Wolf, Herrity, Comstock & Villanueva Blast Kaine Over Roads Spending
- Part-Time Governor Puts Virginia Dead Last - 51st Out of 51 in Spending Stimulus Dollars for Transportation -
RICHMOND - Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine has dragged Virginia into 51st place - out of a possible 51 - in expending federal funding intended for transportation projects. Virginia placed behind all other states and the District of Columbia, earning a harshly-worded letter from the Democratic Chairman of the House Committee that oversees transportation issues.
On Monday, Congressman Frank Wolf (10th District), Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, candidate for the House of Delegates Barbara Comstock (34th District) and Virginia Beach City Councilman Ron Villanueva, candidate for the House of Delegates (21st District), blasted Kaine's slow-footedness in accessing funds already available to the Commonwealth.
In a letter that was a striking reprimand to Kaine, Rep. James Oberstar (D - MN), Chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, wrote in no uncertain terms that Virginia had been negligent in ignoring available funds for transportation.
"Based on the State progress reports submitted to the Committee in September 2009, Virginia has fallen far behind other States in putting to work its Recovery Act Highway formula funds. According to submissions received from all States and the District of Columbia, your State ranks last among all States (51 out of 51) based on an analysis of percentage of Recovery Act Highway formula funds put out to bid, under contract and underway.
"As of August 31, Virginia had begun construction of projects totaling only 17 percent of the State's funding.
"I strongly urge you to refocus your efforts to implement the Recovery Act and use the available funds to create and sustain family-wage jobs. These jobs are critical to Virginia's and the nation's long-term economic growth."
Oberstar pointed out that Kaine had been warned in August that Virginia was falling behind other states.
"In August 2009, almost six months after enactment of the Recovery Act, I sent letters to the best and worst performers in putting to work Recovery Act highway funds," wrote Rep. Oberstar. "Since then, we have watched many states move aggressively to create and sustain family-wage jobs, contribute to our nation's long-term economic growth, and help the United States recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression.
"Regrettably, Virginia is not among these States."
Asked if he had concerns over criticisms about his negligence on transportation, Kaine told the Washington Post, "I don't worry about it."
Rep. Frank Wolf (10th District):
"We could use that money, definitely. This morning, coming into the District, I-66 was bumper-to-bumper. It's that way every day - even Saturdays and sometimes on Sundays. Secondly, we could use that money to re-open rest stops. Take a look at anything that was on the six-year plan that was taken off.
"We're in a critical situation. The economic growth and the opportunities here in Northern Virginia depend on transportation. There are a lot of things that the money could be used for so that we're ready to come out strong when we come out of this recession.
"It's very important when you look at the unemployment rate. Right now it's at 9.8-percent. Some people say it is ready to go to 10 or 10.1."
Pat Herrity, Fairfax Board of Supervisors:
"The Fairfax County Parkway and Fair Lakes Parkway Interchange is a project that's been on the books since forever. It just seems that even though they have the funding, they keep getting pushed back. We've got that money. We just can't seem to get Richmond and the transportation bureaucracy to move these projects forward."
Barbara Comstock, Candidate for House of Delegates, 34th District:
"For so many people, transportation is their number one concern. And when you have the governor say ‘we're comfortable' with our rate of spending, I can tell you that the people of my district are not comfortable at all. When we hear that not only are we 51st in applying for the funding, but 51st in spending it, you have to realize that transportation has not been the priority it needs to be."
Ron Villanueva, Virginia Beach City Council, Candidate for House of Delegates, 21st District:
"We hate to beat up on V-DOT, but in this case, we need to beat up on V-DOT. Things are just not happening. There's no oversight on a lot of these projects. A lot of our projects are ‘shovel ready.' But when you go through the bureaucracy of V-DOT, you find out that a lot of their engineering designs aren't ready, a lot of the right-of-way acquisitions aren't ready and that's why a lot of our projects aren't ready at the state level. You've got to look at the failure of this administration.
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