It is encouraging that Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, Senate President Bill Cole, House Speaker Tim Armstead and Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox met for over an hour Wednesday to talk about West Virginia’s crumbling roads.
In a post-meeting media release, Tomblin said highway funding would be a priority for the 2016 legislative session. Cole was quoted as saying the state’s roads are in critical condition. Armstead said all West Virginians share “in a sense of urgency” to repair the roads.
That’s a good start. The first step in solving a problem is acknowledging that one exists, and the high-level closed-door session shows they get it.
Coming to terms on how and where to find the additional funding necessary is another matter. We’re talking real money here. The governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission reports it would take another $750 million a year “just to maintain the highway system as it stands today.”
It will take a Herculean effort by state leaders to get anywhere close to that through a series of savings and efficiencies in the highway department, possible tax and fee increases and a shifting of money from the General Revenue Fund.
And, just like our roads, there are hazards and obstacles along the way.
Tomblin will be reluctant to propose a massive road program, especially one that includes tax or fee increases, if Republicans are not on board. They hold the majorities in the House and Senate, so without buy in from them, any proposal from the Democratic Governor is likely DOA.
But Tomblin’s problems are not just with the Republicans. In 2011, the Democratically-controlled House and Senate passed a bill increasing Department of Motor Vehicle fees, raising another $43 million for roads. However, then-Acting Governor Tomblin, facing election, vetoed the bill.
Some Dems felt the governor’s actions put them at risk in the next election because they were on record supporting higher taxes and fees. Those Democrats who are still in the Legislature have not forgotten getting hung out to dry.
Republicans have their own political challenges on highways. They’re hearing constituent complaints every day about the roads, so they know they have to do something. Cole and Armstead first want to find money in efficiencies from a reorganization of the Department of Transportation based on the results of an independent audit expected out by the end of the year.
That’s appropriate, but it’s hard to imagine the audit will turn up the kind of money necessary to pay for substantial additional road work. What it will do, however, is give GOP leaders an opportunity to say they have improved DOT operations before they commit any more money.
Armstead also has to deal with a very conservative wing of his caucus that will be adamantly against any of the Blue Ribbon Commission proposals for higher DMV fees or an increase in the Motor Vehicle Sales Tax from five percent to six percent. His own Transportation Chair, Delegate Marty Gearheart (R-Mercer) wants to eliminate the unpopular Parkway tolls, which would make motorists happy, but shift even more maintenance costs to DOT’s already strained budget.
All this will unfold during the 2016 election year, when every House seat and the half of the 34 Senate seats are up, meaning every vote by an incumbent running for re-election can be used—or perhaps distorted—by an opponent.
Still, tough decisions define leadership, and that leadership is necessary now to attack the pressing problem of our deteriorating infrastructure. Of course politics will come into play for the reasons mentioned above, but West Virginians need consensus building from their elected representatives right now.
Hopefully, Wednesday’s meeting was a beginning. #FTDR