Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Transportation Abomination

—

by

James A. Bacon
in

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has publicly cast his lot with Sen. John H. Chichester and his allies in the state Senate who would burden Virginians with $150 vehicle registration fees on top of all the new fees and taxes contained in the GOP transportation compromise. I’ve lost track of the total tax take, but I suspect that the Senate/Kaine proposal would raise about $1 billion a year in new taxes and fees, if regional levies in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads are included.

(Read accounts in the Virginian-Pilot, Times-Dispatch, Daily Press and Free Lance-Star.)

The Axis of Taxes continues to maintain that transportation shouldn’t compete with programs for the widows and orphans who rely upon the General Fund for their sustenance. This is such a bogus argument, yet the Mainstream Media parrots it uncritically. (Brawwk! Polly want a cracker?)

If anyone in the MSM has noted the statistics cited by Attorney General Bob McDonnell in a statement he released Feb. 4, I have yet to see them.

State spending has increased at an average of 6% a year over the past decade; a whopping 3% above the growth in population and inflation combined. The argument that core functions of government will suffer because of the Republican compromise plan is absolutely wrong and irresponsible. During the most recent two-year budget cycle alone, the General Assembly increased funding for K-12 education by 19%, funding for higher education by 22%, funding for public safety by 15%, funding for mental health by 21%, and funding for the Chesapeake Bay by a record 38%. Despite misleading sound bites to the contrary, Virginians know that spending for every core function of government has increased dramatically and is now at record levels.

I am not shilling for the GOP compromise, which would draw upon the General Fund instead of rebate money to taxpayers. But I am calling B.S. on the Kaine/Chichester faction. A 19 percent increase of K-12 education isn’t enough? These guys need more money? How much will it take to satisfy these guys?

At least when Mark Warner raised our taxes, he also found costs to cut and tried to hold bureaucrats accountable for performance. Kaine and Chichester have largely abandoned the cost-cutting/accountability piece of Warner’s formula and embraced the second. Nary a word from either of them about restructuring the way roads are built and maintained, and only lip service for land use reform. Open the money sluices, baby, it’s spend, spend, spend!

Update: The Senate version of the Transportation Abomination is even worse than I realized. An e-mail summary from the Home Builders Association of Virginia reports that all the land use components but one, the Urban Growth Area requirement, as well as the prohibitions from accepting new subdivision roads into the state system, have been stripped from the bill — a minor fact overlooked in the newspaper accounts. Bottom line: The Senate bills represents a resounding victory for Business As Usual in every conceivable way. It… must… be… destroyed!

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32 responses to “Transportation Abomination”

  1. rodger provo Avatar
    rodger provo

    Jim, you fail to acknowledge the
    cost of construction materials in
    recent years has been growing by
    1.5% monthly or 18% annually.

    Nor do you want to acknowledge the
    time and fuel wasted by businesses
    and our residents sitting in traffic jams.

    You fail to accept the fact that in
    some communities, such as my home
    in Fredericksburg, residents have
    to struggle with bumper to bumper
    traffic on the Falmouth Bridge to
    get to our medical center.

    Emissions fouling our air and polluting our rivers, such as is
    the case with the above mentioned
    situation is extracting an environmental toll on Virginia.

    Your right wing, anti-tax, anti-
    social spin on our problems never
    ceases to amaze me.

    I doubt the Governor and the General Assembly will resolve these issues and the voters will have their say about these matters in the fall elections.

  2. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    Rodger, If a home builder experiences an 18 percent increase in the cost of a raw material, say, brick, he doesn’t blindly persist in doing everything exactly the same way. He looks for substitutes — he builds more houses with wood, or vinyl siding, or concrete block and stucco.

    If Virginia is experiencing an 18 percent increase in the cost of construction/maintenance materials, we need to rethink our habit of building more roads as a way to provide mobility and access. Far from being a reason to increase taxes, the fact you cite is a reason to wean ourselves from an auto-dependent economy.

    Your left wing, pro-tax, anti-
    social spin on our problems never
    ceases to amaze me.

  3. rodger provo Avatar
    rodger provo

    Jim, the state has fallen behind over the last 20 years from inadequate funding for our vital
    transportation system.

    Maintenance costs is consuming the
    transportation budget, reducing
    funds for new projects.

    The existing system requires work
    and the increase costs of asphalt,
    concrete and steel is hurting our
    transportation program.

    How would you deal with traffic on
    our highway system from travel points outside of Virginia?

    Your reply fails to acknowledge some of the complicated problems
    before our state to solve.

    I think those in the far right, who
    simply want to whack away at government without providing us
    meaningful solutions to solve our
    problems are doing Virginia a great
    injustice.

    Jim you are in that camp.

  4. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    Rodger, No solutions? Me? I’ve spent the past three years exploring solutions. I’m sorry I can’t repeat each one of them every time I sign my signature to a post, as a reminder than anything I say is only part a large constellation of recommendations. But I have only so much time in the day.

    Here is a useful summary of what I think can be done (although it does need updating, it’s about a half year old): A Transporation Primer.

    I’m well aware that not everyone agrees with me. I’m happy for you to interact with me and others on this blog. But do not insult me with meaningless labels and please do me the courtesy of engaging my ideas. Let’s talk about land use, tax and governance systems, mass transit, shared vehicle systems, operational improvements, telecommuting and telework and congestion pricing. Let’s talk in hard specifics — not platitudes.

  5. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Good column Jim.

    Kaine was notorious for this as Mayor of Richmond and now he is doing it to the state too.

    There’s a big difference between Warner’s ‘I mean business’ approach and Kaine’s ‘I mean politics’ approach.

  6. E M Risse Avatar
    E M Risse

    Jim Bacon:

    Do I take it you do not like the Senate proposal? Just want to be clear :>)

    I do not like either one, or any we have seen put on the table because they all perpetuate the Myth that more money will imporve mobility and access on a REGIONAL basis.

    You post on putting it to the voters was right on. I recall suggesting we need a new metric.

    EMR

  7. rodger provo Avatar
    rodger provo

    Jim:
    I am very familiar with the
    state budget and some of the problems we had prior to the 2004
    budget agreement resulting from the
    Gilmore Car Tax Legislation and the
    assault on the state budget which
    started during Gov. Doug Wiler’s
    term and continued until Gov. Mark
    Warner and Sen. John Chichester and
    others solved our problems in their
    landmark package widely supported by the public.

    I think the budget was drained and
    gutted of vital funds for more than
    a decade which resulted in our AAA
    state bond rating being placed at
    risk and services from support of
    public schools, colleges and
    universities, parks, enviornmental
    efforts, health care, elderly
    support, public safety, public
    transportation and other services
    being damaged and put at risk.

    All of this was done during a period of rapid growth in Virginia
    and likewise rapid increase in demand for public resources and
    services.

    The one program not dealt with in
    the 2004 budget agreement was our
    need to better manage our growth
    and to improve our transportation
    system. We last dealt with our
    transportation funding needs in
    1986, more than 20 years ago.

    The current governor got elected
    because of his positions relative
    to these issues and I think he and
    others in the General Assembly are
    trying to find real world solutions
    to these problems.

    We are 20 years behind in meeting
    these needs for the 7.5 Virginia
    residents who depend on our system
    of transportation.

    We are 20 years behind in meeting
    these needs for the businesses of
    Virginia who make our economy work.

    We are 20 years behind in meeting
    these needs for the millions of
    visitors who shop and vacation in
    our state.

    We are 20 years behind in meeting
    these needs for the vital federal
    agencies and military installlations located in our state.

    We are 20 years behind in meeting
    these needs for the 40% of the traffic that uses our interstate
    highway system that comes from outside our state.

    And we are not prepared for the
    continued growth in Virginia that
    is only going to make our problems
    worst.

  8. James Atticus Bowden Avatar
    James Atticus Bowden

    The current Governor got elected promising to NOT raise taxes.

  9. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    roads not rail
    dulles rail will eat the whole trans budget and Davis is now for the 800? million tunnel- he’s the biggest spender since LBJ

    get more http://www.fcta.org

  10. nova_middle_man Avatar
    nova_middle_man

    “At least when Mark Warner raised our taxes, he also found costs to cut and tried to hold bureaucrats accountable for performance.”

    The 250 million component fits this same line of thinking. It really is a compromise plan with taxes/fees balanced with cost “reductions” I prefer to call it reprioitization. Especailly with the budget increase lately.

    Who knows what will happen next. The senate plan passed 23-17. You need at least 3 senators to flip for something to get done. The house is not going to acquese.

    For more see here

    http://www.nvta.org/content.asp?contentid=1470

    P.S. you may have noticed I have shifted from “junior wonk” mode to “reality mode”. This will continue until after the seesion.

  11. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    “shifted from “junior wonk” mode to “reality mode” “

    A “reality” slant to even junior wonk mode is not a harmful practice either…

    keeps the “thinking out of the box” process from getting out of hand…

    🙂

  12. D.J. McGuire Avatar
    D.J. McGuire

    Jim,

    I’m a little confused by what you wrote. Is the “prohibitions from accepting new subdivision roads into the state system” still in the Senate version? Or taken out of the Senate version?

    Note: those are cite quotes, not scare/snide quotes, and I back said prohibition very strongly.

  13. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    As much as I disagree with Rodger, the reality is that Rodger represents a view that if not a majority view is close to it in areas where there is major congestion.

    The conventional wisdom STILL is that more infrastructure is the answer to congestion and that means more money even if taxes have to be raised.

    My objection is that it should not be taxes but user fees.

    When we move from user fees (gas tax or tolls) to using money of general revenues… AND it actually represents a true increase in spending over and above existing..

    .. I expect that from the tax & spend folks.. but when the so called Conservatives have their own “lite” version of the same.. they’ve strayed from their principles in my view..

    .. The Conservatives “answer” to the “raise the taxes” side is not only “raise the taxes” LITE but sneaky … and really lacking in legislation to address the core problem of our really unacceptable accounting practices used by VDOT in spending that money.

    I quess I expected the Conservatives to put stuff on the table that would lead to a better process for spending money ….effectively.

  14. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    D.J., my understanding — and I pick this up through second-hand sources, so I’m willing to stand corrected — is that the Senate stripped out the House measure that would halted the practice of taking subdivision roads into the state system.

  15. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Mr. McGuire,

    The “prohibition against accepting new subdivision roads into the state system” is out of the Senate version. Anyway, it is not what Mr. Bacon or you think.

    The prohibition only applies outside of the Urban Development Area (also known as growth area). Inside the UDA it would be business as usual.

    And outside of the UDA, who do you think will pay for the maintenance of those new subdivision streets? Why county taxpayers of course.

    Can county elected leaders turn down a development because they do not want to maintain the new roads? Not likely since they have been challenged in the past by developers/property owners and the results have been mixed.

    You may say, then let homeowners associations maintain the new roads. Counties cannot require that they be created initially, nor can they require that they remain financially solvent. U. S. Mail is not delivered on private roads and in many localities, school buses do not go down some private roads.

    Finally, I do recall that there has been some talk about unfunded mandates by Mr. Bacon. Subdivision street devolution is a big unfunded mandate.

  16. Reid Greenmun Avatar
    Reid Greenmun

    Roger,

    Do you appreciate the need to live within a manageable budget?

    Sure you do – you’re an intelligent guy.

    The state’s SPENDING has far outpaced the growth in the average incomes of the Virginians being burdened by higher and higher taxes – at the state, the local, the regional, and the Federal levels.

    Roger, you lament that the state is 20 years behind – and “needs” billions and billions MORE of our money to make up for years of failure to maintain our transportation system.

    When my car needs repairs I have to cut SPENDING from somewhere else in my budget.

    Reality.

    Since 2000 the taxes on my modest 980 sq foot SFH have EXPLODED – they have tripled.

    There is a For Sale sign in my front yard.

    No, I did not want to move – but I can no longer AFFORD to live in my tiny 3 bedroom, 1 bath home by the sea.

    You see Roger – we people that are not spending other people’s money have to live within our means.

    The STATE should be doing the same thing.

    The STATE has over a Billion Dollar tax “surplus” – and you point out over due needs for the STATE’S transportation system.

    So WHY isn’t every penny of that surplus being used to make up for decades of a failure to maintain the roads?

    Why?

    Roger – the answer is found in the following:

    1. Growing the economy produces more wealth for our citizens and more taxes for our government.

    2. Government spending needs to be prioritized and a budget kept that understands that there is a LIMIT to how much money government can extort from its citizens and businesses.

    Roger – do you support Gov. Kaine’s plan to create even more ‘entitlements’ by using tax dollars to subsidize childcare called “pre-school”?

    Roger – the COST for state employee benefits has skyrocketed. Do you support a cap on state employee benefits and, as is being done in the private sector, state employees will have to PAY for the increases for their healthcare and retirement funds?

    Roger – do you support spending even MORE state taxes so all teachers – good performers and bad performers – can have pay equal to “the national average” – or, should the state and local governments accept that we can only AFFORD a certain salary range for our teachers and that’s it – we will make due with what we can afford?

    Roger, you mention the environment. Okay – which do you want, a sparkling clean Chesapeake. Bay – or better roads and mass transit?

    Roger, we can’t afford both – and all the other junk our STATE SPENDS our incomes on.

    Roger, the answer isn’t to just keep raising taxes – the answer is to admit that STATE government has to live within our means – and that SPENDING needs to be prioritized.

    No more bogus TTF and general Fund garbage – we citizens pay all of the taxes – our existing taxes are too high as it is – and not enough Virginians are paying their fair share too.

    Roger,

    You can’t just keep raising taxes – so please tell all of us what it is that YOPU support cutting to pay for all the new SPENDING that YOU are so adamant about lobbying in support of???

  17. rodger provo Avatar
    rodger provo

    I yield the floor to you guys …
    this is more than I can handle …
    maybe I should retreat and truly
    not visit this site again, though
    the urge to do so strikes me when
    I take issue with some of your ideas.

  18. Reid Greenmun Avatar
    Reid Greenmun

    Roger, what are you? A sniper that runs away when any return fire is directed towrds your position on top of the grassy knoll?

    How about dropping the “victim” status and please, would you answer the questions I asked you?

    What is your proposal for cutting spending to pay for the road improvements you advocate in support of?

    Like I wrote – the folly of simply advocated for endless tax and fee increases is not a sustainable option.

    There is a real world limit on how much of the citizen’s income can be taken from them by government before the citizens are forced to flee, or go broke.

    Government exists to protect the rights of its citizens – not to become the all-powerful force that sends them into slavery.

    I’m ‘yielding” the floor back to you – and I seriously would like to understand your position in regard to the questions I have asked you here.

  19. rodger provo Avatar
    rodger provo

    It seems some of you do not understand the English language ..
    good afternoon, good day … the
    end

  20. Reid Greenmun Avatar
    Reid Greenmun

    Roger, I think we understand your words well enough. But saying “good day” doesn’t make you failure to discuss the topic with us the right thing to do.

    You have a track record of throwing out accusations and asking others questions – yet now you are unwilling to respond to questions in kind?

    Let’s review the bidding here – here is the FIRTS POST on this topic – let’s count the attacks and questions, shall we?

    rodger provo said…

    Jim, you fail to acknowledge the
    cost of construction materials in
    recent years has been growing by
    1.5% monthly or 18% annually. [attack on Jim #1]

    Nor do you want to acknowledge the
    time and fuel wasted by businesses
    and our residents sitting in traffic jams. [attack on Jim #2]

    You fail to accept the fact that in
    some communities, such as my home
    in Fredericksburg, residents have
    to struggle with bumper to bumper
    traffic on the Falmouth Bridge to
    get to our medical center. [attack on Jim #3]

    Emissions fouling our air and polluting our rivers, such as is
    the case with the above mentioned
    situation is extracting an environmental toll on Virginia.

    Your right wing, anti-tax, anti-
    social spin on our problems never
    ceases to amaze me. [attack on Jim #4]

    I doubt the Governor and the General Assembly will resolve these issues and the voters will have their say about these matters in the fall elections. [attack on the GA and Gov. #5]

    Wow Roger – … and after that round of snipping you are running away – because we asked you for your solutions???

  21. Darrell -- Chesapeake Avatar
    Darrell — Chesapeake

    Interesting Reid…

    At least Mike Barrett would trot out the Yes Campaign talking points. From what I’ve read in various Business and Realty rags, Rodger knows them as well.

  22. James Atticus Bowden Avatar
    James Atticus Bowden

    Reid and Darrell: Got candidates for the GOP primary?

  23. Darrell -- Chesapeake Avatar
    Darrell — Chesapeake

    I’m an independent and not privy to the inner workings of the local GOP establishment. From what I’ve heard, most of the reasonable ones have already left the party.

    When I lived in VaB, I stayed pretty current on the goings on, but since moving down here in the boonies I gave it up. I found most of the schemes are supported by pols from either party because they are all cut from the same cloth.

    There might be a council member or two that could be ok, but most of them are on the taxpayer dole. I could go with a couple of others, but they are Democrats. To be honest, I don’t trust the majority of the politicians around here.

    So I guess that leaves you and Reid. You seem to be two peas in a pod. You might convince Pat Murphy to join in. He’s pretty spun up over VDOT and his only outlet is VNS. You could have Brian Kirwin run the campaign, since he seems to have a good track record and doesn’t let personal opinions get in the way.

    Are you done laughing yet?

  24. Reid Greenmun Avatar
    Reid Greenmun

    Well Darrell, you made me laugh!

    And – I agree with pretty much everything you said.

    BTW – I am not an insider with the GOP here in VA. My family was very active with the GOP in other states we lived in. The VA GOP private club seems to be very closed to any new faces with fresh ideas.

    The only GOP insider that has really offered a truely welcoming open door to me has been Mike Wade – but he is from the Hampton GOP – Chuck Smith and the rest of the Southside/Virginia Beach GOP folks (not the electeds, but the party folks) have been either cold to me – or have tried to use lip service to ‘deal’ with me.

    AG Bob McDonnell has always treated me nicely.

  25. Darrell -- Chesapeake Avatar
    Darrell — Chesapeake

    Well Reid, as you know from the Talknet days, I would be a lousy candidate for anything. I have little patience for politicians or their ego. I’m not the type to slap someone on the back with one hand while holding a dagger with the other. I prefer the direct approach, blowing holes in pet projects with their own data.

    Until lately, I haven’t had a lot of time to hit the books like I used to. Too busy trying to make a living.

    But I do know one thing, and I don’t need to look at a bunch of papers to figure it out. Until these pols take action to reform government, implementing JLARC recommendations and what not, any money we give them is a waste.

    The way I see it, the party isn’t the problem. Not Republicans, not Democrats. The problem is the individuals who represent the party. When a small cadre of elitists start expecting the rest of us to treat them like royalty, when the only vision any of them have is the next negative campaign ad, then it is time to break out the pitchforks.

  26. Ray Hyde Avatar
    Ray Hyde

    “When a small cadre of elitists start expecting the rest of us to treat them like royalty, when the only vision any of them have is the next negative campaign ad, then it is time to break out the pitchforks.”

    Amen.

  27. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Some of the writers for this blog are a mean spirited group with little tolerance…Ray Hyde, Darrell, Reed Greenmum and James Bowden are Bacon’s Rebellion Blog’s attack dogs …

  28. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    I’m going to disagree.

    Dump Ad Hominems – period.

    You can bang the hell out of an idea but try not to whack on the messenger…

    For me, the benefit of the BR Blog is hearing other views and perspectives…. not just for curiosity … but in terms of the ideas that gain support from diverse quarters AND acknowledges where there are tough divisions not likely to easily change.

    Banging on people though – doesn’t do anything other than foster a hostile environment…

    (and I do admit that I tread close to that line sometimes).

    … my 2 cents…

  29. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Larry Gross you and and others should go back and review some of
    the mean spirited, arrogant, ugly
    comments made on this blog by Jim
    Bacon and his whack team ….you are an elists, self absorbed group that wants to dictate your lifestyle ideals on others … this blog is an endless pit of unproductive rattle that makes no contribution to improving Virginia.

  30. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Larry Gross you and others should
    go back and review some of the mean
    spirited, arrogant, ugly comments
    made on this blog by Jim Bacon and
    his whack team … you an elite
    group, self absorbed that wants to
    dictate your lifestyle views on
    others … this blog is an endless
    pit of unproductive rattle that
    makes no contribituion to improving
    Virginia.

  31. nova_middle_man Avatar
    nova_middle_man

    Cmon Rodger

    I can almost guarantee you most of the people that comment here fall into at least some of these categories active in their local communities, in a party structure, in a business structure, interact with their legislators

    I admit sometimes for me I wonder about the practicality of some of the ideas but they are always interesting.

    I think I can speak again for most and say you have the option of leaving at anytime but are welcome to stay.

    Your main idea is a statewide summit and more money. The statewide summit may have promise. More money is definently needed but I feel the model should be changed on how it is collected and spent. Otherwise you have busineess as usual and in 2026 or sooner we will have the same problem all over again.

  32. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    I think Rodger’s main thrust is more money.

    Envision Utah has a website with the membership.

    It read just like a Chamber of Commerce group. I found ONE organization that could be classified as citizen/environmental while the rest where very much government and business establishment type.

    This will not fly in Virginia.

    They’ve tried this in Fredericksburg and the groups not included .. wait until the group formulates itself without true stakeholder representation and then a very public knock-down-drag-out ensues.

    The closest that Fredericksburg has gone is Reality Check and that was tenuous… citizens/environmental groups were “tokenized” and only after they threatened to walk out where changes made to be more inclusive.

    Rodger is not paying attention to Reid and others.

    There is deep – deep divisions between citizen activists in Va and the process that is essentially controlled by those who have business interests as their primary concern.

    Citizens will vote AGAINST – and work AGAINST more of the same no matter whether it is called “Envision Virginia” or any other high-sounding name if, in fact, it is not inclusive and merely want to promote itself as appearing inclusive.

    Virginia had the opportunity to do it’s own version of Envision Virginia with Tayloe Murphy and his – inclusive – Growth Commission.

    I’m not saying.. not to try again.

    I would support what Rodger feels is worth going forward on.

    But I just wanted to point out that if the process is as flawed as it was before and not truly inclusive that it will fail again.

    And when you stack this up as one leg of a two-legged advocacy – the other being more money….

    .. well… I don’t think it has “legs” in the long run.

    I think folks who frequent this BLOG are interested in ideas, different ways to go forward.. which means looking at some ideas that won’t survive critical examination but it’s the process of generating the ideas and discussing them that makes this worthwhile.

    .. at least for me.

    .. and you’ll notice.. even though I’m skeptical of Rodger’s idea… I’m willing to give it a go….and not rule it out from the get go.

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