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Kaine begins tour to tout $1.1B roads plan; Dems rebut criticism
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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Gov. Tim Kaine embarked on a statewide tour Tuesday to boost public support for his transportation funding plan before the $1.1 billion set of taxes and fees reaches the legislature in June.
Meanwhile, House Democrats defended the governor, who announced the plan Monday, and pushed back against the criticism by their majority Republican counterparts, who signaled that the proposal was too flawed to reach the House floor.
While none of the Democratic legislators would wholly endorse Kaine’s tax package, they accused the Republicans of lacking their own plan to tackle a runaway highway maintenance deficit and raise new construction funding for roads and mass transit.
The GOP leadership has yet to roll out a transportation package rebutting Kaine’s most recent offering, though members have said they want to limit the tax plans to congested regions and localities.
“Doing nothing is simply not an option,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran, D-Alexandria.
Moran supports increasing the sales tax to raise transportation revenue — which is included in Kaine’s plan for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads — and is an opponent of a gas tax increase — which isn’t.
However, the fuel tax’s exclusion is expected to lead to a clash with Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax.
“I think it is a decent plan, there is a lot to like about it,” said Del. Dave Englin, D-Alexandria, who called it a “good start.”
Kaine was set to speak in Woodbridge on Tuesday night before heading to Hampton on Thursday, after which he had scheduled stops at other corners of the state leading to the June 23 special session.
The governor’s proposal would raise $1.1 billion by fiscal 2014 by raising taxes on auto and retail sales by 1 percent, as well as by increasing the cost of registering a car or selling a house.
It is engineered in part to replace the revenues lost when the Virginia Supreme Court gutted last year’s transportation funding package by ruling that the regional bodies empowered to collect the fees were unconstitutional.
Supporters of solving that problem by putting the collection in the hands of local governments — such as Del. Tim Hugo, R-Centreville — said Kaine avoided a simple fix by proposing broad statewide taxes.
“We’ve got a cure for the cold, and he’s decided that’s not good enough,” Hugo said. “He wants to have a cure for cancer.”
wflook@dcexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
10:37 PM MST on Wed., Jul. 23, 2008 re: "Kaine administration cuts back spending, hiring as economy slows"
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7:13 AM MST on Wed., Jul. 23, 2008
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9:56 AM MST on Fri., Jul. 18, 2008
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7:51 AM MST on Wed., Dec. 26, 2007
re: "Kaine: ‘We can’t prevent anything’"
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5:54 AM MST on Tue., Dec. 25, 2007
re: "Kaine: ‘We can’t prevent anything’"
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Gov. Kaine is a tax raising kook!! said:
Gov. Kaine was warned long ago that the budget was going to be bad and now he is away in Europe and the state has no more surplus. Thanks for nothing Timmy Kaine. Worst Governor in Va. in the last 30 years. He is even worse than Gilmore. Sad to say.
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Examiner Reader said:
The jobs that get cut will probably be state wage positions (D.O.C.), and these poor people make the least amount of money and do all the grunt work. In addition, the positions will be lost forever. Look at those who are over-paid, for crying out loud! There are plenty in D.O.C.
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Examiner Reader said:
Amazing. This idiot is in Europe on a "trade" mission but dictates restrictions on "non critical" travel. Give me a break. What good can possibly come from this moron's trip to Europe except to give him a taxpayers funded trip to Europe.
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Examiner Reader said:
The school's reputation took a major hit, it was the biggest story of 07. Many parents will think three times before sending their children to this school. The state failed miserably no matter what the reports or the wizard's of spin try to say. It was so bad Steve and Barry's couldn't sell the VA Tech sweatshirt's for Christmas, while UVA and Maryland slold in a flash. Kaine, along with the General Aseembly needs a real attitude adjustment.
55 agree | 48 disagree
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Joe Jena said:
You can't prevent raising taxes either can you?
63 agree | 46 disagree
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