The transportation bill passed in the General Assembly this year has been the focus of media and citizen attention across the state, a Tuesday night meeting held by Sen. Tommy Norment (R-3rd District) proved no different: citizens were concerned about what the bill means for them.
About 50 people attended Tuesday’s town hall about the recently closed General Assembly session. Norment spoke about some of the things that happened at the state legislature and about the quality environment Virginia offers businesses. He touched briefly on the transportation bill, but citizens made that a primary focus during a question-and-answer period following his speech.
The transportation bill, which is currently awaiting signature by Gov. Bob McDonnell, would scrap the 17.5 cent per gallon motor fuels tax in favor of a package of taxes and fees that would raise more money for transportation projects in the state. Included in the bill is a regional sales tax of 0.7 percent for Hampton Roads that would go to funding projects in the area.
In addition, the entire state is looking at an additional 0.3 percent sales tax increase, upping the sales tax to 6 percent for Hampton Roads residents. Other taxes and fees include a 3.5 percent tax on the wholesale price of gasoline, a $100 registration fee for alternative fuel vehicles and an increase to 4.3 percent in the motor vehicle sales tax. The bill will generate approximately $880 million per year for Virginia by 2018, with approximately $175 million to $200 million of that sum going to Hampton Roads annually.
“That money cannot be borrowed, cannot be snitched, and it has to be used on construction in Hampton Roads,” said Norment.
Roads and easy travel on roads are a strong focus with the Historic Triangle’s economy relying heavily on tourism. Norment said about 95 percent of visitors to the area drive here; about 90 percent of visitors to Virginia Beach drive there.
“I feel like we did something good in transportation. It’s not attractive, but you can’t do simple in government,” Norment said.
The first question of the Q-and-A period came from James City County photographer Kelly Mihalcoe who was concerned about “high winter price floor for gas,” higher gas prices and higher sales tax. She said as a photographer, she operates one of the few types of businesses required to pay sales tax on labor.
“So we in Hampton Roads are going to pay some of the highest gas prices. We’re going to pay 6 percent sales tax … I’m not a small business, I’m a micro business. It’s going to harm the micro businesses,” Mihalcoe said.
Norment admitted he wasn’t an expert on petroleum, but said the price is driven by Wall Street. He explained there would be no way to predict the revenue generated if a floor wasn’t set on gas prices and McDonnell said he wanted the transportation bill passed and the dollars generated should be kept under $1 billion.
“I think it impacts everybody in Virginia. It doesn’t matter whether you live in Williamsburg or Big Stone Gap. You know, in Hampton Roads, you’re going to pay more but everybody in Virginia is going to be contributing to it,” Norment said.
Moving away from transportation, Norment addressed questions about the Tebow bill and mental health care.
One man said he and his wife homeschool their three children; his kids took calculus and physics classes at their local public high school. He was concerned about homeschooled kids not having access to classes or athletics with the Tebow bill failing to pass the General Assembly; he said his family could provide the education but could not easily provide athletics.
“It’s more of a business issue for me. You’re paying the taxes. Should you have access to a portion of the public education system or should you be totally excluded? Blessedly I have not had to vote on it yet,” said Norment.
A woman who works as a forensic psychologist said she was concerned about providing care to people suffering from mental health issues who aren’t incarcerated and have access to weapons more than providing extra care for incarcerated people who can’t access weapons.
“I am not persuaded that we can pass enough comprehensive laws in Virginia to prevent some of these gun tragedies that have taken place … The accessibility of firearms in America is pervasive,” Norment said.
Staff Reporter Gregory Connolly contributed to this article.
