Washington, D.C. (Map, News) - About six months ago, the Minnesota bridge collapse gave the nation a tragic illustration of what happens when you don't pay enough attention to deteriorating roads and bridges.

In 2005, Gov. Tim Kaine seemed to understand the importance of improving Virginia's infrastructure, saying, "Solving Virginia's transportation crisis is the most urgent issue facing my administration."

Yet today, Gov. Kaine is raiding $180 million from the transportation trust fund to pay for new preschool and mental health programs. The plan is fiscally unsound and would harm the state's transportation interests over both the short- and long-terms.

Virginia's governors have a long history of raiding the transportation trust as a trick to balance the budget. Unfortunately, while politicians move money around to claim they've balanced the budget, commuters end up spending more time stuck in traffic and the state's roads and bridges deteriorate.

In 1991, Gov. Doug Wilder shifted $200 million from the transportation trust fund to balance the budget. As he was leaving office in late 2002, outgoing Gov. Jim Gilmore proposed using $317 million in transportation trust fund revenue to help balance the budget. Gov. Mark Warner actually took that $317 million and also diverted another $143 million in general funds that were supposed to be used on specific transportation projects in the Virginia Transportation Act of 2000.

Now Gov. Kaine proposes diverting $180 million "temporarily" from highway construction programs to increase spending on unrelated programs such as a health care, preschool education, and mental health.

Kaine says that the highway money, appropriated for transportation last year, could not actually be spent this year and claims the funds will be replaced when the construction projects are slated to begin. The last time transportation funds were "borrowed" in this manner it took eight years to pay the money back.

While Kaine says the state has more than enough transportation money, 21 Senate Democrats just called for a tax increase and more fees to pay for transportation projects that they say the state doesn't have the money for.

Like most things, the truth is in the middle. The Democrats are right – the state has massive transportation needs. But a tax increase is the last thing the state needs. Virginia must stop pilfering transportation money for non-transportation uses and continue to be a leader in utilizing public private partnerships, taking advantage of the willingness of private sector firms and investment houses to finance major transportation projects. While these partnerships can not be used for all projects, the money Gov. Kaine is taking could very well be the money needed to close a deal on the proposals that are now before the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).

A Reason Foundation study recently showed 22 percent of Virginia's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Other studies show Virginia needs to add nearly 1,000 lane miles of new roads and highways to keep up with the population growth and traffic congestion expected over the next 20 years or so.

The VDOT budget is big, $4 billion in 2007, and makes up one of the largest portions of the state's budget, so maybe chopping off $180 million looks like it shouldn't hurt. But anyone driving on the state's roads knows otherwise. There is maintenance to be done, potholes to be filled, and capacity that urgently needs to be added.

Perhaps it is easy to re-route transportation money because of its dispersed constituency. People living in different parts of the state, each taking their own route to work, aren't a mobilized force in politics. But state leaders must have the vision to ensure that Virginia has the transportation infrastructure in place to keep the economy moving, and its citizens safe.

When that bridge collapsed in Minnesota, 13 percent of that state's bridges were considered obsolete or deficient. Here in Virginia that figure is 22 percent. Transportation money should not be diverted to pet projects until that number is zero and no taxpayers are stuck in wasteful traffic jams that keep them from their families and friends. And tax increases should be off the table until the state is spending all of its transportation money – on transportation - and it has exhausted the billions and billions of dollars in private capital clearly willing to build roads in Virginia.

Shirley Ybarra, Virginia's Secretary of Transportation from 1998 to 2002, is senior transportation policy analyst at Reason Foundation.

Comments from Examiner Readers

3:08 PM MST on Tue., Mar. 25, 2008 re: "Is the welcome mat really welcome?"

Examiner Reader said:
Hey to all reactionary idiots: how about you move NORTH of the mexican border? You know, the one that runs through 2 california, along n mexico and arizona, and down throu east texas? and lets not forget the hispanic carribean nation on florida. how is it puerto rico is "u.s." but other central americans are "illegals"?

Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

4:53 PM MST on Fri., Feb. 8, 2008 re: "Quin-essential Cases: Immunity Request Is No Phone-y Plea"

dan of steele said:
So in simple terms, the republican stance is that telecoms are to be allowed to break the law without consequence and that the government should be allowed to continue to spy on us without a warrant. all the crap about terrorists is just smoke....right?

42 agree | 52 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

5:51 AM MST on Mon., Jan. 28, 2008 re: "Under Real ID, privacy will be nonexistent"

lorin mccann said:
Wonder what happends when the computer goes down???

52 agree | 46 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

7:13 PM MST on Sun., Jan. 27, 2008 re: "Under Real ID, privacy will be nonexistent"

Examiner Reader said:
Anyone who understands how government operates can foresee how REAL ID will be used against law-abiding citizens instead of terrorists. Recall that the Social Security Number was never intended to be used as an all-purpose identifier. The Federal income tax was originally going to apply only to the super-rich, and take less than 10 percent. Give government an inch and they take a mile. Ms. Scarborough has it exactly right. The government scares people and claims it needs this new infringement on privacy to fight the trrists, but eventually the REAL ID will be used to, as she says, "ground" adults over child support or library fines. That sounds like Orwellian hell to me. Did we really fight a World War against the Nazis, and a Cold War against the Soviets, only to adopt the kind of police-state people control mechanism that made us hate and fear totalitarian societies? Frankly, that scares me a lot more than the slim possibility of terrorism.

65 agree | 45 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

2:14 AM MST on Sat., Jan. 26, 2008 re: "Under Real ID, privacy will be nonexistent"

Examiner Reader said:
I totally agree with this article. History keeps repeating itself. Having to show papers or be tracked is against everything America stands for - individual rights and liberties.

58 agree | 43 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

3:44 PM MST on Thu., Jan. 24, 2008 re: "Under Real ID, privacy will be nonexistent"

Examiner Reader said:
With IHS (Intelligent Highway System) your current RFID drivers license and RFID inspection stickers are read as you drive down the highways. Watch for two hexagons cut into each line like at stop lights and a metal box usually on a pole at the side of the road. They have fiber, telephone and radio relay of data.

68 agree | 51 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

12:49 PM MST on Thu., Jan. 24, 2008 re: "Under Real ID, privacy will be nonexistent"

Examiner Reader said:
I totally agree with this article...I'm glad to see this info. being disseminated in mainstream venues. As for "tired's" rant, this law should be examined in a historical context and to minimize the similarities that exist between the beginnings of Nazi Germany and what is going on now is naive at best, fascist propaganda at worst.

57 agree | 51 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

3:22 PM MST on Tue., Jan. 22, 2008 re: "Under Real ID, privacy will be nonexistent"

USN said:
Welcome to Amerika?? That's about as far as I got with your article. It�s childish and it�s usually leftists who do this.

62 agree | 62 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

2:17 PM MST on Tue., Jan. 22, 2008 re: "Under Real ID, privacy will be nonexistent"

TERRY AGHEE said:
And tell us Melanie, just how are you going to keep our children and our grandkids safe? What exactly is your plan? You see to think that there is absolutely no difficulty with terrorists anymore - does that mean that you will just forget about illegal aliens and armed therrorists? Will you sleep well now?

55 agree | 44 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

4:30 PM MST on Mon., Jan. 21, 2008 re: "Under Real ID, privacy will be nonexistent"

Tired of all the ACLU lies about REAL ID said:
Your columnist either hasn't done her homework (read the final Rule or the Driver Privacy Protection Act--fed. law) or she's bought into that bunch of lies being circulated by the ACLU. REAL ID will require background checks on all DMV employees-getting rid of the bad apples up front will increase privacy protections, not decrease them.And as for the info. encoded on the mag stripe/barcode--check your facts,MD and a lot of other states do that already.The info is the same as on the face of the DL-its a security feature against tampering.It's no diff. than copying the info off the front of a DL-same info. Anyone who has a commercial DL knows the DMV already checks to see if you have a CDL in any other state. It's a pointer system--what REAL ID will have--not an open database. REAL ID is far from perfect but it's not the privacy monster the ACLU wants us to believe.Oh, & fed. law lets states suspend DLs of deadbeats who don't pay child support. Do you have a problem w/that too, Mel

67 agree | 59 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

12:06 PM MST on Mon., Jan. 21, 2008 re: "Under Real ID, privacy will be nonexistent"

David of NM said:
What a great article. It is somewhat encouraging to me that more people seem to be getting wise to the dangerous REAL ID Act. The writer wrote mostly about privacy,security and expansion concerns and not so much about cost concerns. The real problems with REAL ID are not cost related. I keep writing my representatives, asking for repeal, but I get a canned Republican National Committee instead. The Republicans are largely the drivers of REAL ID. Rep. Sensenbrenner R-WI seized on the 9/11 Commission report that called for more secure licenses. He authored the abomination called the REAL ID Act of 2005 so he could come out of obscurity and be a legislative superstar. Today, Sensenbrenner refers to REAL ID as "his baby". DIGIMARC Corp. of Oregon has contributed much money to be used for grants to States for the purpose of softening opposition to REAL ID. DIGIMARC, a worldwide company selling National ID card making equipment and related services stands to make millions off REAL ID

69 agree | 50 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

2:19 PM MST on Tue., Nov. 13, 2007 re: "Is the welcome mat really welcome?"

an irate citizen because of an irate citizen said:
Yeah this country was founded by immigrants, and the only reason why there is such an outcry to stop it, is because now we're getting the kind we don't want. The kind with brown skin. Stolen social security benefits? I don't think so. If an immigrant used a stolen social security number to get a job, they're paying taxes too and rarely if ever redeem benefits for fear of getting caught. Cockroaches (usually a racial slur),shoot to kill? Wow,let me know how the next klan meeting goes.

119 agree | 113 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

5:53 PM MST on Sun., Nov. 4, 2007 re: "Is the welcome mat really welcome?"

reader said:
"even the best national policies won't work if local governments undermine them. And for years, some governments have been doing all they could to thwart federal immigration policy." - No duh...

113 agree | 131 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

7:51 AM MST on Sat., Nov. 3, 2007 re: "Is the welcome mat really welcome?"

An Irate Citizen said:
This Country was started by immigrants from the United Kingdom and Europe and has subsequently always welcomed legal immigration. However, in our recent history we have been beseiged by people who simply crawl over our borders like cockroaches. These borders should be patrolled by soldiers who have the authority to shoot to kill anyone who tries to enter the country illegally. Also those who are here and who are not here legally should be rounded up and immediately deported. No "ifs, ands or buts" about it. Amongst other things, the illegals are stealing our social security benefits and ruining our health care system. It can not continue. I plead with all of you to contact your representatives in Congress and any presidential candidate you're supporting and tell them you want action and that you want action now. Please do this today if you love your family and you love your country.

137 agree | 139 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

8:46 PM MST on Fri., Aug. 10, 2007 re: "Is it "pay for play" time in Spitzer's New York?"

Examiner Reader said:
When Spitzer was AG of New York he carefully target his prosecutions of Wall Street and the Insurance industry. Those not targeted soon got the message that they were to pay up campaign contributions or else. Spitzer ran the New York AG's office like a gangster and it seems he runs the governor's office like a gangster too.

213 agree | 217 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

2:44 PM MST on Fri., Aug. 10, 2007 re: "Is it "pay for play" time in Spitzer's New York?"

Examiner Reader said:
FWIW, the Neighborhood Preservation PAF is the rent stabilized apartment owners PAC many of whom *hate* Spitzer.

196 agree | 198 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate