Dan Genz, The Examiner
2008-05-15 07:00:00.0
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Gov. Tim Kaine’s Town Hall tour to support his $1.1 billion tax plan is taking him face to face with a vocal contingent of Northern Virginia residents who want the state to fund new transportation improvements without tax increases.

Saying there is “no free lunch,” Kaine is laying out the case that a new regional sales tax increase and raises in auto and home sales are needed to keep traffic moving.

“If we’re going to have a transportation system that works, we’re not going to get it for free,” he said. “We have to be willing to invest.”

But the crowd applauded strongly when a small-business owner called for no new taxes.

“The economy is at a very critical time, and it’s the exact wrong time to raise taxes,” said Ryan Martin, of Woodbridge. “You keep coming back and saying we need a billion more. ... Spending needs to be cut as well.”

Kaine said the state already has cut $1.7 billion in spending for the 2008 to 2010 budgets and said transportation projects don’t come without money, but Martin jousted with the governor, saying more spending could be cut.

Kaine challenged lawmakers critical of his plan to bring their own ideas for new money, adding inaction was not an option.

Standing by the door, about 10 residents walking out of the room urged anti-tax Del. Jeff Frederick, R-Woodbridge, to vote down a tax increase. He responded, “I’m not passing a tax increase.”

“The no-tax pledge that so many Republicans have signed onto is the key hurdle in this debate,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. “The transportation tax question is the very definition of policy-making gridlock.”

Politicians who want more state funding for transportation, including Chuck Colgan, D-Manassas, and Prince William County Supervisor Martin Nohe, R-Coles, said the governor’s plan was not the ideal solution and could raise concerns about a sales tax increase in a gloomy economy.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com