Press Releases and Newsletters
Declaration of independents (Charlotte Observer)
Among the things that make North Carolina such an interesting place to live are its sometimes-baffling – and sometimes not baffling at all – contradictions.
So for someone who has covered N.C. politics since before the Dawn of Time (our state’s General Fund budget had just exceeded $2 billion when I arrived in 1977; it hit $20 billion four years ago), the demographic changes and contrary trends are fascinating.
I grew up in a state that was still regarded as a poor one. But the changes of the last third of the 20th century brought dramatic growth in the population, significant differences in political choices and great prosperity for some and confounding underemployment for others.
So when the John Davis Political Report arrived in my inbox the other day, I waded in. You may not know of Davis, a Mississippian who came to this state decades ago and who has been cataloging its political changes ever since. I first got to know John in the 1990s when he began writing about the political effects of the huge in-migration of Northern and Midwestern Republicans who were not nearly so conservative as many Southern Republicans or old line Democrats.
The 2011 Census numbers show strong growth in urban areas of the Piedmont and continued growth in all but seven counties – all but one of them in the East. In a state long dominated by rural interests and entrenched politicians from Eastern N.C., these demographic changes will concentrate more voters, and more power, in the state’s largest cities.
We have had an 82 percent growth rate in the number of registered voters over the past two decades. In 1990, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by a 2-1 margin. In recent decades the Democrats’ share of registered voters has declined to less than half of all registered voters, about 45 percent. While Republicans have added about a million voters, their share is roughly the same as it was in 1990 – 32 percent.
The difference? The number of those who call themselves unaffiliated, as Davis does, has risen from just 6 percent to 24 percent. These independent voters decide general elections, notes Davis. That presents problems for Republicans who now control the legislature.
“The greatest political challenge ahead for the new GOP legislative majority is how to initiate conservative solutions to state government problems without alienating the majority of voters who prefer results over party or ideology,” he writes.
We talked more about this on Friday. “The biggest mistake Republicans can make is to believe that voters chose them because of their ideology,” he said. “They chose Republicans because they had lost confidence in the Democrats’ ability to solve the problems of the day. … This has not become a Republican state.”
That’s why a state that is trending more liberal among its growing population is the same state that throws Democrats out of legislative offices and puts Republicans in charge. Voters, including many Democrats, were tired of the establishment and wanted a change of leadership.
But if Republican actions in the legislature cause voters to lose confidence in their ability to boost the economy, create more jobs and control government growth and spending, Davis said, voters will make the only other choice open to them: another leadership change.
Davis is a pro-business political moderate. Some Democrats suspect him of Republican leanings and some Republicans suspect him of Democratic leanings.
He also thinks the new Republican majority must be careful to avoid the mistake that President Barack Obama made – believing that his agenda was more important than the voters’ agenda. Instead of pressing first on health care, Obama should have kept working on the jobs problem until it showed positive, demonstrative results.
Similarly, Republicans in the General Assembly should focus on three key things they ran on – and won on – last year: jobs, fiscal integrity and efficient delivery of government services.
The natural temptation of any new political majority is to engage in some payback to settle old scores and to change everything as fast as it can.
Davis is impressed with the discipline of the new majority. Still, “If Republicans come to Raleigh thinking they can make up for more than a hundred years of Democratic hegemony in one year, they will be making a mistake,” Davis adds. They must “do something about jobs, the budget, the size of government and spending. Anything to do with the social side of the agenda such as same sex marriage would also be a mistake.”
The reason: Too much attention to social issues may drive off independent voters who helped put them in office. “Every statewide election in North Carolina today is decided by unaffiliated independent voters,” he said. “Republicans cannot drift too far to the right because we have become a state of independents.”
Jack Betts is an Observer associate editor based in Raleigh: jbetts@charlotteobserver.com.
Charlotte projects get boost (Charlotte Observer)
In a transportation trifecta, state and federal officials pledged Friday to accelerate the widening of Interstate 485, pay for a new airport control tower and help extend Charlotte’s light-rail line to UNC Charlotte.
Gov. Bev Perdue joined U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Sen. Kay Hagan and other officials at the Charlotte Chamber for a roundtable discussion with business leaders.Perdue made official what a state senator announced last month: that the widening of I-485 between Rea Road and Interstate 77 will begin in 2012, two years ahead of schedule.
“It’s great news for this community … but it’s also great news for North Carolina,” Perdue said.
LaHood offered the possibility of more good news.He said President Barack Obama has budgeted $550 billion for transportation issues, a pot that includes billions for high-speed rail and $400 million for light-rail projects such as Charlotte’s.A former Republican congressman, LaHood said he’s optimistic the budget can largely survive the new GOP-controlled House.
“We’re going to work with Congress,” he said. “There’s nothing partisan about transportation. There are no ‘Republican’ or ‘Democrat’ bridges or roads. And I believe transportation will be bi-partisan this year.”LaHood called the transportation measure “a jobs bill.””The president is saying if we want to put people to work,” he said, “the way to do that is make these investments.”LaHood was the only Republican on a panel that included Democratic U.S. Reps. Mel Watt of Charlotte and Larry Kissell of Montgomery County.
In a hearing earlier this week, senators questioned LaHood about how the transportation budget’s proposals would be paid for. A spokeswoman for Charlotte Republican Rep. Sue Myrick said a GOP-led House committee is holding hearings on the bill across the country.
LaHood promised Jerry Orr, aviation director at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, to help build a new control tower. And he offered the prospect that Charlotte might get some of the budget’s $400 million to extend light rail to the university area. UNC Charlotte Chancellor Phil Dubois told the secretary the extension would connect “two of the biggest economic drivers” in the area, uptown and the university.
Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff applauded the project. “The growth that this region is going to experience is going to be eye-popping,” he said. “What will really make or break Charlotte is how will they plan for it? Things like the (Lynx) Blue Line extension is how we plan for it.”
LaHood, Rogoff and the members of Congress took a ride on the Blue Line from uptown to South End, passing developments that came about as a result of the light rail.
“Everywhere I go I say it,” LaHood said at the chamber. “If you build it they will come. Any of these corridors become an economic engine.”
The federal government has promised North Carolina $500 million for high-speed rail, including a line between Charlotte and Greensboro. LaHood declined to say whether North Carolina might benefit from the $2.4 billion for high-speed rail the state of Florida rejected Friday. LaHood said he’ll announce next week what the department would do with the money. But he lauded North Carolina’s commitment to rail.
“North Carolina’s got it together,” he said. “North Carolina is going to be in the high-speed rail business because of the tenacious leadership of your governor.”
Posted: Saturday, Mar. 05, 2011
By Jim Morrill
Daily Update March 7
This week the Joint Transportation Appropriations Committee will be looking at the $78 million in public transportation grants. At the Committee’s request NCDOT will offer varying levels of cuts to the grants and the impacts of those cuts. The Committee will walk through a similar process for aviation, ferry, rail, and the bike/ped divisions as well. The Committee will also be discussing the Mobility Fund, specifically, hearing a presentation on the Intermodal Bill (HB 148) as it is referenced in the Mobility Fund formula (as required by statute). Lastly, if they have time left, they will spend time discussing the various transfers from the Highway Fund and Highway Trust Fund to operations outside the NCDOT.
Thank you to the City of Raleigh for passing a resolution against the transfer of state roads to locals. If you community has passed a similar resolution please be sure to send me a copy. WRAL did a story on the issue late last week in which House Majority Leader Skip Stam said, “”I haven’t heard from a single person that that’s a good idea, but I should caution you, I don’t hear everything.”
Gov. Bev Perdue announced Friday that several Urban Loop projects (Charlotte, Greensboro and Wilmington) scheduled to begin between 2014 and 2019 will begin earlier, due to available cash and cost savings from a favorable construction environment. While no additional money exists to add new Loop projects to the construction schedule, the N.C. Department of Transportation expects to see additional savings of about $50 million by being able to take advantage of today’s lower real estate and construction costs, which could move forward other Loops in their priority order.
SB 183 Selective Vegetation Removal/State Highways was introduced last week by Sens. Brown, Jenkinks, Rucho, Tillman, and Walters. It will override the ability of communities to regulate the location and appearance of digital billboards along major roads, and would dramatically expand the area where trees could be cleared in public rights of way in front of billboards. The Metro Mayors oppose the bill. There were a few articles written about the issue this weekend you can see in the News Clips section below. Chairman Bell was quoted in one story saying,
SB 170 Clarify Nuisance Abatement Laws was introduced last week by Sen. Hartsell and was sent to Judiciary 2. The bill amends GS 19-1(a) to clarify that the erection, establishment, continuance, maintenance, use, ownership or leasing of any building or place wherein or whereon repeated acts (was, for the purpose) of an illegal activity, as listed, occurs will constitute a nuisance. Makes a conforming change to GS 19-1.2(6) (concerning types of nuisances). Effective August 1, 2011 and applies to offenses or nuisances occurring on or after that date. If you have a senator from your area on Judiciary 2 please let them know of your support for the bill.
The broadband bill (HB 129) was heard in House Public Utilities last week where it was pushed through without exceptions for cities already in the broadband business. The League and the Coalition are trying to amend the bill to include exclusions for those currently in the business and to allow public private partnerships in the future. Salisbury Mayor Kluttz testified before the Committee and is asking for your help. If you have a representative on the House Finance Committee please call and ask them to support the League’s efforts.
SB 27 Involuntary Annexation Moratorium is on the calendar for the Senate’s final vote tonight. The moratorium would last until July 1, 2012. Local deannexation bills have passed through the House and more have been introduced.
The other big news last week was the release of the census numbers. The coverage focused on the explosive growth in our urban centers and noted that Wake and Mecklenburg stand to be the biggest beneficiaries. “It tells us once again that political power is increasingly concentrating in our big metro areas, with particular emphasis on the Research Triangle and Mecklenburg areas,” said Ferrel Guillory, a UNC Chapel Hill political analyst told the Charlotte Observer. We are working our way through the data and will bring you more on the likely effects on the General Assembly over the next few weeks.
Gov. Perdue Announces Acceleration of Start Dates for Urban Loop Projects (Press Release)
RALEIGH – Gov. Bev Perdue today announced that several Urban Loop projects scheduled to begin between 2014 and 2019 will begin earlier, due to available cash and cost savings from a favorable construction environment. While no additional money exists to add new Loop projects to the construction schedule, the N.C. Department of Transportation expects to see additional savings of about $50 million by being able to take advantage of today’s lower real estate and construction costs, which could move forward other Loops in their priority order.
The following Urban Loop segments will be accelerated:
Charlotte I-485 widening : Using design/build, construction will begin in 2012, two years sooner.
Greensboro Western Loop :Part C (Bryan Boulevard to Battleground Avenue) – Construction will begin in 2013, one year sooner.Part D (Battleground Avenue to Lawndale Drive) – Buying right of way will begin in 2011, eight years sooner.
Greensboro Eastern Loop : Part B (US 70 to US 29) – Buying right of way will begin in 2011, four years sooner and construction will begin in 2014, three years sooner.
Wilmington US 17 Bypass: Part B (US 74/76 to US 421) – All grading and structures work will be consolidated into one contract in 2013. Paving work will be done under a separate contract in 2017, completing the overall project in 2018, two years sooner.
NCDOT uses a cash management system, modeled on the private sector, that allows the department to monitor finances on a monthly basis. Since much of its funding comes from the Highway Use and gas taxes, this system helps NCDOT spend resources effectively.The money to accelerate these projects was made available in three ways:
By using the design-build method, which allows construction and design to take place simultaneously, and coordinating construction work on three separate projects that will complete I-485 and widen I-85 in the Charlotte area the department saved about $130 million;
Savings of nearly 20 percent on construction contract bids over the past year; and
While NCDOT implemented a data-driven system for scheduling loop projects last year all loop projects were put on hold, which built up cash on hand.
Ten cities are identified by law to receive special funding from the Highway Trust Fund for urban loops. They are located in Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, Gastonia, Greensboro, Greenville, Raleigh, Wilmington and Winston-Salem. NCDOT is continuing to look for creative ways to advance all these Loop projects.
Only 140 out of 353 miles in these loops currently are open to traffic. To complete them all at today’s prices would cost an estimated $8 billion. At the current level of funding, $150 million per year, it will take 50 years to complete the remaining 213 miles, without inflation.
To learn more about NCDOT’s prioritization process that uses facts instead of politics to determine which projects receive these limited funds first, visit http://www.ncdot.org/performance/reform/prioritization/ .
City leaders talk about Jordan Lake Rules delay proposal (The Times News)
Greensboro Mayor Bill Knight wants more “breathing room” between now and the implementation deadline for the Jordan Lake Rules.
Knight has submitted a proposal to amend the current rules, and garnered support from other big-city mayors at last week’s North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition winter meeting in Greensboro.
Burlington leaders expressed some support for the idea, but also concern about increasing costs by delaying implementation.
Knight is asking state officials to push the Jordan Lake Rules implementation deadline from 2016 to 2020, so cities would have more time to raise funds for the necessary adjustments outlined in the rules. The Jordan Lake Rules were implemented in 2009 by the state to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous that flow into Jordan Lake.
According to the original rules, cities in the Jordan Lake watershed would need to have the necessary upgrades to storm water systems completed by 2016. Knight wants that date changed to 2020, and presented his amendment to the Guilford delegation in the General Assembly, at their request.
Knight said the statewide bill should soon be introduced and cosponsored in the Senate, and has already been drafted. “It’s the same language as the (rules) before,” said Knight. “The only thing that’s been struck is the date.”
Knight said that when the rules were enacted, “We were in a much, much better economy.” Now we’re not, he said, and cities need more time to make the necessary upgrades. Revamping Burlington’s storm water system is estimated to cost $120 million, according to city officials, and Burlington Mayor Ronnie Wall is on board with Knight’s proposal.
“What they want to do is change the timeline from 2016 to 2020,” said Wall. “I think that’s better for all municipalities involved.” Wall said he thinks the extension would definitely benefit Burlington, since it would help stagger the borrowing of funds for improvements.
Councilman Jim Butler said part of the original negotiation with the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources involved extending the deadline from 2014 to 2016, because the former wasn’t achievable. “That was an initial concession DENR made,” he said.
Now that there’s another push to extend the implementation date, Butler thinks, “It’s going to be a rushed job.” He said he thinks 2016 is doable, but a later deadline would make finances “easier to digest.” Councilmember Celo Faucette said the extension might give “everybody upstream and downstream” more time to gather revenue for the necessary changes.
However, Councilman Steve Ross has mixed feelings about pushing the deadline, since time could negatively affect borrowing rates. “We’ve already gone ahead and made the preparations for what has to be done (by 2016),” he said.
Ross said Burlington’s bond rating has gone up in the past few years, and the cost to borrow has gone down, making now the ideal time to borrow funds.
He said he foresees a strong period of inflation down the road – which typically happens after coming off a recession – and fears having to pay higher borrowing fees and construction costs in a few years if the implementation deadline is pushed to 2020.
Water Resources Director Bob Patterson has the same concern, and says inflation could affect the second phase of updates to the city’s waste water treatment plants.
“We’ve already designed and obtained bids and ordered a contract for the first phase of the nutrient removal project, which is a new filtration facility,” said Patterson. Regardless of whether or not the extension is granted, he said, “It kind of makes sense to move forward with that (phase) and have it ready.”
The second phase of waste water treatment upgrades is currently being designed, and is what would be most affected by the deadline extension. Patterson said, if given more time, he would probably continue with the design, but, “We could certainly not bid them out if there were a delay in the effective date.” Patterson said if that were the case, he’d be concerned about increased interest rates and the availability of contractors.
Though Patterson and Ross remain cautious about holding off the deadline, Ross said, “ We’ll certainly support what neighboring communities want to do.”
Molly Mc Gowan/Times-News
2011-03-04 16:22:36
Raleigh concerned state will pass roadway expenses to cities (WRAL)
City leaders say they are concerned about rumors that the state, faced with a $2.4 billion budget deficit, might pass the responsibility for taking care of state roadways on to cities.
“If we were asked to look after all the state roads with no funding, it would be a very, very substantial burden on us,” Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker said Friday. “It would be tens of millions of dollars a year, which we currently don’t have.”
The City Council passed a resolution this week saying they can’t take care of state roads without funding.
“Even if it were a good idea, it would just be the wrong time to do it,” state Rep. Paul Stam, R-Wake, said.Stam, the House majority leader, said Republican legislative leaders have heard Raleigh’s concerns.“I haven’t heard from a single person that that’s a good idea, but I should caution you, I don’t hear everything,” Stam said Friday.
The Raleigh City Council’s resolution is being distributed to municipalities statewide by the North Carolina League of Municipalities.Raleigh has benefited from state-funded road improvements in the past year.A $2 million state project paid for improvements to the Five Points area on Glenwood Avenue.
In addition, a $9 million state project completed last year transformed Hillsborough Street from four lanes into a two-lane avenue with on-street parking. The project included several roundabouts between Oberlin Road and Gardner Street.
“It just took a long time, but I like the traffic circles,” North Carolina State University student Michelle Smith said of the roundabouts, which are near campus. “I do like them, as long as other people know how to use them.”
Posted: March 4
Updated: March 5
Reporter: Stacy Davis
Photographer: Tom Normanly
Web Editor: Kathy Hanrahan
Billboard bill foes team up (The Herald Sun)
DURHAM — Lobbying groups for the state’s cities and counties have joined forces to oppose an N.C. Senate bill that would override laws in Durham and other places that bar digital billboards along major roads.
The opposition includes the N.C. League of Municipalities, the N.C. Association of County Commissioners, the N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition, Preservation North Carolina and the state chapter of the American Planning Association.
Also involved is Durham’s Inter-Neighborhood Council, said Ben Hitchings, past legislative chair of the planning association’s state chapter.
The groups “will be reaching out to legislators and asking them to protect the right of citizens to make their own decisions about community appearance,” said Hitchings, who’s also the planning director in Morrisville.
The Senate bill is “an intrusion on the rights of local governments to establish how they want
The bill, introduced Wednesday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown, D-Onslow, would give billboard companies like Fairway Outdoor Advertising expanded rights to clear vegetation on the sites of their displays.
But the bill’s key provision also allows them to install “automatic changeable facing” billboards, no matter any local laws to the contrary.
Bell and other Durham City Council members only months ago unanimously rejected Fairway’s request for a local ordinance that would allow it to replace some of its existing billboards with digital models.
The August decision had widespread support. Hundreds of people wrote e-mails to the council opposing Fairway’s request, and a poll commissioned by the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau found that 72 percent of residents surveyed favored retaining the local law that prevents the upgrades.
Fairway officials dropped a parallel request to the county for an ordinance change before County Commissioners could vote on it.
But last month they acknowledged that working through a trade group, the N.C. Outdoor Advertising Association, they would try to renew the debate in the General Assembly.
There, their complaints fell on receptive ears — among them some apparently eager to bring Durham’s government to heel.
“Durham has done a lot of unusual things, like allowing the Mexican consulate to distribute things for licenses,” said state Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg. “They go at a little different drummer’s beat than the rest of the state because no one’s put a challenge to them.”
Rucho, one of the senators co-sponsoring the bill with Brown, was alluding to a separate controversy over the City Council’s decision to support the Durham Police Department’s practice of accepting the Mexican government’s matricula consular as valid ID.
GOP representatives in the N.C. House are pushing a bill to override that decision as well.
Rucho said he’s supporting the bill because he believes local governments that don’t like billboards should have to pay to remove them, instead of using their zoning powers to put pressure on billboard companies to take them down.
The zoning route is “a way of trying to destroy something without paying for it,” he said.
Durham’s senior state legislator, Rep. Mickey Michaux, a Democrat, warned city officials earlier this year that the new GOP-led majorities in the House and Senate would be automatically hostile to “anything that comes out of Durham and Chapel Hill.”
The two communities are both Democratic Party strongholds.
In Durham County, the registered countywide electorate is 61 percent Democratic; within the city, 63 percent of registered voters are Democrats.
The GOP’s willingness to involve the General Assembly in local disputes drew criticism earlier in the week from House Minority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange. He said the new majority has proven itself easily distracted from its professed desire to focus on improving the economy.
“Guns, pelvic politics, marriage, taking away local control, all that has come to dominate this session, not jobs,” Hackney said.
03.06.11 – 12:04 am
By Ray Gronberg
gronberg@heraldsun.com; 419-6648
Municipal Annexations (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A moratorium on municipal annexations of unincorporated areas in North Carolina has received preliminary approval by the Senate. The Senate agreed Thursday 38-11 in favor of the pause until July 1, 2012. Sen. Andrew Brock, R-Davie, said the time-out will give interested parties the chance to work out annexation law changes. North Carolina is one of a few states that allow local governments to incorporate tracts of land into a city or town whether property owners like it or not. Some people want a referendum required before such annexations can occur. The lobbying group for municipalities says the annexation laws have worked well to usher in orderly growth. One more Senate vote is required before the bill goes to the House.(THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 3/03/11).
Toll Road (WRAL NEWS)
The state’s first toll road will cost as little as 15 cents per mile and as much as 24 cents per mile to drive, state Turnpike Authority officials said Thursday. When it’s complete, the Triangle Expressway will run 18.8 miles from Morrisville to Holly Springs, and the Turnpike Authority has designed it so that all tolls will be handled electronically so drivers never have to stop at a booth to fish for change. For drivers with a transponder and paying with a prepaid account, it will cost 15 to 16 cents a mile. For vehicles without a transponder, roadside cameras will snap pictures of their license plates as they pass, and the Turnpike Authority will send them a bill in the mail at a rate of 23 to 24 cents a mile. People who ignore the bill will have a hold placed on their annual vehicle registration.
“The fact of the matter is this is the only way we can pay for these tremendously expensive roads,” said David Joyner, executive director of the Turnpike Authority. The Turnpike Authority expects rates to increase about 5 percent a year through 2015. Money collected from the tolls will pay off about 70 percent of the construction costs on the road. “We owe the bank $1 billion, and we’ve got to repay it,” Joyner said. Tolls will initially be charged on a 3.4-mile stretch called the Triangle Parkway that is expected to open late this year between N.C. Highway 147 in Durham and N.C. Highway 540 in Morrisville. The 12.6-mile Western Wake Freeway should open in 2012 between N.C. Highway 55 in Cary and N.C. 55 in Holly Springs. When that section opens, tolls will also be collected on N.C. 540 between N.C. Highway 54 and N.C. 55, which has been toll-free since it opened in 2008.(Bruce Mildwurf, WRAL NEWS, 3/03/11).
Beltway tax breaks would be good gesture, but need for road grows (Journal)
In an era of doomsday government budgets and looming layoffs of public employees, it’s unusual to see a bipartisan bill submitted to give a class of property owners a tax break, but in this case we have to agree it’s an appropriate measure.
Republican state Sen. Pete Brunstetter and Sen. Linda Garrou, a Democrat, co-sponsored a bill last week that would give a 50-percent tax break on improved property in the path of the long-delayed Northern Beltway around Winston-Salem.
“The existing law already provides that unimproved property in a corridor is taxed at 20 percent of appraised value,” Brunstettertold the Journal’s Wesley Young. “That does not provide any relief for people whose improved property is in those corridors.”
Landowners in the beltway corridor have had their lives and property on hold for more than a decade as lawsuits over the proposed urban loop delayed the project. Those lawsuits were dismissed early last year, shortly before the Department of Transportation announced that the eastern leg of the beltway, which was considered a higher local priority, was last on a ranking of 21 state loop projects waiting for funding. Local officials mounted an unsuccessful campaign to convince the DOT to reassess its ranking, claiming that Forsyth County had been unfairly passed over because its project had been delayed by lawsuits and had grown prohibitively expensive. The loop is essential for future economic development and to ease heavy traffic on local interstate highways, but now carries a total price of $1.3 billion. Neither the eastern nor western sections of the beltway, which the DOTconsiders separate projects, are scheduled for construction in the next 10 years. Nor is the purchase of right-of-way. Seven landowners filed a lawsuit last year to force the DOT to buy hundreds of properties along the route.
The Forsyth Countytax assessor, Pete Rodda, said the tax break would cost the county about $250,000 in revenue. Cities and towns in the county would lose about $125,000, he said. Some landowners were worried that the tax break could lower the value of their property, but the bill is worded so that the value of property would not be changed.
As for the beltway’s prospects, Brunstetter, co-chairman of the senate’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee, sees little new funding for roads in sight. But for now, the long-suffering beltway property owners will get some relief if the tax-break bill passes.
By Journal Editorial Staff
Published: March 03, 2011
