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EDITORIAL: Cutting Corners on Gas Tax Debate

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 October 2005, 12:00 CDT

By The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Oct. 11--Even in political campaigns, truth matters.

And it cannot be true that Democrat Tim Kaine will raise the gas tax, which opponent Jerry Kilgore preaches, and that he won't raise it, which many Virginia business leaders fear.

It's fair for Kaine to be held responsible for his plans and ideas. It's not fair for him to be pummeled by both the pro-tax crowd and the anti-tax crowd because someone is fiddling with the truth.

Republican Kilgore raised the gas-tax charge repeatedly in the pair's only televised gubernatorial debate Sunday night. His television ads emphasize it as well. So what's the truth?

The truth is that the only way Kaine will raise the gas tax over the next three years is if he's an outright liar. Even in the face of Virginia's enormous transportation needs, Kaine has said repeatedly that he will not raise taxes for transportation until that money is put in a "lock box." He has taken considerable heat from business leaders for the anti-tax stand.

Kaine has not rejected tolls or borrowing or limited transfers from the general fund or private-public partnerships, but he has rejected tax increases until the money is locked up. And the only way to provide that sort of absolute guarantee is a constitutional amendment, which could not be approved until late 2008.

On what does Kilgore base his claim? Precious little. Put aside the fact that sheer logic says no politician is going to be raising the gas tax anytime soon. It's inconceivable that the General Assembly would add fuel to fire at a time when gas prices are skyrocketing.

Beyond that, Kilgore points to the 2004 tax debate when GOP Sen. John Chichester introduced an omnibus tax bill that, in part, hiked the state's 17.5-cent excise tax slightly and added a sales tax to each gallon of gas sold. Kilgore claims Kaine supported that plan.

As proof, Kilgore cites a February 2004 Washington Times story saying Kaine "praised" Chichester's tax bill. But even Chichester says Kaine never supported his bill until the transportation piece was removed.

That's not surprising, because Kaine was championing the competing (and more conservative) tax plan of Gov. Warner, which took gas tax hikes off the table.

During Sunday's debate, Kilgore stood just as firmly by another fiction involving highways. About a week ago, Kilgore charged that the Virginia Department of Transportation last year delayed "hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of highway and transit projects" by not accessing federal funds quickly enough.

It was a sensational claim of neglect and mismanagement against the Warner administration, and the state's press corps jumped on it.

The charge made for a great headline, but as the follow-up reporting by several newspapers demonstrated, it simply was not so. Given an opportunity to honorably acknowledge his error on Sunday, Kilgore repeated the falsehood.

That moment reflected either deep misunderstanding about a critical state agency or a chilling cynicism about the importance of truth on the campaign trail.

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To see more of the The Virginian-Pilot, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pilotonline.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Virginian-Pilot

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