expect them to act now to approve new funding for transportation.

In an address to a joint General Assembly session, Kaine told the House and Senate "there is no reason we should not act right now'' to fund highway maintenance and construction.

Kaine proposed his own package of about $1.1 billion to pay for upkeep and repair statewide and for new projects in northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

The second special legislative session in two years to consider transportation funding reforms opened with little faith among legislators that any meaningful agreement was possible.

Kaine, allied with some of the state's most muscular pro-business lobbies and organizations that represent county and city governments, continued to demand comprehensive statewide revenue for upkeep and repairs to the state's aging 58,000 miles of highways and its 13,000 bridges.

Just as determined, Republicans found support from outspoken allies in anti-tax organizations.

In prepared remarks aimed chiefly at House Republicans, the Democratic governor said he'd consider their ideas as long as they fund urban and rural transportation alike.

"None of us should tolerate inaction,'' Kaine said. "Evasion of responsibility should not be a character trait of this body.''

Kaine's bill would increase the sales tax for cars from 3 percent to 4 percent, still beneath the 5 percent tax paid on other retail purchases. It would boost the tax homeowners pay when they sell their houses, and it would increase the annual vehicle registration fee by $10. It includes a 1 percent sales tax increase to fund new road projects in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, the state's most heavily populated and traffic-choked regions.

Since outlining his proposals six weeks ago, Kaine has hawked it in 20 town hall-style meetings across the state. While supporters turned out for the meetings, so did opponents, often from anti-tax groups.

Kaine told legislators Monday that despite a poor economy, "I've heard again and again from Virginians that they understand how desperately we need to invest in our transportation network.''

"Virginians, I am happy to say, are responsible people. They don't demand a free lunch. Our constituents are open to a moderate and reasonable plan to raise the revenues we need,'' he said.

Republican Del. M. Kirkland Cox countered with an attack on Kaine and the Democrats who rule the state Senate, calling their support for a gasoline tax increase out of touch with people struggling with sharp run-ups in the costs of fuel and groceries.

"He's raising the taxes on cars -- the most basic commodity you can get -- taxes on homes, the taxes on your registration fee, and across the way, they want to raise your gas tax,'' Cox, R-Colonial Heights, said in a floor speech.

"Maybe he should knock on some real people's doors,'' Cox said. "Maybe he'd get a sense of how much they're hurting.''

Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel said that business sectors already reeling in a bad economy will suffer even more under Kaine's proposals to increase the taxes on automobile and home sales.

"You know it when you pass by a home in your neighborhood with a 'For Sale' sign on the front lawn that's been there for months. You know it when (you) drive by your local car dealership and see a parking lot full of shiny new vehicles with very few people looking to buy,'' said Vogel, R-Fauquier.

In convening the session, Kaine stakes the legacy of his single, nonrenewable term on highway funding. In 2006, legislators battled over highway funding in the longest regular session in Virginia history, then returned for a futile special session in September.

This year's special session arose from the collapse of a patchwork highway funding law enacted just a year ago.

The state Supreme Court ruled in February that a menu of fees and taxes levied for road projects in Hampton Roads and northern Virginia were unconstitutionally collected by unelected commissions.

Punitive surcharges in the thousands of dollars for reckless and drunken driving and other egregious traffic offenses were swiftly repealed this year after outraged Virginians discovered nonresidents were exempt. The fees, intended to fund highway maintenance, also fell dismally short of their projections.

On the Capitol grounds, about 75 anti-tax activists attended a rally sponsored by Americans for Prosperity in the shadow of the inflated 12-foot likeness of an automated teller machine.

Inside, the Capitol corridors were crowded with lobbyists and local government and business representatives who have been pushing Kaine's plan. Some of them stood with Kaine at a news conference where he touted the support of the Virginia Business Council, a statewide coalition of 41 businesses.