By David S. Kerr

Published: April 23, 2008

Normally the Republicans don’t ask me for advice.  I can understand, and what’s more, most of the time they seem to get along just fine without my help. However, Virginia’s Republican Party is in trouble and if it doesn’t do something, and soon, it’s going to be, politically at least, on the outside looking in.

Republicans have lost several statewide elections in a row, but their most surprising setbacks were in last year’s General Assembly races. The Democrats took control of the Senate and shaved the GOP’s once massive lead in the House of Delegates down to just five seats. When election time comes around again in 2009 that Republican majority in the House of Delegates, once insurmountable, might be trouble. 

That is, unless the Republicans, and in particular the majority in the House of Delegates, address the one issue that has hurt them so badly during the past few years: transportation funding. 

The Republicans have managed, through their almost knee-jerk reaction to any new revenue source, to give their Democratic opponents the one gift they couldn’t find themselves, and that’s a wedge issue. While philosophically the basic principles of the Republican Party are probably still in line with Virginia’s political character, all politicians of every persuasion worry about transportation. Unfortunately, this is the one issue where Virginia’s Republicans have had a tough time getting it right. All those once-friendly supporters in the business community and the outer suburbs now aren’t so likely to vote Republican at the state level. And the reason is transportation.

The problem is surprisingly simple. Our road construction, whether it’s the widening of Route 610, fixing a pothole on U.S. 1, or building a new interchange on Interstate 95, is done by the Virginia Department of Transportation. It’s a big job, and roadwork of any kind isn’t cheap. Unfortunately, the state hasn’t been funding VDOT like it should. In just a few years, unless Virginia can identify a stable source of new revenue to support capital improvements, the Commonwealth will have just enough money to take care of the roads we have and nothing more.

Last year the Republican majority in the General Assembly passed a transportation bill. It wasn’t necessarily a bad bill, but nothing in it worked out as planned. The drivers’ abuser fees, one source of new revenue, proved so unpopular that they probably cost three or four Republican senators and delegates their seats.  The Assembly, fortunately, repealed the fees during its most recent session. Both Gov. Tim Kaine and the Assembly had egg on their faces over that one. However, the core of the bill, a provision giving regional transportation authorities the power to collect taxes for road improvements, was ruled unconstitutional by the Virginia Supreme Court. This was probably a good ruling, but all at once the transportation bill had no revenue source.

That brings the Commonwealth back to the drawing board. Legislators during this most recent session of the General Assembly didn’t have time to engage in a serious debate on transportation. That’s why, sometime later this year Gov. Kaine is going to call a special session. This will afford the chance to address the issue, make some decisions, and possibly, begin to solve our road funding problem. It could also be where the Republican Party, particularly in the House, could begin to reverse their lagging political prospects.  If they are willing to take leadership, enact some kind of new revenue source to fund capital improvements for road transportation (and that includes additional funding for VRE and Metro) then this is the time.  If they succeed, the Democrats, optimistic as they look to 2009, will lose their wedge issue.

The Republican majority in the House of Delegates should look to the example of one of the 20th Century’s most successful presidents. In 1983, Ronald Reagan, under pressure to find a way to repair America’s decaying infrastructure, proposed a 5-cent a gallon increase in the gas tax. Since we weren’t quite out of the oil crisis of the late 1970s, it wasn’t popular, but in his comments, Reagan called it a “user fee” - a price drivers had to pay to have good roads. While he took it on the chin from conservatives, for the most part it is considered by Reagan fans as one of those tough decisions that helped define his presidency.
Back in 1983 Reagan had it right. If the Republicans in the General Assembly can follow his example, they might, in spite of themselves, get it right as well, and at the same time keep their majority and maybe reverse their downward spiral.

David S. Kerr is an Aquia resident and a former member of the Stafford County School Board. Contact him at info@stafford countysun.com.