Bob McDonnell: Cuts your services, keeps your taxes

March 29, 2012

The Daily Progress editorializes, "Deteriorating roads: Whose fault? The state's fault. But, increasingly, the locality's responsibility. Albemarle County faces a looming burden in the form of its secondary roads. These roads traditionally have been the responsibility of the Virginia Department of Transportation. But as Richmond sheds its duties and dumps them on localities, the county is being forced to pick up those services at its own expense if they are to be provided. And when Richmond slices services, does it also lower taxes? Not on your life."

Progressive Point: Thanks to the Great Recession, Virginia families have had to make tough choices and work harder while spending less. But in Richmond, Governor Bob McDonnell is just doing less while spending the same. His budget would cut health care for seniors and keep tax breaks for the wealthy. McDonnell is suspending state maintenance of our neighborhood roads, passing the responsibility down onto our localities, but keeping funding and our tax dollars for his own political priorities.

Cutting our services while keeping our taxes is not putting families first. By shirking his responsibilities, Bob McDonnell is putting Virginia families in the back seat, big business in the drivers', and then telling our counties and cities it's their job to fix the roads. Every day Virginians are being forced to do more with less--but it should never be because their Governor is passing the buck.  

Get the Facts:

• McDonnell's transportation proposals would result in "decades of austerity for public education, universities, safety net programs and state troopers," and, even if enacted, would not meet Virginia's road maintenance needs. Previous failures to meet maintenance costs have resulted in $2.8 billion in construction budget shortfalls since 2005. (Roanoke Times, December 12, 2011)


• Virginia ranks 7th in the country in per capita income, but 47th in per capita spending on transportation. The reason for such a large imbalance is because the majority of Virginia's transportation funding comes from the fuel tax which currently sits at just 17 cents per gallon. However, the gas tax would be "35 cents today had it been indexed for inflation." (Bob Chase, president of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, Daily Press, December 9, 2011)


• Virginia loses $12.5 billion in revenue a year through credits and giveaways that receive little-to-no scrutiny and accountability. (JLARC)


• "In his two-year budget, Gov. Bob McDonnell proposes cutting ['safety net' health services] by 2 percent starting July 1 and by 50 percent starting July 1, 2013." (Virginian-Pilot, February 17, 2012)

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