Business Transportation Action Coalition
This memo from a Board of Trade affiliate, the Business Transportation Action Coalition, provides an update on these issues as of 1/18/07. Please note that the status of this issue changes nearly daily.
MEMORANDUM
To: BTRAC Principals and Executive Board
From: Sam Black, President, BTRAC
Re: New Day for the Metro Dedicated Funding Campaign
Date: January 17, 2007
A new day for our Metro funding bill on the Hill. Within a few days after the windup of Congress's consideration of the bill in November, BTRAC participated in a meeting on the Hill to plan for a renewal of the legislation. The planning session took place in December with staffs from an enlarged and bipartisan group of supporters in the House of Representatives. We are supporting some streamlining of the 2006 bill to make it easier for the D.C. Council and the two state legislatures to pass the necessary local implementing legislation.
Last week Congressman Davis, with support from Democratic and Republican Congressmembers from D.C., Virginia and Maryland, including Baltimore, introduced the bill once again, this time as H.R. 401, 110th Congress. Rep. Steny Hoyer, the new Majority Leader, continues as a solid supporter of the bill.
Now we start the process of moving the bill forward in the House and the Senate. If you talk with any of the sponsoring Congressmembers, please thank them for their support and press them for the need for prompt House passage.
I can’t tell you enough about the sustained efforts that Rep. Davis and Sen. Warner made in November to achieve Congressional passage of the Davis bill. We missed by only a small margin. If you are meeting with either one any time soon, please convey the regional business community’s thanks.
Maryland. BTRAC and the Board of Trade have been active in Governor O'Malley's transition effort. Governor O'Malley has been a consistent supporter of dedicated funding for Metro, and we believe that the transition committee report will emphasize support for Metro on this issue.
The Maryland Legislature has already reconvened, and we now need to support the introduction of Metro legislation and the effort to move the bill forward. BTRAC has been a steady supporter of balanced Maryland funding for transportation, both rail and highway, urban and rural, and in Baltimore and Washington. Keep in mind, though, that the consensus of the Board of Trade and the Greater Baltimore Committee is that it may well take until next year for this legislation to get passed and signed.
Virginia. There have been important signs of movement among House Republicans in Richmond. Supporters of more funding for transportation have made it clear that if the Virginia Legislature does not act, there will be consequences during the campaigns in the Fall. BTRAC promises you that we will help you make your views known in Richmond, and be among the first to report any significant developments to you. Watch this space!
See the news article below for a very hopeful sign of change in the Richmond climate.
The newest member of BTRAC. VORNADO/Charles E. Smith has joined BTRAC as a member of the Executive Board. We welcome Patrick Tyrrell and Mitchell Schear of VORNADO/Charles E. Smith and will benefit from their advice and efforts in the coming months.
Many thanks to all of the members of the BTRAC Executive Board, each of which has made a major contribution to this effort:
- Akridge
- Alstom Transportation
- BDO Seidman LLP
- Bechtel Inc.
- Boston Properties, Inc.
- DMJM + Harris Inc
- Louis Dreyfus Property Group
- Mindshare Interactive Campaigns
- Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.
- Venable, LLP
- VORNADO/Charles E. Smith
- Washington Group International
- West*Group
WELCH BACKS 10-CENT HIKE IN GAS TAX TO PAY FOR ROADS
By Tom Holden, The Virginian-Pilot
Del. John Welch III, one of the General Assembly's most ardent anti-tax champions, said Thursday he supports a 10-cents-a-gallon gas tax increase to help pay for Virginia transportation projects.
Welch, who like all state lawmakers is up for election in November 2007, said he changed his mind after voters repeatedly told him on Election Day that they were fed up with the stalemate in Richmond.
"I worked the polls for 13 hours... and people told me they want something done," he said. "They don't like taxes but they want action. I will entertain fees or gas tax increases for the good of Virginia."
The Virginia Beach Republican, who was first elected in 2001, said no progress will be made on the contentious issue of transportation funding until more lawmakers present compromise plans.
"I have searched my inner being as a fiscal conservative to find a way to move Virginia forward," said Welch, who has been quietly talking with local leaders about a possible gas tax increase.
A penny increase in the statewide gasoline tax would raise about $52.2 million annually, and 10 cents would raise $522 million, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation. Virginia now levies 17.5 cents per gallon of gas, a rate that is 37th nationwide. State gas taxes were last raised in 1986.
Welch backs the increase on the condition that lawmakers also pass a constitutional amendment limiting access to the transportation trust fund. He wants the money raised by higher taxes to finance $2 billion in bonds for roads and rail.
The amendment is intended to thwart occasional efforts by elected leaders to balance the state's books by pulling money raised for transportation and spending it in other areas. Previous efforts to pass an amendment have failed.
Welch acknowledged that his change of heart on a gas tax increase underscores the pressure many Republican lawmakers feel to act on an issue that has frustrated many voters.
Other fiscally conservative legislators already have been trying other ways to raise revenues.
Before the fall special session on transportation, which ended without a significant road-building plan, a group of Republican lawmakers led by Del. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, pushed for the creation of a regional authority funded by several fees.
That measure and another more modest proposal by Del. Leo Wardrup, R-Virginia Beach and chairman of the House Transportation Committee, died with the blessing of House Speaker Del. William Howell, R-Fredericksburg.
Howell has fiercely resisted raising taxes or fees to finance transportation and has argued instead for using the state's good credit rating and cash surplus to underwrite debt, most recently calling for a $2 billion bond offering.
Welch does not think it's enough.
"As elected leaders, we have to listen to the people," Welch said. "We're at the point where the people are ready to see something
move forward. I'm trying to build bridges as a conservative."
Wardrup said Thursday he had not heard about Welch's tax increase idea and would not support it.
"The problem with a gas tax is that it's terribly regressive," Wardrup said. "It hits the little guy first
like a bombshell, and then ripples into goods and services."
Wardrup said existing state income can be used more effectively to finance the sale of bonds for highway construction.
"I don't think there is any stomach for a gas tax increase," he said. "I can appreciate where he's coming from, but it's horribly short- sighted. But I don't deny that we have to put more resources into highway and roads."
Kevin Hall, press secretary to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, said Welch's move was a hopeful sign.
"Any forward motion at all on the revenue challenge is a hopeful sign," he said.
