Seven More Organisation Recommend Transportation Plan

Transportation plan

The Northern Virginia organisation of Realtors and the Residence & Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington have endorsed Gov. Bob McDonnell’s plan for funding more than $4 billion in road, rail and some other transportation projects across the state.

The groups were among seven business and transportation associations that announced their support for the plan previous week. The other association were the Virginia Auto Dealers Association, AAA Mid-Atlantic, Virginia Association of Roofing Professionals, Retail Alliance and Virginia Business Council.

Earlier, 36 organizations had recommended McDonnell’s plan.

The Republican governor’s proposal would need the state to borrow money to fund the transportation projects. Critics, notably Democrats, say they oppose the plan in part because they don’t like Virginia to go into debt.

Mary Beth Coya, senior vice president for public and government respond for the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, said the group has been an advocate for more funding for transportation and that this is an initial step.

“Our members, the home buyers and the selling public that we serve spend too many valuable hours stuck in traffic. This is the time that could be spent with our families or being more profitable in our jobs,” Coya said.

The governor said his proposal would help Northern Virginia and other regions by fast up road construction, providing employment, easing congestion and boosting economic growth.

The proposal includes an employee tax credit for telecommuting and a tax incentive for companies that use water and rail, instead of trucks, to ship cargo.

McDonnell’s transportation plan would fund nearly 900 projects statewide. The plan would be funded by about $3 billion in bonds. Also, a 0.25% sales tax in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads would be used for projects in that areas.

Democrats fear that diverting sales tax revenues to transportation will take money away from education and public safety. House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong (D-10th District) also said the governor’s bond proposal would “run up impressive amounts of debt.”

However, Coya said low interest rates make this a favorable time to sell bonds.

“We expect to see proposals in the future for new funding sources that will address the magnitude of our transportation problem without harming the resources we need for education and other key government services,” Coya said.