With a reconvened Virginia General Assembly special session on transportation looming, advocates for a legislative fix and an anti-tax group are taking to the airwaves.

The Laborers' International Union of North America wants the General Assembly to vote "yes" on a plan. The Virginia chapter of Americans for Prosperity, an anti-tax group, is urging "no."

Virginians are already paying enough for gas; a tax increase would add to their woes, a radio ad by Americans for Prosperity says.

The group blames Senate Democrats and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. Kaine called the General Assembly to Richmond in a special session on June 23. The assembly recessed four days later, unable to reach any agreement.

But the union ads say a failure to solve traffic congestion "negatively affects working people every day" by keeping them stuck in traffic and costing them gas money and jobs. It blames the Republican-controlled House of Delegates for the legislative gridlock.

"The Virginia House of Delegates continues to play political games with our safety and our time," the ads state, imploring lawmakers to "put Virginians back to work fixing our bridges, expanding our roads and improving our transit system."

The Laborers' International Union has a vested interest in a plan being passed. The 500,000-member organization represents the construction industry, which has been hurt by the delay and cancellation of roads projects in the state due to lack of funding and a mounting deficit in highway maintenance.

A $1 billion plan of statewide and regional tax increases proposed by Kaine was killed in a House committee last week. A Senate bill proposing an increase in the gasoline tax will come up for consideration in the House when lawmakers reconvene Wednesday.

Kaine Press Secretary Gordon Hickey said the union acted on its own and not at the request of the executive branch. He said 43 counties, 20 cities and 12 towns have passed resolutions urging action on a comprehensive plan next week.
Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or jnolan@timesdispatch.com.

Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or twhitley@timesdispatch.com.