The authors of the General Assembly transportation package and the Governor’s Office are talking past each other. The disagreement: the meaning of a passage in HB 3202 and its impact on local governments.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine says the bill would require Northern Virginia localities availing themselves of new regional taxes to take over planning and construction of secondary roads from the state. The Fairfax County supervisors apparently read the legislation the same way. But Del. Clay Athey, R-Front Royal, a lead architect of the bill, insists it ain’t so.
The Governor bases his interpretation on “Line 329,” which spokesman Kevin Hall says “couldn’t be more clear.”
Here is what Line 329 (and surrounding lines) says: “The funds under this subsection shall be conditioned on the following: … that for any county imposing all of the fees and taxes … all state secondary road construction funding due such county shall be transferred to such county, and the county shall assume full responsibility for planning and constructing secondary roads pursuant to 33.1-75.3.”
Here’s what I think is happening. Kaine and the Fairfax supervisors are giving this reading to the bill: Localities must take over responsibility for all secondary roads. Athey (I think) interprets it to mean that counties take over responsibility for construction of secondary roads funded by the new taxes and fees, leaving room for the Virginia Department of Transportation also to build new secondary roads.
There isn’t a disagreement over what the language should say, only what they think it does say. The entire controversy could be cleared up by amending the language of the bill to eliminate any ambiquity. But that might actually require feuding parties to communicate by means other than the mass media. Someone needs to pick up the phone and straighten this out.