The House Rules Committee has revived Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s $1 billion transportation proposal, voting unanimously to send it to the floor of the House of Delegates without a recommendation.
The House of Delegates convened at 1:30 but quickly recessed so Rules could meet. The full House is expected to take up both Kaine’s proposal and a bill by Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax, which would increase the fuel tax.
Lawmakers say the full House is unlikely to pass either bill. Allowing Kaine’s bill on the floor for a vote would enable Republicans to get Democrats on the record voting on tax increase proposals.
House Democrats hope to amend the Saslaw bill, removing gasoline tax increases statewide and in Hampton Roads.
Earlier in the special session, the House Rules Committee voted to “pass by indefinitely” Kaine’s bill, seemingly killing the measure, which would raise an assortment of taxes and fees to close gaps in funding for road maintenance and to help curb congestion in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, made the motion in Rules to revive Kaine’s bill and send it to the floor. Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong, D-Henry, who sponsored Kaine’s bill in the House, seemed to be caught by surprise by the move to revive Kaine’s bill.
After Rules finished, the full House again met, but the Democrats asked for a recess to figure out what to do next. Democrats asked for an hour recess but Griffith said he thought 30 minutes would be sufficient.
They are scheduled to come back at 2 p.m.