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Continued from page 4 vided clearer examples of the differences in the styles of the two men or in their approach to solving the problems of government. u A8 the lawmakers listened in what for some of them must have been a state of near shock. Baliles stood on the floor of the hallowed House of Delegates and said, right out loud, in the presence of God and the statue of Sen. Harry Byrd Sr. that the time had come to end payas-you-go in funding new highway construction. He recommended the floating of some form of bond issue or issues to raise the money in the decades ahead.
That wasn’t all. Baliles told the lawmakers he would ask the General Assembly to establish a 30-member super commission to recommend whether the state should use general obligation bonds, revenue ■ bonds, tolls or other fund-raising methods to fatten its highway coffers.
The governor would appoint 14 members of the panel. The speaker of the House would appoint six) the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee four, while the state’s six former governors would be asked to serve. The resolution creating the Baliles commission was figuratively dropped in the Senate hopper Tuesday by Sen. Edward E. Willey (DRichmond) chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
Willey has also proposed legislation boosting the state’s gasoline tax from 11 cents to 12 cents a gallon to provide at least some highway construction money. It is not clear whether or not Baliles will support the Willey measure. If he does not, however, there appears to be a strong possibility that he will find his own funding package, including his commission, neatly tied up as a hostage to the powerful Willey’s tax measure.
The governor needs rapid action on the commission resolution since he wants the panel to complete its deliberations by Aug. 1. Baliles says he will convene a special session of the General Assembly in September in order to have legislation prepared based on the commission’s recommendations. Indeed, there was considerable puzzlement among Capitol observers, because Baliles apparently consulted only briefly with the General Assembly movers and shakers before going public with his epic proposals.
On other matters, Baliles wants additional appropriations for the community colleges so that tuition can be reduced. He wants extended Aid to Dependent Children. He asked the General Assembly to pass a mandatory seat belt law.
To put a frosty icing on his highway construction cake, the governor disclosed that current and future highway needs will come to a crushing $18 billion worth of projects. In his speech, Baliles said that Virginia’s traditional way of highway funding would change from a six-year plan into a 600-year plan. “The approach of the past,” warned the governor, “is simply wrong for the future. It forces us to be pre-occupied with what we cannot do instead of with what we can do.” Baliles’ proposals brought cheers from the urban delegates whose home areas are starved for funds in almost every area the governor mentioned. The rural lawmakers, including House Speaker A.L. Philpott scowled ominously, at Baliles frightful litany of figures. It was clear that Baliles’ audacity in proposing an end to the time-honored pay-as-you-go doctrine of raising highway construction bucks struck some very raw nerves among the leadership and members of both Houses.
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