Have a Great Weekend!

I-81 Regional Transportation Authority

Sen. Emmett W. Hanger Jr., R-Mount Solon, is considering legislation that will study the creation of an I-81 Regional Transportation Authority. To find out more, check out this article by Bob Gibson of the Daily Progress.

Hanger believes the authority would be able to levy tolls but not raise taxes. It would oversee the entire road from Frederick County to Bristol. Apparently, the STAR Solutions plan is likely to be scrapped due to cost.

Hanger also believes that Regional Transportation Authorities are likely to play a big role in the future of transportation in the Commonwealth. He was quoted in the article as saying, “Tolls are an appropriate user fee that conservative Republicans can rally behind.”

In another article, Sen. Charles Hawkins was quoted as saying, "I think this is one of the most important things (transportation) we've got to deal with in the next 50 years, next hundred years."

He went on to say, "The people in the technology industry who are there (NOVA) for convenience - they don't have a history there, they don't have family ties - will start looking at options other than staying in Northern Virginia. Once you start that trend, Northern Virginia loses momentum, and that momentum has paid a lot of bills in Virginia, which helps our tax rate stabilize. ..."

Note to Sen. Hawkins - it's already happening. I work in a real estate related field in NOVA and I speak with 10-15 homeowners a week who are selling their homes. I would say at least 1 in 4 say they are moving out of the region because of traffic and congestion.

Rail To Dulles

Finally, a deal has been reached that will extend Metrorail service to Dulles International Airport.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) will finance the project using revenue generated from the Dulles Toll Road. The rail line is expected to be completed by 2015.

It appears as though it is mainly a state/federal project with localities having very little input into the project. Gerald E. Connolly, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors was quoted as saying, "There is no mechanism in this proposal for our having any input in this whatsoever."

On Monday the the Fairfax County board passed a resolution calling for both Loudoun and Fairfax to have a voice on construction, maintenance, operations, improvements and future toll increases.

For the complete story, please click here. Also, the The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority website has several documents pertaining to the agreement. The can be found here.

The official press release from the MWAA states that the Airports Authority Dulles Corridor Proposal will:

· Expedite completion of the Dulles Metrorail project in the Corridor to Dulles Airport and beyond to Route 772 in Loudoun County;

· Acquire from the Commonwealth its easements in the Corridor, including the Dulles Toll Road all of which is constructed on them;

· Take all operation responsibility, including toll rate-setting, for the Toll Road;

· Assume all outstanding debt on the Toll Road;

· Take responsibility for the Commonwealth's remaining share of financing for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Dulles Metrorail project;

· Finance and construct needed improvements to the Toll Road and Dulles Corridor; and

· Retain for transportation uses in the Dulles Corridor all revenue generated by the Toll Road.

What is a Republican?

Old Zach over at Sic Semper Tyrannis has a good post up asking the question, What is a Republican?.

Check it out if you get a chance.

OPINION - From The Daily News Record

This letter appeared on The Daily-News Record's website on March 20, 2006. I figured I would post it for those that might be interested.

There’s No State Budget

Before Attorney General Bob McDonnell, Sen. Mark Obenshain, and Del. Matt Lohr get too caught up in a self-congratulatory victory lap for their legislative achievements ("McDonnell Touts Sexual Predator Bill," March 15), perhaps the voters need to remind them that we still don’t have a budget in place.

Our state has critical transportation needs, and Mr. Obenshain’s Republican controlled Senate and Mr. Lohr’s Republican controlled House of Representatives need to get back to Richmond and work out a sensible compromise that will provide a long-term solution to these problems. So please, let's hold the champagne until the real work gets done.

Don Roderick
Chair, Rockingham CountyDemocratic Committee

This letter appeared on http://www.dailynews-record.com/opinion_details.php?LID=1100

George Allen Update

Sen. George Allen has a very busy schedule this coming week. To read more please read this article from Tyler Whitley of the Richmond Times Dispatch.

This past weekend Allen was in Iowa speaking about how the Federal Government doesn't have a revenue problem but a spending problem. No kidding? The last I heard the war in Iraq was costing us $150 million a day.

FYI...Allen voted Thursday to raise the federal debt ceiling to $9 trillion. He really had no choice. If the ceiling hadn't been raised the government would have gone into default.

In order to control spending Allen believes that Congress needs to have constitutional amendments requiring a balanced budget and giving the president a line-item veto. I agree with the first, not so sure about the line-item veto. Wasn't the line-item veto ruled unconstitutional?

Allen spoke about domestic security and controlling illegal immigrants while in Iowa. Apparently he favors the idea of a security fence to keep illegal immigrants out of the country and he does not support amnesty for illegal immigrants who have worked here for several years.

To my surprise Allen does not favor a new South Dakota law that would ban all abortions. Like most folks, Allen believes abortions should be legal only if the life of the mother is at stake or if the mother was a victim of rape or incest.

Give 'Em Hell Harry Pt. 2

It appears as though Sen. Russ Potts should have saved the floor speech he made regarding the HOD dumping of former Del. Jim Dillard to the W&M Board of Visitors for later.

In case you don't remember, please check out this post from 2/14.

So what now? There is only one thing left to fight over - transportation.

They should put this fight on pay-per-view because it will be worth watching. If I were betting on the fight my money would be on the Senate and Governor. A tax increase will be passed and new sustainable revenue sources will be provided for transportation.

The Shenandoah Valley Network

A citizen group named The Shenandoah Valley Network has been formed to “educate” the public about the current Star Solution’s plan to widen I-81. To learn more, please read this article in today’s Richmond Times Dispatch.

I didn’t see a website for the group otherwise I would have posted it.

Some things that jumped out at me while reading the article:

-Traffic on the highway tripled in the last 20 years to about 60,000 vehicles per day.

-Tractor-trailers make up half the volume at times in some places.

-Growth rates are projected to bring traffic to a standstill at peak times by 2025.

Anyone who travels I-81 knows that traffic is bad. What’s more, it’s dangerous.

Fixing choke points along the highway is a good start. However, I tend to agree with Star Solutions when they say that in the long run the entire road will need to be widened.

This Is A Lot Of Beer

The Coors brewery located in the Shenandoah Valley is in the process of moving forty 20x70 foot stainless steel fermenting tanks from King George to Elkton. The tanks weigh 78,000 pounds each.

For complete coverage please click here and here.

Awesome.

Homeschooling

It’s big and getting bigger every day. To learn more, click here.

Among the things the article points out:

·Most home-schooled children remain overwhelmingly white and middle class.

·Requirements to home-school your children vary from state to state. Some states require parents that home-school their children to submit lesson plans periodically and some states leave you alone entirely.

·The number of children being home-schooled is growing 7-15 percent per year.

Reasons many parents choose to home school their kids:

·Concern about drugs, safety or negative peer pressure in public schools.

·Parents wanting to provide religious or moral instruction to their children.

·Overall dissatisfaction with academic standards in their local schools.

I am not sure how Virginia stacks up when it comes to allowing parents to home-school their kids. Does anyone know? Is it easy? Is it hard?