Hurt on the transportation issue

By ROBERT HURT
Published: June 22, 2008

There are those who argue that the commonwealth is facing a transportation crisis and that massive statewide tax increases must be imposed now to address this statewide crisis. Likewise, there are those who argue that we are not facing a transportation crisis and that the commonwealth should live within its means while addressing future transportation needs.

As I consider the governor’s proposal, I ultimately will be guided by what I believe is best for the constituents I represent — the hard- working people of Southside Virginia. I believe we need a good road system in our area of the state that allows our people and our businesses to move efficiently and safely from place to place. I also believe that our people are willing to pay for good roads.

But they believe that the government should be wise stewards of the tax revenue entrusted to it for the support of our road system, and they do not wish to pay a penny more than necessary to achieve this end.

This common-sense prudence is especially important at this time when the price of everything from a gallon of gasoline to a loaf of bread has risen dramatically in recent months. These are uncertain times, and families and businesses are literally struggling to keep up.

People know what’s wrong

As I travel across my district, I spend a fair amount of time on our major roads — U.S. 29 and U.S. 58. I also spend a fair amount of time on all the roads in between — including routes 41, 360, 57 and 40. I believe that generally speaking, we have very good roads here in Southside Virginia — and from my talks with constituents all across my district, I believe most people would agree. I also believe that our local VDOT employees should be commended for the work they do in maintaining these good roads.

In addition, I believe that it is important to remember that the commonwealth of Virginia recently has provided hundreds of millions of dollars for the bypasses around Danville.

Even more recently, we have completed the bypasses around Clarksville and Stuart, and the bypass around Lynchburg. Consistent with our highest priority in Southside Virginia, these improvements have been critical to our economic development efforts and in supporting our growing businesses.

And while there are important specific road and bridge projects throughout Southside Virginia that must be addressed — including the Robertson Bridge and the Route 41 connector to the Danville Expressway — I believe that they will be addressed in due course.

I believe it is an exaggeration to say that we in Southside Virginia face anything like a transportation “crisis.”

And while I rarely, if ever, hear complaints about the quality of our road system here in Southside Virginia, I do hear complaints. Perhaps the most frequent complaint I have heard over the years concerns the price of gasoline and diesel fuel. With the price of fuel rising dramatically every day, my constituents have repeatedly expressed frustration — if not disgust — with the failure of our federal government to enact a meaningful energy policy in this country. It is hard to even comprehend how our farmers and our businesses — especially our small business — have been able to cope with these crippling prices. In addition to the increased cost of gasoline, our families have to deal with the increase in price of everything that requires the use of fuel to get it to the point of sale. Other concerns that I regularly hear relating to our transportation system deal with the inefficiency of VDOT and its reputation for fixing things that don’t need to be fixed and for not using its resources in a business-like manner. I believe that to disregard these prevailing concerns during the upcoming legislative session would be irresponsible.

Helping “the urbans”

As we head to Richmond, our first order of business will be to deal with the governor’s proposal, which would be provide new dollars for transportation by sharply increasing the grantor’s tax on real estate, increasing the cost of vehicle registration, and increasing the sales tax on motor vehicles. The governor would dedicate the new revenue to increasing the funds available for road maintenance and speeding up the construction of new road projects across the commonwealth. It appears that the leadership in the Virginia Senate is advocating a statewide gasoline tax increase and that the leadership in the House of Delegates is advocating a regional plan that would allow Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to raise revenues locally to build roads to meet the particular needs in the more urban areas of the commonwealth.

At this time, I am not convinced that raising taxes is justified. I believe that increasing taxes now would harm our families and our businesses at a time when we more than ever need to encourage growth and investment. However, I recognize that we in Southside benefit from a good road system all across the commonwealth, and this means that it is in our best interest for those of us in the more rural areas to assist those Virginians in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads in solving their own transportation problems. I look forward to working with our local delegation and with legislators all across the commonwealth in the next week to address this important issue.

• Hurt represents Pittsylvania County, Danville, Franklin County and a portion of Campbell County in the Virginia Senate.