The House of Delegates passed a substitute version of HB 6055 tonight on a 51-45 vote. This bill is NOT the one sponsored by Del. Phil Hamilton, rather it is a floor substitute proposed by Del. Glenn Oder of Newport News along with an amendment from Del. Bob Marshall.
Some quick observations:
In NoVA, more funding for Metro, including future funding for Prince William County mass transit improvements;
More funding for the VRE, specifically in PWC and with regard to new jobs going to Fort Belvoir as a result of BRAC;
Making congestion reduction a priority in determining what road construction projects to undertake (YAY!!!) ;
Movement on lots of specific Hampton Roads area projects including the third crossing.
I’ll wait for more thorough analysis, but it appears that the various provisions with regard to the ability of regional authorities to compel their members to increase taxes has been jettisoned.
Folks, we may have gotten a decent bill here.
UPDATE: Also just noted that the House passed HB 6006 that dedicates any revenues or royalties from future offshore oil and gas drilling to the transportation trust fund.
Both these bills now move to the Senate Finance Cmte. chaired by Sen. Chuck Colgan of PWC.
Filed under: Republicans, Taxes, Transportation, Virginia General Assembly, Virginia Politics
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