It Looks Like We're Heading For Overtime
It's almost assured Gov. Kaine will call a special session to address transportation woes in the Commonwealth.
Kaine and the Senate appear to be close to agreement on a sustainable funding package for transportation. However, it appears that the House is not going to raise taxes and is willing to do whatever it takes to hold the line.
To make a long story short, the House wants to use "surplus" money from last year's tax increase to fund a series of transportation projects. The Senate on the other hand wants to create a sustainable source of revenue to fund projects now and in the future.
On Monday, the House Finance Committee killed a bill that would have raised taxes on sales of motor vehicles from 3 percent to 5 percent. In addition, they killed a bill to raise the tax on insurance premiums from 2.25 percent to 4.5 percent. These taxes would have raised $2 Billion over four years.
I don't like taxes, but if we need a sustainable source of money for roads, taxing those who buy cars seems to be a practical way of doing it. Roads are built for cars. It would make sence that cars help pay for the roads at some point in the equation.
I guess the big question will be, which House members, if any, will buckle under the pressure to do something about transportation?
posted by RBV @ 9:04 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I agree sustainable revenue is needed to fund long-term transportation projects. Even so, what we need is a new approach. I think we probably have enough money now if we just used it better. New roads arent going to fix anything. Once we develop a new strategy, if we find we need more money then we can find it; not before.
Ed -
Great point. Alcohol & tobacco should be taxed at a higher rate than they currently are.
Gambling is a double-edged sword. If I did not live less than 25 miles from a casino (Charles Town) I would agree that the state could generate some $$ from gambling receipts. However, The State of West Virginia is set to pass a bill that will allow table gaming, i.e., blackjack, roulette, craps, etc. At present they only have slot machines.
Suppose you have two casinos 50 miles apart. One in WV, one in MD or VA. One has table games and the other just has slots. Which one do you think will prosper?
This is one of the dilemmas Maryland is in when it comes to legalizing slots. They know (at least the legislature does) that if they legalize slots West Virginia will simply legalize table gaming, thus making MD's casino's obsolete, in a sense.
I checked out Penn Gaming's 2004 Annual Report (the most recent available) and Charles Town Races & Slots generated $400,129,000 in revenue. Yes, that's almost a half billion dollars! Here is the link, http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=120420&p=irol-irhome.
They added more slots in 2005 so I would assume revenues are up even higher.
I have no idea what the State of West Virginia took in in terms of tax receipts but I bet it was a nice chunk of change.
Perhaps the commonwealth should reconsider it's stance on "gaming".
Post a Comment
<< Home