The Connection

Del. Tom Rust (R-86) addressed his constituents at the Herndon Municipal Center Saturday, Jan. 12 to give an update on the current General Assembly session.

The session began Wednesday Jan. 9, and Rust estimated more than 2,000 bills have been heard. He said one of his priorities is to find ways to keep tolls down and get state funding for the Silver Line.

Rust says he expects a $300 million contribution over the next five years toward Dulles Rail.

“I think we can all agree that the tolls are way out of line, [Del.] Joe May (R-33) and I have a bill that would take ownership of the Green Way to the state, but I’m not optimistic that it will survive,” he said. “Del. [Ken] Plum (D-36) and I have also a special amendment that would get $150 million over the next two years for toll reduction, because tolls did not go down last year.”

Benjamin Hardy of Herndon said he hoped lowering tolls on the toll road was a high priority at the session.

Out of everything being discussed, the tolls on the Dulles Toll Road are the one thing that affect me every single weekday, twice a day,” he said. “It’s come to a point where if I decide to skip the toll road to save money, I’m going to sit on Route 7 for at least an hour, and I have to start comparing money versus time. Considering the tolls went up this year, and are scheduled to go up even more, I think it’s time something is done about it. I can’t be alone in thinking this.”

Rust said he didn’t agree with several proposals from McDonnell, including the item that would eliminate the fuel tax and add to the sales tax.

One of Rust’s bills would make several changes to the revenue sources for the state. It would establish a five percent tax on motor fuel sales, which would go to several funds, among others.

He estimated that the bill that will be passed will be a combination of the governor’s bill and up to four other possibilities being presented by his colleagues, one being his.

“I will be supporting some kind of bill, but I would say the governor’s bill has a pretty steep hill to climb,” he said. “Around 20 to 23 percent of the fuel tax will be paid by out-of-state users, while most of the sales tax will be paid by Virginians, as one example.”

Rust was also asked about the possibility of tolling the Dulles Airport Access Road.

“The only way to put a toll on the access road is for the U.S. Congress to do it,” he said. “It has been attempted and talked about before, but it’s been unsuccessful. As much as we’d like to see it happen, only congress can say we can do it. But I think we ought to.”

Responding to several questions about gun legislation, Rust said he wasn’t sure what the session would bring about.

“We have gun bills that come up every year. The rural parts of the states are big on guns, the urban places generally are not,” he said. “Responding to the recent tragedy in Connecticut, the governor has put together a school safety task force, we haven’t seen the results yet, but he expects them around Feb. 1.”