Virginia Vote

No member of Loudoun’s Richmond delegation has been put in a tougher position politically than Sen. Mark Herring (D-33) related to transportation talks at the General Assembly this year.

Herring voted against the House Transportation package last month but last week voted to approve the transportation bill as amended by Gov. Tim Kaine (D). While Herring voted against the original House transportation plan in the Senate, his Democratic colleagues from Loudoun didn’t provide him any cover in the House. Fellow Loudoun legislators Dave Poisson (D-32) and Chuck Caputo (D-67) voted in favor of the transportation plan in March, and again after Kaine amended the bill.

Not long after Herring offered support for the final bill, one of his potential Republican rivals came out swinging. John Andrews-who is in a primary battle with Patricia Phillips for the GOP nomination to face Herring-fired off a press release calling Herring a “flip-flopper.”

“I don’t see how he could change his mind on this so quickly,” Andrews said in a statement. “It must be that he chooses the politically correct thing, not the right thing.”

Herring said he knew that his vote on the original House transportation plan was one that could draw flak from his political opponents. But he expressed resolve this week concerning his transportation votes.

“I think I made very clear the reasons I voted against it,” Herring said. “The bill as drafted would have done nothing for Northern Virginia. I held out for a better plan and got it. I think the opponents that said I must have voted against it for political reasons, that’s the exact opposite of what happened. I wasn’t going to be intimidated by Republicans or anyone else into voting for something that I knew was unwise for the district. I was elected to make tough decisions and that’s what the people expect from me-strong leadership and principled stands.”

Herring said he was pleased that Kaine’s amendments addressed many of the concerns he had expressed.

“I was concerned over the way the bill was originally drafted,” he said. “The Northern Virginia portion was unworkable and would have meant no new money for Northern Virginia. I applaud his efforts to try and craft a bill that would work and could be implemented.

Republicans from both houses coordinated to propose the initial bill, which required localities to raise taxes. Kaine’s changes were intended, among other things, to limit the impact of the bill on the state general fund and divert responsibility for raising taxes to regional authorities in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

The House approved Kaine’s amendments on an 85-15 vote, while the Senate approved them on a 29-10 vote.

According to a spreadsheet provided by Kaine’s office, with full participation by localities, the bill could generate as much as $400 million in new revenue in FY 2008, $119 million of which would be for Northern Virginia. The first year of full implementation, FY 2009, would result in slightly more than $1 billion in new revenue statewide, of which $425 million would be generated and spent in Northern Virginia. Small growth in that new revenue each year is estimated to produce nearly $1.1 billion by FY 2013, with $445 million to be spent in Northern Virginia.

Herring isn’t the only Loudoun legislator facing an opponent who is using the transportation votes to gain political advantage. Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-13) consistently criticized the House transportation plan and voted against it before and after Kaine’s amendments. His Democratic opponent, Bruce Roemmelt, was quick to fire off his own salvo. Instead of criticizing Marshall himself, Roemmelt quotes a Prince William County Democrat attacking Marshall.

Marshall “put politics and his own idiosyncratic personal agenda above the needs of his constituents by saying that it is all right to do nothing about the most critical issues facing our region, gridlock.”

Retiring Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr. (R-27) joined Marshall as the only two Loudoun legislators to vote against the transportation bill before and after Kaine drafted amendments.