AASHTO Journal, 1 March 2013
The Virginia General Assembly last week approved a transportation funding package that is expected to raise more than $860 million per year for transportation.
Under the new law, that state gas tax will be replaced by a 3.5 percent wholesale tax on fuel and a 6 percent tax on diesel fuel. The deal also includes an increase in the registration fee for electric cars (now up to $100), while also making that fee mandatory for alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles. Additionally, the plan will increase the sales tax from 5 percent to 5.3 percent on nonfood merchandise and rely on some state general fund revenues.
Gov. Bob McDonnell, who originally proposed a similar transportation package on Jan. 8, hailed the passage of the bill.
“Virginia’s economy depends upon a modern transportation system,” McDonnell said in a statement. “Without good roads, rail, transit, and bridges we cannot attract the new businesses that will create the good-paying jobs our citizens need and deserve. A continued failure to dramatically improve transportation would leave the Commonwealth less competitive economically, shrink our tax base, and endanger our well-earned reputation as the best state in the nation in which to do business.”
Though passage of the bill was not easy, McDonnell said the support he received from various individuals and groups helped push the plan through.
“I thank the over 60 percent of legislators in each chamber who voted for this bill and I thank Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton and his team and the many individuals and groups all across Virginia who have advocated for this legislation from business to labor, and local government to technology.”
Virginia will see the state gas tax change to a sales tax in July. Additional information on the plan is available here.