Deeds open to tax increase for transportation
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Ask the candidate : Creigh Deeds
Ask the candidate : Creigh Deeds
BOB BROWN/TIMES-DISPATCH
Deeds in 2008 voted to support a statewide Senate transportation plan that included an increase in the state gas tax.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds today said that if the General Assembly passed a bill to fund the state’s transportation needs that included an increase in taxes, he would sign it.
But the state senator from Bath County said he would not sign a transportation bill that took money from education or other “general fund priorities” to fund the plan.
“People can look at my record and know that I’m willing to make tough choices,“ Deeds said during a live, online chat on TimesDispatch.com.
Deeds in 2008 voted to support a statewide Senate transportation plan that included an increase in the state gas tax.
Deeds was asked: “If you’re governor and you get a bill that funds transportation in some form of either general or non-general fund tax increase, will you sign it?“
Deeds responded by saying he is committed to working with the next General Assembly to “get past the obstructionist viewpoints that have blocked progress on the issue” and build consensus “around a series of ideas that allow us to fund transportation. Ad yes, I will sign that bill.
“What I will do and what I’ll commit to do right now is work with whomever is in the General Assembly after January. Because we’ve got to get past the obstructionist viewpoints that have blocked progress on the issue of transportation. What I will do is work with Democrats and Republicans to build consensus around a series of ideas that allow us to fund transportation, and yes, I will sign that bill.
“What I will not do is take money away from existing general fund priorities,“ Deeds added.
“My opponent has released a plan that takes $5.4 billion, essentially out of education over the next 10 years. You won’t see me with that kind of approach. Democrats and Republicans alike have said that kind of approach is dead on arrival,“ Deeds continued.
Republican candidate Bob McDonnell has proposed a dozen mechanisms to fund transportation, including privatization of ABC stores and placing tolls on Interstate 85 and 95 to be paid by drivers entering the commonwealth from North Carolina.
“My plan will work because I’ll bring people together around a series of ideas that I think can get transportation resolved,“ Deeds added.
“What those ideas are, that’s going to be the question that we have to develop a consensus around the idea of transportation. I’ll sign a bill that funds transportation. I won’t take money away from existing priorities. I won’t take money away from education.“
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Reader Reactions
Justchance, SHHhhhh! You’re making too much sense! People around here don’t take too kindly to that kind of talk. Of course, everybody wants something for nothing and transportation is no exception. Most simpletons will not look past their “ideals” (which dictate that they must be opposed to any tax, ever) to realize that the money needs to come from someplace and, one way or another, we’re going to end up paying for it. Frankly, I believe a gas tax is the best solution. Don’t want to pay it? Don’t drive.
Then, if you really want to stick it to The Man, get yourself a bicycle and use the roads for free… no wait, that sounds like work and sacrifice.
Nevermind.
A gasoline (consumption) tax is about the smartest, most productive tax there is. Income (production) taxes are about the worst. General sales taxes fall in between.
Making I-95 ten lanes is the stupidest idea I’ve heard lately. Everywhere across America, the more you pave, the more traffic you get. We don’t need to pave another inch of our fair Commonwealth. What we do need is to use the land we’ve already consumed more wisely. Don’t hold your breath.
The plain truth is that we are about three years or so from hitting bottom in transportation, at which point there will be no money for new construction. Nobody, whether D or R, disputes that.
While we don’t have gridlock here like in NOVA or HR, it’s easy to see it coming.
The fix is to find around $400-500mm a year of dedicated income. The only means to get to that number is a general tax increase on everybody, an increase in sales tax, an increase in the .175 gasoline tax, or user fees like tolls. Or some combination.
McDonnell knows this, but he cannot say so. That’s why the ABC thing was pretty slick - it kind of gets people thinking about something else, but it isn’t real and he knows it. You might get a one time pop, but you’d lose store profits and just cause other losses.
Again, you need $400-500mm new money per year to be able to construct roads. That means NEW money, not shifting money.
So I think that Deeds is being honest and forthright, and not a chameleon. And you know what? That’s leadership.
Consider this: North Carolina and Maryland have much higher gasoline taxes, yet the price at the pump is about the same as here. What that means is that the gasoline distribution chain absorbs the increase. Or looking at it another way, we’re just letting that chain fleece us.
Do you feel like you are subsidizing NC or Maryland residents when you fuel up there? No, you don’t because you didn’t even realize the tax difference.
There are studies on this, and the GA knows it. Within about 2 years a gasoline tax will be absorbed. It is the smartest and fairest way of getting the needed funds, because it is a user fee in effect and some portion will indeed come from out of state pockets.
But ideology is all that matters these days, not realism or fiscal prudence.
Here’s another example, last year the GA tried to push the cost of roads onto the LOCAL governments - let THEM raise the taxes, just so the GA could claim to be against tax increases.
I think an increase in taxes on everybody in the state to pay for road systems being swamped by runaway subdivisions is a bad idea. A sales tax increase isn’t much better. But I can live with toll and/or a gasoline tax increase.
I don’t really care for taxes, or tolls, or interstates.
Tolls need to be on any roads coming into Virginia from the North, not the South. Damn near every car on 495, 395 and 95 have MD, PA, NY, MA or NJ tags on them.
Finally, an honest Democrat. Not very smart, but honest.
I think that Deeds misses an opportunity to demonstrate leadership on transportation. Virginia’s roadways are in great need of funding, especially I-95. I drive I-95 between Richmond and Maryland every week and its almost always a nightmare. Many Virginians would go along with a transportation tax increase if a leader revealed how the transportation management system will be changed to make the best use of financial resources. Let the out-of-state drivers pay higher gas taxes. VDOT has to change and become more efficient. New tollroads needs to be part of the discussion. I-95 between Richmond and DC is horrible and better rail service, while part of the fix, is not the only solution. I-95 needs to be five lanes + expanded high-occupancy lanes from the beltway to Fredericksburg just to handle routine traffic, not peak loads. Put a toll on I-95; I’m going to pay on way or the other - either through tolls or wasted gas in stop and go driving. Build a new toll road that parallels US 301 in Virginia and Maryland that skirts DC to the south and connects with I-97, I’ll pay the tolls gladly and will save money on wasted gasoline.
We’ll never see high speed rail in Virginia except maybe for the “special” people in in NOVA. The railroads run through the middle of small towns throughout the state and with the mountains, there is no other place to put them. High speed trains through small towns with crossings will never work. BE REALISTIC.
A Democrat campaigning he may raise taxes? Didn’t he get the memo from the DNC? Deny, deny, deny you will raise taxes. Then when elected, cry you “had no idea” of the mess the previous guy left you and then go back on your campaign promise.
It worked for Obama.
If Craig Deeds wants to advance up the ladder in the Democrat Party, he must learn to lie better.
People want their free parking and free road construction and our current system hides costs well enough that nobody wants to raise the fees for these services. They think of it as an unfair tax. But road infrastructure is expensive to maintain and the most equitable way of paying for it is through user fees like the motor fuel tax. By keeping it too low, we’re enforcing a price control regime on road use, distorting the market and causing supply shortage. Do you know who enforces price controls? Socialists. So fight the gas tax if you want, just remember that you are asking for socialized roads because you can’t bear the thought of raising the user fee for a service that you’ve grown to rely on.
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