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Editorial: Virginia’s Road to the Past

Gov. Bob McDonnell wants Virginia to return to the days of plentiful, cheap gasoline in his new transportation plan, ironically titled "Virginia’s Road to the Future." It’s a flawed plan and one that will take Virginia down a road it doesn’t want to go.

His big idea: eliminating Virginia’s gas tax (already one of the lowest in the nation) and replacing the lost revenue with a hike in the sales tax, as well as an increased vehicle registration fee and a $100 annual tax for alternative fuel vehicles.

While motorists tired of out-of-control prices at the pump may welcome this as a much-needed reprieve, all it does is shift the burden. Money is still needed to repair and replace the state’s aging transportation infrastructure and Virginia taxpayers will still have to pay for it.

The gasoline tax makes sense. People who use the roads should have to pay for their upkeep. McDonnell himself recognized it in proposing the tax on alternative fuel vehicles. A...

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