Bill Howell’s plans, and the GOP’s choice

The House of Delegates (or, to be more precise, the House Rules Committee) will take up the multifaceted tax increase (including the hidden, secret ones) passed by the Senate Democrats last night.  Odds are, the bill will die, which would be a good thing.  That’s not the end of the story though.

Amidst the whirl and rush over the Senate bill, people are beginning to notice that the House GOP has (publicly, at least) presented nothing.  As the session drags on, the calls for the House to show “leadership” will continue to grow.  I’d normally, start ripping MSM and the Democrats for this (they’ll be making said calls), but for my certain belief that Speaker Bill Howell has anticipated this all along – and is merely waiting to spring the return of HB3202 as his “compromise” solution.

Why do I say this?  Simple; every other option to fund transportation has been quietly killed by Speaker Howell.

To see what I mean, take a look at the bills presented by Delegate Bob Marshall (LIS).  He has a measure to implement the Wilder Commission’s recommendations for efficiencies in government (HJ 6061), a bill to find efficiencies in the Transportation Department (HB 6032), and one near and dear to my heart, a bill that closes the door on adding subdivision streets to the maintenance grid (HB 6041).  They all share two things in common: they can hold down the cost of government in order to enable existing transportation needs to be met, and they are all languishing in Bill Howell’s House Rules Committee.  Bills 6061 and 6041(the better two, IMHO) haven’t even made it to a Rules Committee docket.

In other words, Howell is buring any alternative to tax increases. To me, that’s simply more evidence that he has his own tax increase waiting in the wings.  I’m not alone either (DC Examiner):

(University of Mary Washington Professor Stephen J.) Farnsworth expected any compromise to be centered on a patch for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, the two regions that won millions of dollars in new transportation funding last year only to see the mechanism for collecting those taxes thrown out by the Virginia Supreme Court in February.

Lest anyone forget, none other than Attorney General and presumtive GOP gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell told the Washington Post, “I think the regional fixes are doable.”

So while the attention will be on the Senate bill today, I’m guessing the time will come when Howell will ask the Republican Delegates to swallow some form of tax increase.  Then the Delegates will have to ask themselves: Who is more important to them, their Speaker or their voters?

Cross-posted to the right-wing liberal