“Tweaks” to Virginia’s transportation bills push local governments to pay their fair share for transit

TRANSIT By Wyatt Gordon (Virginia Correspondent) May 4, 2020

After a whirlwind General Assembly session during which the Virginia legislature reviewed thousands more bills than ever before, Governor Ralph Northam finally had his chance to weigh in. Although the vast majority of amendments proffered were technical in nature, where the Governor did alter bills the changes he sent back to lawmakers were significant — including making sure local governments maintain their transportation funding as the state rolled out huge plans for rail and other public transit.

No change is good change

Northam’s expansive transportation omnibus choc-full of goodies such as a new statewide passenger rail authority and a pilot program for zero-fare transit remained largely unchanged. Tweaks to the bill were mostly technical or added in policy that was agreed upon in debate and negotiations but not reflected in the formally adopted language.

Such items include a slightly lower diesel tax for a year, an affirmation that the new rail authority can enter into interstate compacts, and an acceleration of recordation taxes for localities outside NoVA. The lack of major changes to the governor’s signature transportation legislation was well received by the Capital Region’s business community.

“The comprehensive transportation legislation that Governor Northam worked hand-in-hand with General Assembly leaders to pass this year provides a national example of how to modernize, optimize and improve the performance of our transportation system,” said Joe McAndrew of the Greater Washington Partnership. “From adding additional funding resources for statewide multimodal investments, to increasing funding for Northern Virginia and Richmond metro areas to address their critical transportation investments, this year’s work marks another banner year for Virginia that will generate strong returns for many years.”

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