Bill Would Abolish Hampton Roads Transportation Authority
Legislation is in play this year that would disband the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority.
The bill, SB1018, is sponsored by state Sen. John Miller, D-Newport News.
The current bill is an amended version of the original, which sought to remove only Peninsula localities from the collective.
In its revised form, Miller’s legislation would abolish the authority on July 1, 2011 unless a state or local funding mechanism is in place by that time that provides sufficient revenue to construct two of the region’s priority transportation projects.
Speaking on the Senate floor Monday, Miller compared the “disdain” Peninsula residents have for the transportation authority to enmity Bostonians feel towards the New York Yankees.
As part of a comprehensive road funding package passed in 2007, legislators established transportation authorities for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads and gave them the ability to raise construction money through a variety of fees and taxes. The Hampton Roads authority included localities on both sides of the Elizabeth River – those on the Peninsula and in South Hampton Roads.
But a subsequent decision by the state Supreme Court nullified the authorities, ruling they didn’t have the legal authority to raise revenue in that manner.
Since then, the authorities have continued to exist essentially without purpose, said Miller.
The full Senate could vote on Miller’s bill as early as today.
Published in the The Virginian Pilot - PilotOnline.com - February 2, 2009