Kaine Again Floats Tax Hike for Traffic Ills

BYLINE: Michael D. Shear, Washington Post Staff Writer

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) proposed raising state taxes and fees yesterday by almost $1 billion a year for transportation, once again plunging his administration into the bitter debate that nearly caused a government shutdown last year.

The Republican-controlled General Assembly rejected the same $1 billion plan months ago, prompting Kaine to declare the issue all but dead until after the 2007 elections. But the governor said yesterday that he revived the tax-increase plan because he has a new sense of optimism that his Republican adversaries will stop bickering and negotiate in good faith.

In a speech to business executives in Herndon, Kaine said that a fed-up public is demanding action from its state government. And he predicted that election-year pressures will help state lawmakers reach a compromise as they gather in Richmond on Wednesday for the start of the General Assembly session.

"I wasn't going to stay out of it. I wasn't born with a reverse gear. But I wasn't that optimistic," Kaine said yesterday of his state of mind after efforts failed last year. "The good news is . . . they realize, you know what, we've got to do something."

To jump-start the debate, the governor proposed pumping $850 million a year into the state's clogged transportation system by raising the sales tax on vehicles, increasing auto registration fees and imposing new fines on serious auto infractions. Most Virginia drivers would pay about $20 more in years when they don't buy a new car, he said.

Kaine also said he will again push to give local officials broad powers to slow growth if a region's road system is too crowded. And he urged lawmakers to pass a constitutional amendment barring the use of transportation money for other state government purposes.

"We're either serious about funding transportation, or we're not," Kaine told the crowd at the Center for Innovative Technology near Dulles International Airport. Leaving the transportation financing issue to local officials would be "an abdication of responsibility" by the state government, he said, adding, "We've got too many people who believe there are free lunches."

Last year, the General Assembly session stretched far beyond its 60-day limit, ending in late June after lawmakers agreed to give up on reaching a transportation compromise. Attempts to resolve the stalemate at a week-long special session in September also failed.

Republican lawmakers who blocked Kaine and his allies from imposing new taxes last year vowed yesterday to do the same this year.

"It seems like just yesterday this governor was breaking his campaign promise to not raise taxes less than a week after taking his inaugural oath," said Leo C. Wardrup Jr. (R-Virginia Beach), chairman of the House Transportation Committee. "But here he is again, proposing a huge statewide tax increase that he promoted in town hall meetings across the state and still failed to win public or legislative support."

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) said Kaine's transportation proposal "relies on the same ideas that have proven unsuccessful in the past. . . . While the people of Virginia want something done about transportation, they are not prepared to pay higher taxes, either."

Kaine's proposal on growth also came under fire yesterday from the state's powerful home-building industry, which said the plan would drive up the cost of houses and increase sprawl as construction spreads to areas farther from congested communities.

In a two-page analysis, the Home Builders Association of Virginia declared the idea "neither a populist fix nor a solution to the transportation crisis." The group's executive director, Mike Toalson, vowed to stop the legislation again this year.

"We will fight this absolutely," he said yesterday.

But Kaine's determination to address the traffic issue -- especially in Northern Virginia -- was applauded by local officials and business groups.

"I don't know how you could argue with that," former Fairfax Chamber of Commerce chairman Michael Anzilotti said after the governor's speech. "You cannot get through this session again without getting something done. We're not going to tolerate it."

John B. Townsend II, a spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said, "This year, Governor Kaine's transportation revenue proposal will give [lawmakers] the chance to redeem themselves and, if enacted, will spare commuters from the consequences of Virginia's worsening transportation funding crisis."

And David Guernsey, chairman of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, said reluctant lawmakers should think twice before rejecting Kaine's proposals out of hand.

"I'm not sure I'd want to go into the elections doing nothing," he said, noting that all 140 seats in the General Assembly will be up for election Nov. 6.

Some Virginia Republicans agree with that assessment and are pushing their colleagues in the legislature to find a transportation plan they can embrace.

The new transportation push by Kaine comes as Republican leaders in the General Assembly are engaged in private discussions aimed at finding common ground on taxes, a topic that has divided the GOP for years and threatens to cause problems for some lawmakers in coming elections.

"There are some positive discussions happening right now. It's too early to say how far they will go," Kaine said. The talks "are to be encouraged. It's good to see them happening."