Listen as Larry spoke with State Senator Frank Wagner regarding his campaign to become governor of Virginia.
O’Connor: I know that down in Hampton Roads, where you represent, you’ve had to deal with this and in Norfolk they’ve got bad traffic down there. What would be your solution for all the people suffering in Fairfax and Loudoun and out on I-95 and Route 66 right now?
Sen. Wagner: Absolutely. Of any political party, there are 5 candidates running for governor now, I’m the only one who has put forward a transportation plan that talks about real money for transportation. And I’m not just a politician saying that. I’ve been putting that bill in for the last three years in the general assembly. Fighting for more money for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, more new money in the form of gas taxes. And what happens if you’re not willing to pay for your highways? Well, you’re going to end up putting tolls up and I think you guys are experiencing that more and more in Washington. I just paid $22.95 to go up on the hot lanes. I understand they were $30 one day.
O’Connor: The dynamic pricing they do. It was upwards to $50 at one point.
Sen. Wagner: Right, look what happens when you’re not willing to pay for your highways. And let’s be realistic, we have serious problems all over Virginia in transportation and we’ve got to have and honest discussion with the people in Virginia. And I’ve actually put forward a plan that would actually raise gas prices or taxes on gasoline while oil remains relatively inexpensive,. But if it gets back up to where it was at $4, $5 a gallon, you’ll actually pay less tax than the law that’s in place now because we went to a percentage tax when we corrected it. I think it’s important to know, look we have serious transportation challenges and you have serious transportation problems, or we have serious transportation problems in Northern Virginia. We have a Metro system that is falling apart. We have Virginia rail express which has to pull back all their planning money now, just to maintain the system. You know, I’m on the Finance Committee and I chair the Transportation Subcommittee so I’m intimately involved in these issues and that’s the kind of person you want for governor.
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