Del. Anderson explains his “no” vote on governor’s transportation bill

It’s Saturday afternoon, February 23rd, and I am typing these words at my General Assembly desk in Richmond during a recess on our last day of the 2013 legislative session. I am writing to tell you about a crucial vote we took yesterday (Friday, February 22nd).

This crucial vote concerned final passage of HB2313 (the House-Senate Transportation Bill).  Although HB2313 passed by a final vote of 60-40, I voted NO on this bill, along with five other Prince William County delegates. As your delegate to the General Assembly, I feel a strong sense of accountability to you and wish to explain my vote.

Despite the reality that the transportation needs of the Commonwealth require additional new funding for construction of new roadways and maintenance of existing roads, I felt that this bill levied a heavy fiscal burden on our neighbors. Washington’s solution is higher taxes on families and job creators, and I didn’t want to do the same in Virginia.

My reasons for my NO vote resulted from the below realities.

• First, we saw the final copy of HB2313, 109 pages of complex data, on Thursday night at 6:15pm—hours before our vote on Friday and without full discussion and understanding its complexities. The bill was not posted promptly on the General Assembly website for you to make input.

• Second, our citizens were hit last month with a 2% federal decrease in their take-home pay.  Federal officials openly speak of federal tax increases. Sequestration and the federal fiscal cliff threaten to kill hundreds of thousands of jobs in Virginia and Prince William County. The national economy didn’t merely remain flat last quarter…it contracted.  And we are in times of unprecedented fiscal uncertainty. 

• Third, HB2313 is a “compromise” that raises taxes and fees on Virginia families at a time when people are worried about losing their jobs. It increases taxes at the pump for cars and trucks; it increases the tax on car sales by 40%; it increases the sales tax to 6%; it increases fees on alternative fuel vehicles; it implements a high grantor tax on houses; it levies a 3% transient occupancy tax; and it depends on internet taxes that will be implemented by Washington—all without a single dollar cut in spending or an offset of another tax.

Let me be clear:  I am not a legislator who will reflexively vote against a tax or fee increase if truly needed—and affordable to hardworking citizens in Prince William County. I have also declined to sign any “no-tax pledges.” But I thought we could do better than HB2313.

To better understand your perspective, I conducted three town hall meetings with our neighbors in January and February; personally exchanged several thousand emails with people in Prince William County; discussed the issue of taxes in hundreds of telephone calls; and met with hundreds of PWC residents. The overwhelming sentiment expressed to me was a simple “please do not raise my taxes in this economy.”

As a member of both the House Transportation Committee and House Finance Committee, I presented an alternative Transportation bill last month, on behalf of several legislators, to a committee hearing in the Capitol. The bill I presented would have adjusted a number of taxes to raise revenue, repealed the food tax to help those less fortunate, saved the average family of four $100 in taxes each year (as scored by the Virginia Department of Taxation), and lessened the financial impact on you and your family. Unfortunately, the House-Senate Conference Committee wrote the final plan that we saw yesterday.

For years, Northern Virginia has sent money to Richmond without adequate return to our area. We currently get an average of 30 cents back for every dollar we send to Richmond. Friday’s plan does not fully resolve that problem, and I believe strongly that more transportation dollars must come back to our community where gridlock exists.

Friends, in making this tough decision, we received an avalanche of mail and calls from you, our neighbors. My colleagues and I are citizen-legislators, meaning that we are citizens first. Your perspective helped shape my vote, and I believe strongly that most Prince William County residents sincerely want a transportation solution, but not one that burdens them financially.

Serving you at home and in Richmond is a great honor, and I hope to always have your input when making decisions that affect you. Please feel free to reach me directly at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), at our Richmond office (804-698-1051), or at our Prince William County office (571-264-9983). You may also reach my legislative assistant, Ryan M. Galloway, at the same numbers or at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). We look forward to seeing you soon!