From a press release issued by Speaker of the House William Howell on events during today’s special session of the Virginia General Assembly:

- Refusal of Democrats to Abandon Statewide Tax Increase Dooms Progress -

- Republicans Unite to Protect Virginians from Higher Taxes -

- Democratic Delegates Unanimously Vote Against Kaine Transportation Tax Plan-

- Senate Democrat Bill to Raise Sales Tax and Car Sales Tax Defeated 59 to 39-

RICHMOND, VA – Virginia House of Delegates Republican Leaders today issued the following statements on legislative actions this afternoon by the House during the transportation special session.

Speaker of the House William J. Howell (R-Stafford):

“With today’s actions in the House of Delegates, Virginia taxpayers can rest easy that Democrats have failed, at least for this session, in their relentless efforts to raise the gas tax and a host of other regressive taxes.

“In the midst of record-high gas prices, with Virginia families facing new challenges in an uncertain economy, Governor Kaine and General Assembly Democrats offered a hodgepodge of plans that all had one thing in common: imposing record-high increases in the tax burden on working Virginians and small businesses.

“Democrats proposed higher gas taxes during a gas-price crisis, higher taxes on auto sales during an auto-industry recession, higher taxes on home purchases when Virginians’ home values are already shrinking, and higher sales taxes when consumer spending is anemic.

“To paraphrase Winston Churchill, never have so many Virginia Democrats offered so many flawed plans for inflicting so much economic misery on working Virginians and their families.

“All of these tax schemes were given a full and fair hearing, and an opportunity for a floor vote in the House of Delegates. And, all were soundly defeated.

“Indeed, despite the Governor’s repeated claim that his tax plan would pass if it were sent to the House floor, Democrats today voted as a block to kill the Governor’s proposal to avoid revealing the proposal’s meager support.”

House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem):

“Today, every piece of legislation before the full House had an opportunity to be thoroughly debated, amended and voted upon. Democrat delegates, however, took extraordinary measures to ensure they would not have to vote on the Governor’s bill, in particular. This puts them in line with their counterparts in the Senate, who refused to even submit the Governor’s bill.

“This special session of the General Assembly reflects the clear triumph of partisanship over statesmanship at the highest level of the Kaine Administration. The session was a futile effort from the beginning – and it was so understood by virtually every participant and observer – because the Governor’s self-proclaimed objective was to posture for future elections, not to solve problems.

“Unlike all of his predecessors, he called us into special session with no consensus in hand – even within his own party – and no serious intention of achieving one.

“No doubt Governor Kaine and his fellow Democrats will continue to blame Republicans for obstructionism, as was their intention from the outset. No doubt, too, they will continue to privately disparage Virginians for selfishly clinging to their hard-earned tax dollars, just as they demean regular folks for clinging to their guns and to their religion. That is the hallmark of the liberal elitists now dominant in the Democratic Party.

“For our part, we are convinced that the Kaine-led Democrats have arrogantly misjudged the intelligence and the will of Virginia’s voters. We look forward to the debate ahead.

“In the meantime, we are proud to have reflected the views of our constituents, preventing the Democrats from imposing sharply higher gas taxes and a billion in other new levies at a time when Virginians and their families can least afford it.”

House Majority Whip M. Kirkland “Kirk” Cox (R-Colonial Heights):

“If there is any doubt that today’s Virginia Democratic Party is hopelessly out of touch with working Virginians and thoroughly addicted to higher taxes, consider this:

“Three times in the last four years – in 2004, 2006, and now in 2008 – Democratic governors and their allies in the General Assembly have proposed massive tax hikes on Virginians ranging well over a billion dollars, despite repeatedly promising voters they would do just the opposite.

“Even after Governor Warner succeeded in breaking his campaign pledge and raising taxes on Virginians by $1.4 billion in 2004, Governor Kaine and legislative Democrats have continued to demand well over a billion more in new taxes.

“Neither this year’s economic hardships, nor last year’s bipartisan legislation to invest more than $3 billion on transportation, nor record increases in the state budget year after year, have diminished the Democrats’ insatiable appetite for higher taxes.

“Today, Virginians are better knowing that Republicans understand and appreciate the challenges currently faced by their families. We are honored to represent their interests and to stand with them in opposing higher taxes.”

House Republican Caucus Chairman Samuel A. Nixon (R-Chesterfield):

“Governor Kaine could have chosen to build on the bipartisan foundation reflected in the 2007 landmark transportation legislation. He could have built, too, on the bipartisan collaboration that just a few months ago produced historic higher education bond legislation and other positive measures.

“These and other accomplishments demonstrate the willingness of House Republicans to work in partnership with the Governor when he is reasonable and responsive to the interests of Virginia’s working families and job-producing businesses.

“The opportunity existed for us to keep working positively for the people of Virginia. Unfortunately, the Governor chose instead to put politics first.

“Today, House Republicans successfully passed a common-sense transportation plan that included a comprehensive audit of VDOT, a constitutional amendment to secure the Transportation Trust Fund, and several additional measures to increase public-private partnership and provide transportation improvements without higher taxes. That agenda, not one that always resorts to higher taxes, provides the right change for Virginia.”

Trackback URI | Comments RSS