Republicans urge Kaine role on roads

Virginia Republicans say Gov. Timothy M. Kaine should play a bigger role in helping lawmakers reach a compromise on the transportation budget.

“It is game time now,” Delegate L. Scott Lingamfelter, Prince William County Republican, told The Washington Times. “All the pre-game rhetoric is done with. I think the governor has to decide now to get behind the plan that has the best chance of passing. That is the House Republicans’ plan.”

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican, said Mr. Kaine has been “missing in action” and thinks he and fellow Democrats would rather see talks fail so they can rip Republicans this fall when all 140 seats of the General Assembly are up for election.

“I’m not sure what role he has played,” Mr. Bolling said. “When you look at it, the only thing he has done has been counterproductive.”

Mr. Bolling said Mr. Kaine offered a transportation proposal last month that was almost identical to a plan rejected last year.

Kevin Hall, Mr. Kaine’s spokesman, shrugged off the criticism.

“Governor Kaine has been and will continue to be actively in the discussion he prompted 14 months ago,” Mr. Hall said. “The governor has worked closely with leaders from both parties in both chambers through what is a legislative process, and will continue to urge the leadership to work toward a consensus.”

The transportation fight, largely among Republican leaders in the General Assembly, has dominated state politics since Mr. Kaine took office last year.

Political insiders say disgruntled Republicans are either not closely involved in negotiations or are ignoring the progress made this legislative session.

The House and Senate have reached a general agreement on borrowing $2 billion, regional plans for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, raising fees on abusive drivers, a $10 annual increase in car registration fees, and a 1.5-cent increase in the diesel fuel tax.

With a little more than a week left before the end of the session, the sticking point is whether to pay for transportation projects with money from the state’s general operating fund. The pot of money, built on sales and income taxes, is used primarily for schools, police and human-services programs.

House Republican leaders propose allocating $250 million a year for roads from the general fund.

A bipartisan group of senators, made up of six Republicans and all 17 Democrats, balked at the proposal this week.

The group, led by Finance Chairman John H. Chichester, Northumberland Republican, replaced the general fund money with a $150 fee on first-time new and used car purchases. It would raise an estimated $330 million a year.

Supporters of the plan, including Mr. Kaine, warn that a pledge of $250 million a year from the general fund would pit transportation projects against core services such as education if the economy sours. As a result, they say, the Virginia Department of Transportation’s six-year plan would be based on an unpredictable funding source.

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