Wanted to alert readers to my latest Bacon’s Rebellion column on the new sales tax proposals rumored to be floating about in Richmond these days as “solutions” to closing the transportation budget gap:
“Virginians, hold on to your wallets. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and the General Assembly are looking for ways to close the large and growing transportation funding gap, and the only ideas we’re hearing in Richmond these days involve variations on the tax-hike theme. Before considering a variety of sales tax increases of 20 percent and higher, there should be a fundamental rethink of current transportation policy and planning to ensure that we’re taking advantage of every opportunity for more efficient infrastructure delivery.
Where do we start?”
You’ll have to read the whole thing for the long answer, but the short answer is performance-based planning to prioritize congestion relief, more contracting for highway and bridge maintenance, and a far more aggressive pursuit of PPPs for new capacity. See Reason’s other transportation work here.