Today, the General Assembly reconvenes for a special session on transportation. Improving transportation is vitally important to the free enterprise system and quality of life. The legislature must determine the legitimate construction and maintenance needs of the commonwealth and address them. Unfortunately, the current debate is clouded by rival numbers and competing projections on the funding needs.
Last year the General Assembly passed, with strong bipartisan support, Republican-authored legislation providing for approximately $560 million a year in additional transportation funding statewide. This is the largest new statewide infusion of dollars in 21 years. Now, the governor and other legislators are calling for another $1.1 billion through multiple tax increases. Few are asking the tough questions on the prioritization of state spending that has doubled in the past 10 years, growing 38 percent higher than the rate of growth in population and inflation. Now more legislators are rightly demanding further accountability for the billions being spent annually on transportation.
Before anyone asks a Virginia taxpayer for more money in an uncertain economy, he'd better be able to say how effectively current dollars are being spent. Such analysis is the essence of good government and responsible management.
I am advocating, along with other Republican leaders, a full external performance audit of the Virginia Department of Transportation to be done in two phases. It will be patterned after the successful audit of the same nature that was done in Washington state, with good results. It must be immediately approved and signed into law so the audit can commence promptly.
THE FIRST phase of this audit will be an analysis of the maintenance operations to determine the actual size of any funding shortfall and the reasons for it. There are several conflicting estimates, made more confusing by what is defined as "maintenance." The Virginia Department of Transportation defines maintenance as anything that is not construction, which includes office supplies at VDOT headquarters, as well as jackhammers and paving materials. Since maintenance has the first claim on all transportation funding, it is draining money out of new construction funds. The interim audit report should be sent to the General Assembly before the 2009 session. Any documented shortage must be fixed by the General Assembly with no excuses and no delay.
The audit should also address the size and organization of VDOT. Our VDOT state employees are dedicated and conscientious, yet a competent external review will produce better ways to operate. Just three years ago Phil Shucet, VDOT commissioner for then-Gov. Mark Warner, publicly stated that VDOT could do its job with fewer than 5,000 employees. Today the agency employs more than 8,000 individuals. Just last week Shucet told me he also supports an audit, followed by decisive action. The maintenance of Virginia's interstates has been largely privatized; that is a positive development. But interstates make up only 2 percent of the total state-maintained road miles. There are large additional opportunities for negotiating fixed-price long-term contracts for the maintenance of the primary and secondary roads for which VDOT is currently responsible -- at significant potential savings to Virginians.
Another critical goal of the audit should be to determine what investments and projects will best lead to congestion relief. VDOT spends millions on bike paths and wilderness trails. Those are nice projects, but if we are at a crisis in transportation due to increasing traffic volume then we should be directing transportation funding to where it will actually reduce congestion. The nexus between dollars spent and congestion reduced should be clear and direct. While VDOT conducts some traffic studies, an external performance audit is a credible approach to verifying results. Taxpayers and legislators want results.
THE SECOND phase of this audit will be a far-reaching analysis of the future of transportation in Virginia. What should be done to bring more modernization and innovation to VDOT? How do we institute more smart traffic technology, secure lower and more certain costs in contracts, and replicate best practices from other states? How do we better manage growth and tie development decisions with infrastructure responsibility? Instead of solutions based solely on new taxes, as a response to the "next crisis," let's actually review the entire system from top to bottom. We should build our 21st-century transportation system with vision and intelligence.
A good transportation system is key to Virginia's future economic vitality. My old hometowns in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads are in need of immediate help. At the same time, our families and businesses are feeling the brunt of an economic slowdown. Innovative ideas, accountability, privatization, technology, and prioritization of spending are parts of the solution.
It is also time for the home of George Washington to take a cue from Washington state. An external performance audit of VDOT, with the demand for prompt legislative and executive responsive action, is needed. It is responsible, it is overdue, and it is good government.
Bob McDonnell is the attorney general of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Contact him at (804) 786-2071 or www.vaag.com.