Tom Warne Report, 2 March 2013
A transportation funding plan valued at $3 billion and including banning tolls on I-95 is headed to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s desk for a signature. Senate legislators voted 25-15 on the last day of the regular session to endorse a compromise measure to overhaul how the state collects taxes on fuel purchases. The vote came one day after the House voted 60-40 to endorse the first major transportation reform for the state in over a quarter century.
“This is a historic day in Virginia. We have worked together across party lines to find common ground and pass the first sustainable long-term transportation funding plan in 27 years,” McDonnell said in prepared remarks following Saturday’s Senate vote.
The funding plan will convert the state’s 17.5-cent-per-gallon excise tax on gas and diesel to a wholesale tax. Gasoline sales will include a 3.5-percent wholesale tax, and the rate for diesel will be 6 percent. Initially, the plan will equal about 10.5-cents per gallon for gasoline and about 21 cent for diesel. The plan also includes increasing the state’s general sales tax from 5 percent to 5.3 percent, with the additional 0.3 percent going toward transportation. HB2313 also contains a provision to increase the amount of general fund money that transportation receives by $200 million.
