COMMENTARY
By Frank P. Hall (D – 69th) VIRGINIA HOUSE OF DELEGATES

Hall

Virginia is on the right track because we’ve had forward thinking leaders like Governor Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. We worked together with these leaders in the General Assembly making record investments in education, bringing more jobs to Virginia, supporting our public safety officials who protect Virginia families, and providing access to health care for Virginia’s uninsured children. However, there is one area where we haven’t made the necessary progress: transportation. Instead, Republican leaders have stood in the way of our progress; they have let partisan gridlock prevent a longterm solution to our transportation crisis.

Virginians deserve better than petty partisanship that can’t deliver results. They deserve better than short-term gimmicks and band-aids. They deserve a long-term solution to our transportation crisis that will grow our economy and continue to attract new business and industry to Virginia.

We will not continue to prosper as a Commonwealth, nor will we be able to maximize Virginia’s potential in the global marketplace, without a long-term solution that will position Virginia’s transportation system to meet the needs of 21st century businesses and families.

Reform and efficiencies are important, and we have taken major steps. Five years ago, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) simply couldn’t finish a construction project on time or on budget. Its on-time rate for projects was 20 percent, and its on-budget statistic was 51 percent. Five years ago, the Commonwealth Transportation Board was incapable of developing a reliable Six Year Plan. With the reform of VDOT, it is now more than 1,000 employees leaner, and it is a national leader when it comes to its on-time and on-budget statistics. We can always do better, but even with these reforms, we still do not have the significant, reliable, long-term funding that is needed to build and maintain a 21st century transportation system.

Anyone who says we can make progress and move Virginia forward by forcing transportation to compete with schools, colleges, police officers, nursing homes and natural resources is simply paving our roads with our children’s future.

In the last session, Governor Kaine and the Senate put forth plans that dealt with long-term sustainable sources of revenue for transportation – revenues that come from user-based sources, drawing revenue to support transportation network maintenance and improvement from the people who use the system. These revenues will not drain monies away from our schools, our universities, police officers or protecting our environment, but will provide the long-term revenue to build a 21st century transportation system for Virginia’s future.

Unfortunately, the refusal of the House Republican leadership to engage in a bipartisan debate to address the state’s transportation crisis will have far-reaching consequences.

In a six-month special session, the House Republican leadership stood in the way of any meaningful progress, letting partisan gridlock prevent a long-term solution to our transportation crisis.

There is no reason that a bipartisan solution could not have hammered out on an acceptable transportation plan. The missing element was the will to do so. I find that unacceptable, as you should too.

Democrats in the House of Delegates stand ready to work together with our Republican members to find a dedicated source of revenue that will keep our Commonwealth on the right track as the best-managed state in the nation.

During the 2007 General Assembly session, we must move beyond partisanship to be partners with Governor Kaine in solving our transportation crisis to keep Virginia moving forward. Virginia’s transportation needs are too urgent to wait.