In a report released on Monday, the Southern Environmental
Law Center (SELC) confirmed what Virginians have long known: Virginia’s process
for building roads doesn’t make much sense. However, the report highlights some
of the glaring reasons why Virginia’s road-building process is so backwards.[1]
According to SELC’s report, more independent oversight and
increased transparency is needed to ensure the increasingly public-private
partnerships to fund major road projects serve the interests of the
commonwealth and its inhabitants.
In their report, SELC further noted that through the 1995
Public-Private Transportation Act, decision-making authority for road projects
has increasingly come under the umbrella of Virginia’s governor. The act does
not require authorization from the Virginia legislature to approve a road
project. Just as concerning, the act is being increasingly used to bankroll
road projects as the commonwealth runs dry on money for new construction.
Jim Regimbal, the study’s author, recommends the General
Assembly take back some of the authority by requiring legislative approval of
state subsidies on each road project and whenever tolls are proposed.[2]
According to Del. Jimmie Massie, however, “The practical
effect of that [greater inclusion of the Virginia legislature in the
road-building process] would be to kill the program.”[3]
Regimbal’s recommendation may also be a problem because it
seems that many of Virginia’s legislators are all too willing to shift
responsibility, and the potential for political liability, to the governor’s
office. Especially considering the non-tax political platforms of many
Republicans in the General Assembly and the governorship of fellow Republican,
Bob McDonnell, the incentive for Republican legislators in particular to “pass
the buck” to the governor on road projects seems considerable enough. On the one
hand, you’re raising state revenues while avoiding the stigma of increasing
taxes.
But as Virginia has tightened its belt financially, big
spending projects with little transparency are being scrutinized more and more.
As Regimbal stated in the SELC report, “How was the decision arrived at
concerning the allocation of state funds between the tunnel projects and the
new Route 460?”[4]
It’s a good question and it’s one that Virginians will want answered sooner
rather than later, accompanied by a real solution that weds transparency with
doing what’s right for the public.
[1] http://hamptonroads.com/2012/11/roadbuilding-process-flawed-study-contends-0
[2] http://hamptonroads.com/2012/11/roadbuilding-process-flawed-study-contends-0
[3] http://hamptonroads.com/2012/11/roadbuilding-process-flawed-study-contends-0
[4] http://hamptonroads.com/2012/11/roadbuilding-process-flawed-study-contends-0
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