It seems that yet again the Virginia State Senate has decided to raise our taxes more than either the governor or the House of Delegates are willing to propose. This happened in 2004 under Mark Warner and now its happening again under Tim Kaine, and both of those governors are Democrats. The problem here with the state Senate is that it doesn't seem willing to take any risky actions, preferring to stick to the formula of old, raise and spend, raise and spend, raise and spend.
Senator John Chichester (R-Springfield), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee is probably the biggest culprit in all of this. At every turn he is an enthusiastic backer of tax increases of the highest order. He backed an increase bigger than that proposed by Mark Warner in 2004, more than three times bigger than the one Warner proposed.
Thanks to Chichester's fiscal "stewardship," the Senate passed a $3.8 billion tax increase. This year the State Senators had a press conference, Republicans and Democrats together, to protest the reluctance of the House of Delegates to raise taxes yet again for transportation.
Among the proposals is a 5 percent tax on the wholesale price of gasoline. Perhaps Senator Chichester and his colleagues should write a letter to be distributed at gas stations after their tax hike goes into effect that would say that "it is us who are responsible for the recent increases in your gas prices."
To see how much more Chichester and his friends would have you pay, check out these very conservative (with the price) calculations.
If you have a 10 gallon tank, and gas prices were theoretically $2 a gallon, which they are higher than, then you would pay $1 in additional taxes every time you fill up. That adds up quickly.
Hopefully the tax increase won't be another thing that adds up quickly.
Stay tuned.
