The Washington Post takes a look at the political fallout that is likely to ensue from the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision declaring the state’s regional transportation authorities unconstitutional:
RICHMOND — The Virginia Supreme Court’s decision Friday to strike down parts of the state’s transportation funding plan threatens to undermine the legacies of the state’s top politicians and renew the bitter partisan tax fight that has consumed Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and the legislature.
The ruling came as a particularly acrimonious legislative session was winding down. Now, Democratic and Republican leaders engaged in this year’s budget fight will have to try to fix the flaw found by the Supreme Court.
Specifically, Kaine (D) and House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) are being forced to salvage a transportation plan that had symbolized a rare bipartisan effort and was to help solidify their places in state history.
Instead, the ballyhooed plan has been seriously compromised. The Supreme Court’s ruling that it is unconstitutional for regional authorities in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to impose taxes and fees, coming on the heels of the controversy over abusive-driving fees, could erode public confidence in the state’s ability to fix its traffic problems, legislators and others said.
Robert D. Holsworth, a political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, said Kaine and Howell’s “signature accomplishment of the last two years today is laying in tatters. They are in this together.”
Whether they’ll be able to put it back together remains in doubt. Personally, I think the answer is no at this point. They hit the high water mark when the rammed the transportation plan through last year. Even before the Supreme Court’s decision, one of the key parts of the plan — the abusive driver fees — came under fire and have already been repealed. Pulling a plan together at this point in an election year with 2009 just around the corner is going to prove next to impossible.
