The GOP transportation plan has run into a potential roadblock: It’s called the state constitution. Report Christina Nuckols and Warren Fiske with the Virginian-Pilot:
A transportation plan for Hampton Roads will collapse if individual cities and counties can opt out of regional taxes, several lawmakers said Thursday. But some voiced doubts that they can constitutionally force local governments to collect taxes against their will.
The issue is a major disagreement hanging over a long-sought plan that would generate about $210 million annually for Hampton Roads’ top-priority road projects. The Hampton Roads plan is part of a larger roads package that includes statewide money for road construction and maintenance and regional aid for Northern Virginia.
House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said he thinks the Hampton Roads plan is unconstitutional without an escape hatch for cities that don’t want to participate in the regional taxes. “I think there is a constitutional problem in forcing someone to opt in,” he said. The constitution says the legislature “can’t raise local taxes,” he said.