Things are starting to heat up in Richmond now that the House Republicans have released their proposed budget, which slashes millions of dollars from education, health care, public safety and other core services while still failing to meet Virginia’s long-term transportation needs.
The urgent need to fix our failing transportation system is driving this year’s budget process. We need to reduce congestion and improve public transit so we can spend less time stuck in traffic or on the Metro, have more time with our families, and keep our economy strong well into the future. Unfortunately, effective transportation systems cost money – a lot of money. According to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, Northern Virginia alone needs an additional $664 million per year for the next 25 years to improve our road and rail systems in ways that will actually reduce congestion and commute times.
To meet that need without raiding money for education and other priorities, we need long-term dedicated funding streams for transportation. Unfortunately, the House Republican budget plan falls short. It provides for a relatively paltry amount of money for transportation – just $630 million for each of two years – and fails to include long-term dedicated funding sources. Moreover, it uses debt issued from money that would otherwise go toward education and social services to pay for a few transportation projects that amount to political pork for a handful of delegates.
Both Governor Kaine and the Senate have offered responsible budget plans that dedicate nearly $1 billion each year to transportation without raiding the general fund or saddling our children with debt. We are just now beginning the process of three-dimensional chess that is negotiating and reconciling the competing budget proposals. I will continue to fight for a budget that includes sufficient long-term dedicated funding for transportation without raiding the general fund or asking our children to pay our bills.
Speaking of the budget, I wanted to share my dismay at some of the fiscal choices we have made so far this session. I believe that budgets are moral documents through which we decide whom to lift up and whom to leave out. This year, the House of Delegates chose to completely eliminate the estate tax in Virginia, which means we will lose $120 million in annual revenue in order to benefit about 1,000 of the wealthiest Virginians. Contrast that with our failure to adopt the budget amendment I offered to increase foster care payments for the roughly 8,000 foster children in Virginia, which would have cost about $3 million per year. I’m proud to say that I voted against House Bill 40, which repealed the estate tax, and I look forward to the day when a majority of legislators would prefer to put $3 million toward helping 8,000 foster children rather than $120 million toward helping 1,000 wealthy Virginians.
As the budget process continues, I hope you will contact me at 804-698-1045 or DelDEnglin@house.state.va.us to share your views.
