Lawmakers urge governor to speak out on transportation funds

Reps. Gerald E. "Gerry" Connolly, D-11th; Jim Moran, D-8th; and Bobby Scott, D-3rd, are asking Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell to speak up for transportation funding in Virginia.

Legislation pending before the U.S. House of Representatives would cut $361 million in existing transportation money coming to Virginia from the federal government.

In a letter sent to the governor Wednesday, the representatives asked McDonnell "to weigh in with your Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives and urge them to reconsider this ill-advised approach to funding the critical transportation needs of the commonwealth."

The transportation bill, which includes House Resolution 3408, H.R. 3813 and H.R. 7, is scheduled to come before the House of Representatives this week.

The Virginia Railway Express, Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission, Metro and other transit operations across the state would see cuts because of provisions in the resolutions, according to a news release from Connolly’s office.

Virginia stands to get $5.3 billion over the next five years if transportation funding bills are not changed, but under the current proposals, the state would get only $4.9 billion.

"This legislation would cut 7 percent of all federal transportation money coming to Virginia over the next 5 years," Connolly said in the release. "Frankly, given the General Assembly’s unwillingness to fund any kind of serious transportation proposal, these cuts would be absolutely devastating and would threaten our continued economic competitiveness."

According to a summary in Congressional Quarterly, the measure eliminates dedicated trust fund financing for mass transit and provides that the 2.86 cents-per-gallon portion of the federal gas tax that now goes to transit be used instead for highway funding.

Al Harf, the executive director of PRTC, said eliminating dedicated funding would hurt mass transit in a couple of ways.

Barring dedicated funding, money for mass transit would have to come from the General Fund, which helps pay for everything from health and human services, to education, to all other programs not funded through dedicated sources.

"The revenue that 2.86 cents per gallon generates constitutes about half of all the transit funding that is currently being provided nationally," Harf said.

So mass transit organizations would have to fight against all comers for money from the general fund each year, and there’s no guarantee that the money would be forthcoming, Harf said.

"Instead of residing in a general pot of money called the Highway Trust Fund, public transportation would end up residing in this larger pot called the General Fund that everyone is eager to diminish," Harf said. "Every year, public transportation would be at the mercy of the Congress in seeking General Fund appropriations."

Another way mass transit organizations would suffer would be in their ability to borrow money.

Without guaranteed dedicated sources of income, banks would not be willing to loan money at attractive interest rates, Harf said.

Uncertainty tends to hike up interest rates, Harf said.

"The cost for borrowing would be significantly increased," he said.

Harf said he couldn’t begin to guess how riders would be affected by higher interest rates.

"It would create any number of pressures, be it in the form of higher fares, be it in the form of having to curtail service, be it in the form of having to ask state and local government for more. It’s difficult to say with any certainty what the consequences would be," he said.

McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said the congressmen should be looking to the Oval Office instead of the governor’s office.

"First, it’s been over 48 hours since the president proposed cutting federal funding for Metro, and yet, we have not heard a word out of the congressmen," Martin said. "The Obama administration is proposing reducing funding to Metro, which will have an impact on every commuter in Northern Virginia. We would hope that the congressmen would be able to find the time to stand up for their constituents and demand that the administration return that funding to the system."

Connolly’s office disputes Martin’s claim saying Connolly was "on record almost immediately after the budget was realized yesterday noting his disagreement with Obama’s decision on that specific issue," said James Walkinshaw, Connolly’s chief of staff.

A quote from Connolly in the Washington Examiner backs up Walkinshaw’s claim.

Martin said the federal government needs to spend less.

"We all know that Washington must cut spending and refocus the government on its core functions. It’s what we did in Virginia, and that’s how we were able to make the biggest investment in transportation in a generation, while not raising taxes," he said.

Martin also said the U.S. Senate has a bill pending that is different from the House bill with hundreds of amendments pending

"We encourage Virginia’s delegation to focus on the bills currently under consideration and to protect Virginia’s interests. In particular, since Virginia is a donor state, in that it pays more federal transportation taxes than it receives, the congressmen should specifically work to address this inequity," he said.

According to Congressional Quarterly, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the $260 billion bill that includes provisions for bridge safety, hazardous material transportation and offshore drilling and includes a 25 percent cut to Amtrak’s $100 million operating budget, would save $18 billion over five years and $48 billion over 10 years.