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Legislative News
The
following are comments presented by
Chamber Chairman Rick Dorman on January 4, 2007.
Issue:
Transportation
We join over
20 other business organizations in Northern Virginia representing
businesses employing most of Northern Virginia’s
workforce agree that 2007 must be the year for action
on transportation funding.
It’s
been two decades since Virginia’s General Assembly
last enacted substantial new sustainable funds for transportation.
As you now,
the Commonwealth’s unfunded transportation needs
approach $100 billion.
Funding options
are well known.
Legislative
sessions in the past have failed to produce results.
Further delay
is unacceptable.
We call upon
the Northern Virginia General Assembly Delegation to unify
behind a plan that is broad-based and includes a minimum
of $400 million per year in new, dedicated, sustainable
transportation funds for Northern Virginia.
The people
of Northern Virginia deserve no less.
Issue: Dedicated Revenue for the Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Authority (WMATA)
The WMATA transit
system provides subway and bus service to the entire Washington
area. A recent study by the Brookings Institution found
that WMATA’s lack of a dedicated funding source
has made it vulnerable to recurring financial crises.
The study noted “unlike virtually every other major
transit system in the nation, WMATA receives no dedicated
stream of revenue each year for capital or operational
costs.” Instead, it relies on voluntary annual operating
subsides from its member jurisdictions to pay for costs
not covered by its fares, parking fees, and advertising
revenues. While revenues from the sales tax on motor fuels
levied in Northern Virginia are used to support WMATA,
they only cover a small portion (approximately 12 to 15
percent) of the subsidy owed by Virginia localities. The
State of Maryland fully funds the WMATA capital and operating
costs for Montgomery and Prince George Counties.
We support
the City in their request to the General Assembly to authorize
an appropriate dedicated funding source for WMATA.
Issue:
Taxation
The Chamber
supports continuation of tax reform that:
(1) Maintains
a rational balance of the tax burden between businesses,
residents and users of services, and maintains an equal
tax rate for residential and commercial property.
Issue: Addressing the Impacts of BRAC on Alexandria
As a result
of the 2005 BRAC decisions, 20 Department of Defense agencies
and commands currently operating in leased office space
in the City were directed to realign or close their operations.
These decisions are expected to leave 1.5 million square
feet or 8% of the City’s existing office stock vacant.
We are not
only concerned about the impact on the office stock, but
we expect impact on the local businesses that will be
affected by the loss of 7,370 Department of Defense and
related private sector jobs (7.5% of all employment in
Alexandria). These are people who dine, shop, and are
supported by businesses in our community.
I asked myself
what does this mean in real dollars since no one knows
and the data is still being collected; I ran my own ballpark
numbers in dollars.
• At
$30 per square foot times 1.5 million square feet equals
$45 million dollars per year in lost revenues.
• 7,000 lost jobs at $50,000 per year equals $365
million in lost wages that go for food, housing, and taxes.
The Chamber
supports efforts by the state government to provide economic
development assistance to localities that will lose jobs
due to the federal base-closure (BRAC) process.
Chamber
Process
The Chamber’s
Governmental Relations Committee met today to consider
the positions to be presented to the General Assembly
and the City. Once approved by the Executive Committee
and the Board, the package will be presented on January
23 during the Chamber Day at the Capitol in Richmond.
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