For the umpteenth time in the past decade, Virginia legislators have failed to bring home the bacon on transportation funding during their special legislative session. Republicans, which dominate the House of Delegates and who are fast becoming an endangered species in Northern Virginia, have been scapegoated for refusing to be caught dead in the same room as a statewide tax increase proposal. This is partly due to Republicans’ ritualized opposition to more taxes and also to the general contempt with which Rest-of-Virginians view those in NoVa for their highfalutin, economy-boostin’, immigrant-welcomin’, Confederacy-rejectin’, population boomin’, Starbucks-patronizin’ culture.
Well, the feeling is mutual: Northern Virginians know that despite being the driving force behind the state’s economy and embracing our status as the workforce of the nation’s capital, we contribute more in tax dollars to the state as a whole than we receive—I have heard a lot of frustrated people mention the figure of 25 cents on every dollar but I have also heard the figure of fourteen cents out of every forty. Plus, it is hard not to notice the pristine condition of Rest-of-Virginia’s roads and highways that may see only a few hundred cars per day, whereas NoVa’s roads and rails are in need of expansion.
Not that the Republicans are necessarily at fault for our traffic—certainly the rabid suburban expansion authorized by local governments without adequate extensions of public transportation was an awful idea. But Rest-of-Virginians who cannot afford to live in NoVa yet still covet our jobs have a stake in the region’s transportation solution, too. If the Republicans abandon NoVa in the next election cycle (there are only three Republican delegates from Fairfax County, down from six a few years ago; the senator count has gone from four to one) and Northern Virginia becomes a one-party pseudo-state similar to the partisan geographic split after the Civil War, their constituents will not. How has the legislature gotten to be so stubborn? This is the same body that once brought us “Give me liberty or give me death!” in the face of unfair taxation. Now when taxation is fair and necessary, the only rabble rousing cry is Republican Morgan Griffith’s of “We are not a full-time legislature. People have plans, they have businesses, they have real jobs. We cannot sit down here all summer.”
Yes, Mr. Griffith, fixing the problems of a polarized state is not a “real job.” Heaven forbid you should sit in Richmond in the stifling summer heat, with the interminable gridlock keeping you glued to your seat, and coming home late every night because of the backlog (of bills). That task should be left to the 32% of Virginians who do it every day—because it’s not like we have plans, businesses or real jobs in Northern Virginia. And in that vein, I dedicate this limerick to Delegate Griffith:
The Assembly, it can’t get stuff done.
A compromise ne’er has won.
So upon much reflection,
GOP says, “Screw it, wait for the next election.”
Then runs home for some good summer fun.
While unable to fund Metro’s eligibility for $1.5 billion in federal funds and fix the soon-to-be $600 million shortfall in the road maintenance budget and…
Oops, that last line didn’t rhyme. Well, I’m obviously not a great poet, but I bet I’d stand a formidable chance at becoming a decent legislator.
7/14
