Quote of the day from Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (as published in the Washington Post):
“This isn’t a perfect bill. It wasn’t perfect when I got it, and it’s still not perfect. The speaker and I finished a phone call just a few minutes before I came in here, where we were both trying to earn sympathy from the other one by telling each other what we still didn’t like about it. But it is a deal that I can very sincerely say is significantly improved.”
There’s a lot not to like in the transportation package passed by the General Assembly and amended by the Governor, but there’s enough in it for the major players in Richmond that the odds are very favorable that it will win final approval.
As House Speaker William J. Howell put it in a prepared statement issued late yesterday:
The Governor’s decision to stay within the structure of the legislation – eschewing his previous positions to insist upon massive statewide tax increases without regional components – is a very positive development. The fact that, for the first time, he has demonstrated a commitment to a judicious use of the Commonwealth’s AAA bond rating is certainly welcome news to those of us who have advocated this reasonable and widely accepted approach for many years.
Kaine tweaked the regional-funding components of HB 3202 for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads sufficiently to bring local government officials on board, appeasing a major constituency that had opposed the original version.
Christina Nuckols with the Virginian-Pilot addressed an interesting angle that I obliquely touched upon in yesterday’s post when noting Kaine’s apparent back-pedaling on spending the General Fund surplus and issuing long-term bonds to fund transportation projects. Did he pull the rug out from General Assembly Democrats who’d been hitting those issues hard in recent months? Writes Nuckols:
Democrats were startled by Kaine’s decision to compromise after he had told them in a morning telephone conference that he would fight to defeat any diversion of money to roads.
“Less than two hours later, they called me back and said he’d changed his mind for some reason,” said Del. Lionell Spruill Sr., D-Chesapeake. “He gave in.”
Even so, Democratic leaders said they may be forced to back Kaine and accept the deal.
It will be interesting to see how the Home Builders Association of Virginia responds to Kaine’s amendment that would expand the scope of impact fees in fast-growth counties. Otherwise, no major constituency has yet surfaced in vocal opposition to the amended transportation package. Although Republicans reserve the right to withhold their judgment regarding Kaine’s amendments until they have a chance to study them, it’s inconceivable that they would punt the legislation this close to the goal line.