On hiatus

No, not I; I’ll still be blogging.  The special session is on hiatus until July 9.  That should give us plenty of time to explain to Virginians just how bad the Senate Democrats’ tax increase and the Howell-Hamilton-Albo tax increase are (in re the latter, Jim Bowden takes this thing apart in detail, Mike at Write Side of My Brain also rips it, as does Chris Beer).

The former should be an easy sell, especially now that the hidden sales tax increases are no longer hidden.  Senator Edd Houck – of all people – boasted about how he inserted the provision to raise taxes on his own constituents (Free Lance-Star, emphasis added):

Embedded in Saslaw’s bill is also a provision that would raise the sales tax by 1 cent in the Fredericksburg and Richmond metropolitan regions, for transportation uses. That provision comes from Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, who wants the Fredericksburg area to have its own regional funding similar to Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

Eventually, Houck’s plan would raise about $42 million a year for the Fredericksburg region.

Nixing the Howell-Hamilton-Albo will obviously be more difficult, because Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads are the only regions directly affected.  Still, the rest of the state should pause to consider how sensible it is to hit the two most dynamic regions of the state with tax increases and hand the money over to unelected and unaccountable organizations.  One item that gives me hope this time is Chris Beer’s reaction.  He was a leading voice on the blogosphere for HB3202, but this time he’s had enough:

When will we realize that the regional taxation issue is dead.  In 2002, Northern Virginia defeated it on its own by referrendum (sic).  In 2007, the Republican-backed HB3202 led to stinging defeats of senators up and down Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.  Then it was found unconstitutionl (sic).  I supported, but it seems unlike many of our represntatives in Richmond (sic), they don’t get that it just won’t work.  Its idiocy (sic).

People are not being listened too (sic), and its just so damn frustrating to watch.

It sure is.  However, now is the time to make sure we are heard.  We have ten days to make it clear: we want no tax increases anywhere in the Commonwealth, and we expect the legislature to revisit the alternatives the would use existing funding, download local roads, and looks for reductions elsewhere in the budget.