Special Session Day Four: Appalling

Well, that didn’t take long.  Mere hours after my latest warning about what Bill Howell would do, Phillip Hamilton goes out and proves me right (Washington Post):

House Republican leaders are expected to move ahead today with a proposal to reestablish regional transportation plans in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, setting up a potential split within the GOP caucus.

Del. Phillip A. Hamilton (R-Newport News) said his proposal, which is expected to be embraced by the House leadership after it is heard by a committee today, will include a mix of state-imposed and locally enacted taxes, a concession for GOP leaders who previously had ruled out state-imposed taxes.

In Northern Virginia, the plan calls for a 2 percent rental car tax, a $5 a night hotel tax and a 40 cent grantors tax. There would also be a $100 initial vehicle registration fee. All of the money raised would stay in Northern Virginia to build roads.

“All along, we have said we are willing to address the regional components,” said Hamilton, noting all the new taxes in Hampton Roads would be state imposed.

Here we go again.

The bill itself (HB 6055, co-sponsored by Dave Albo) would do the following (read it and weep):

• Impose a rental car tax (2%) on Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads
• “Allow” localities in Northern Virginia to impose a grantor’s tax (0.4%), but once imposed, it can never be repealed so long as the NVTA is building something in the locality (and the NVTA gets all the dough)
• “Allow” localities in Northern Virginia to impose transient occupancy tax (2%), but once imposed, it can never be repealed so long as the NVTA is building something in the locality (and the NVTA gets all the dough)
• Allow localities in  Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to impose a real estate tax (0.25% in NoVA, 0.1% in HR)
• Any localities in Northern Virginia that refuse to impose the fees get no NVTA road projects (just like HB3202 last year, it puts a gun to the head of the localities)
• Allows all other localities with a population over 500,000 - or any jurisdiction bordering it, or any city with a population of 265,000 to impose a local income tax (pursuant to a referendum)

That’s just the taxes.  Get a load of where the money goes (besides for “transportation”).

• The NVTA can be “an advocate for the transportation needs of Northern Virginia before the state and federal governments,” in other words, they can use taxpayer money to lobby for more taxpayer money
• The funding in Hampton Roads will be determined by the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Planning Organization (another appointed group).  In other words, Hampton Roads trades one regional government for another.

In short, Hamilton and Albo brought back HB3202 - and worse.

In response, Bill Howell sent it out of his Rules Committee and on to the floor by 10-5 vote (all eight Republicans back the monstrosity).

To make matters worse, Howell also had the Senate multi-tax disaster sent to the floor on an 11-4 vote (once again, all eight Republicans voted aye).

Meanwhile, all of Bob Marshall’s bills to reduce spending (and Jeff Frederick’s bill to download local roads) are still buried in committee.

Simply put, this is appalling.  Bill Howell has revealed himself to be a weak, cowardly, tax-hiking cipher (again).  If there was ever any doubt about the need for new leadership in the House of Delegates, that doubt is gone.

Cross-posted to the right-wing liberal