Among other hijinks yesterday, it appears that the General Assembly shot down Governor Bob McDonnell’s bid to withhold $150 million in state contributions to Phase 2 of the Rail-to-Dulles project if the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority refused to accept two additional Virginia appointees to its board. Steve Contorno has the story for the Washington Examiner. Reports Contorno:
“The House voted 74-22 to reject a budget amendment from McDonnell that would have allowed the state to withhold the funding, saying it was sloppily written and endangered other spending in the budget. Lawmakers also argued that the state could not dictate to a regional agency it did not control.
“MWAA is not a Virginia agency,” said Del. Mark Sickles, D-Franconia. “The best case for supporting this is the lawsuit can start six weeks earlier because the governor wants to seat members.” …
“The governor believed it is imperative to move forward as soon as possible in implementing MWAA reform legislation,” McDonnell spokeswoman Taylor Thornley said.
MWAA, which is administering the Rail-to-Dulles project, has refused to seat two Virginia appointees to the board (along with one from Maryland and one from Washington, D.C.) despite passage of federal enabling legislation. MWAA contended that Virginia and the District had to amend the interstate pact. Virginia’s law doesn’t go into effect until July 1.
— JAB