Remember, the GOP transportation bill is not meant to address the transportation crisis
By: Rob
Published On: 3/25/2007 3:17:27 PM
As we wait on Governor Kaine's changes to the GOP's transportation farce of a bill, here's a reminder of what the GOP was really trying to do - lock in transportation funding for the areas of the state that need it least. And this is from the mouth of one of the GOP delegates defending the bill:
Funds for rural highway projects must be allocated now before lawmakers from urban areas control the state's coffers, according to Del. Morgan Griffith.
Griffith, R-Salem, predicted Wednesday that by 2012 - due to redistricting anticipated after the next census - 55 percent of the General Assembly will be comprised of lawmakers from Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
Those lawmakers then "will have the power to raid the treasury" to fund the needs of their regions, Griffith said.... [who made his] comments in support of the transportation package approved by the General Assembly on Saturday.
Griffith wants the transportation bill to pass before more legislatures from high-population areas get elected to avoid the areas most suffering from transportation to have more of a say in this issue. In other words, the current bill is written to address the transportation needs of the Commonwealth that don't have a transportation crisis.
And remember, this is the sort of intellectual blackhole that the GOP is drawing from to defend this bill: "Griffith, who pushed legislative compromises that led to the transportation package, reasoned that 'when you're going to the general store and driving on a general road, shouldn't you be able to spend a little of the general fund on transportation?'"
Deliver us from this irrationality, Governor Kaine.
Comments
humm (novamiddleman - 3/25/2007 4:48:52 PM)
what's with all the preemptives postings
are you guys scared? j/k :-p
As far as Novemeber is concerned you have to remember 99.9% of the general population isn't paying attention to any of this. Both sides are going to spin whatever happens also.
Huh? (PM - 3/25/2007 4:57:18 PM)
"99.9% of the general population isn't paying attention to any of this?"
In the burbs it is one of the biggest topics. I don't have the numbers at hand, but when local delegates poll their constituents, commuting is usually topic #1. Have you been to any of the local transportation fora? I was at one in the Chantilly library and the meeting room was SRO on a Saturday morning.
Here's one poll, taken last October (PM - 3/25/2007 5:04:27 PM)
A large majority of Northern Virginia residents want the state to spend more money to fix the region's roads and rails, and more than three-quarters say they wanted the opportunity to raise local taxes to do it, a new Washington Post poll shows.
Overall, the survey finds deep resentment among the region's voters toward their government in Richmond, particularly the General Assembly. Only 9 percent of likely Northern Virginia voters polled said they were "very satisfied" that the government is working for the best interests of their part of the commonwealth. Forty-eight percent of those voters said they were dissatisfied, compared with 37 percent in other parts of the state.
That result suggests that General Assembly members in Richmond are taking the brunt of the blame for the stalemate over transportation funding that consumed lawmakers for much of the year. In the poll, 55 percent of the region's likely voters blamed lawmakers, especially Republicans, for the failed special session last month. Only 11 percent blamed Kaine.
http://www.washingto...
One thing on this... (Ghost of A.L. Philpott - 3/26/2007 9:23:57 AM)
...there is nothing in this bill for rural Virginia!! Just because Griffith is trying to stir the pot and whip up support for rural Republicans in an election year, do not be fooled. A great example is Sen. Phil Puckett, who comes from what is probably the most rural district in the Commonwealth:
http://assemblyacces...
This isn't a regionally bad bill, its an all-around, statewide disaster!!