GOVERNOR'S VETO

Pursuant to § 6 of Article V of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 692.

This measure would allow Fairfax County and counties and cities contiguous to Fairfax County, Arlington, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties and the Cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park, as well as the City of Norfolk to propose a ballot referendum to levy indefinitely a local income tax.

In August, I proposed a forward-looking, $2.5 billion transportation plan, Innovative Progress. The goal of this plan was to use new and innovative financing mechanisms to fund critical transportation projects across the Commonwealth. For Northern Virginia, the plan focused heavily on commuters and recommended new, multi-modal and strategic thinking to begin to tackle the transportation issues of that region. Innovative Progress provided $2.5 billion for transportation without raising taxes on the hardworking men and women of the Commonwealth. In March, this General Assembly passed legislation that used many of my ideas and innovative funding strategies to tackle the transportation issues of the Commonwealth, again, without raising taxes.

Innovative Progress was a significant step forward; so is my Commission on Transportation Policy that is seeking new ways to change the structure of our transportation agencies by modernizing the strategies and policies used to plan, design and build transportation infrastructure. Citizens have become rightfully leery of the proposition that, if they only give their government more money, it will do a better job. Doing a better job means better planning, cutting out waste, and operating efficiently.

I believe we can plan, design and build a better transportation system without raising taxes. We need to focus on the true causes of project delays, and support our transportation projects from the planning stage on through construction. We have a capable, dedicated state workforce. With the right direction, we can make our system work without hampering the current economic boom by raising taxes