Transportation entities; joint subcommittee to study functions and authorities of entities. (SJ92)
Introduced By
Sen. Ken Stolle (R-Virginia Beach)
Progress
✓ |
Introduced |
✓ |
Passed Committee |
✓ |
Passed House |
✓ |
Passed Senate |
Description
Study; Hampton Roads transportation entities; report. Establishes a 10-member joint subcommittee to conduct a one-year study of the relationship, duties, and responsibilities of and between the various transportation entities in Hampton Roads. Read the Bill »
Status
03/12/2008: Passed the Senate
History
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 01/09/2008 | Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/08 080582328 |
| 01/09/2008 | Referred to Committee on Rules |
| 01/25/2008 | Committee substitute printed 087313328-S1 |
| 01/25/2008 | Reported from Rules with substitute |
| 01/28/2008 | Reading waived (40-Y 0-N) (see vote tally) |
| 01/29/2008 | Read second time |
| 01/29/2008 | Reading of substitute waived |
| 01/29/2008 | Committee substitute agreed to 087313328-S1 |
| 01/29/2008 | Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SJ92S1 |
| 01/30/2008 | Read third time |
| 01/30/2008 | Agreed to by Senate by voice vote |
| 01/30/2008 | Communicated to House |
| 02/11/2008 | Placed on Calendar |
| 02/11/2008 | Referred to Committee on Rules |
| 03/03/2008 | Reported from Rules with amendments (15-Y 0-N) |
| 03/05/2008 | Taken up |
| 03/05/2008 | Committee amendments agreed to |
| 03/05/2008 | Engrossed by House as amended |
| 03/05/2008 | Agreed to by House with amendments BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) |
| 03/05/2008 | VOTE: BLOCK VOTE PASSAGE (97-Y 0-N) |
| 03/06/2008 | House amendments agreed to by Senate by voice vote |
| 03/12/2008 | Bill text as passed Senate and House (SJ92ER) |
Comments
So far, there are two Bills on this subject, SJ-92 by Senator Ken Stolle, and HJ-157 by Delegate Joe Bouchard.
Both Bills are superb. Neither Bill impacts the prior Transportation Bill or the Transportation Authorities; thus, there is no risk of opening Pandora’s Box, a point that acknowledges and protects the concerns of local leaders.
The only purpose of these two Bills is to launch an official, serious study on how best to reconcile the roles and missions of multiple transportation organizations in any one metro area. Some day, without any doubt whatsoever, this will need to be done, and so:
The only principle behind these two Bills is to “Get Smart First” with serious research (to include national level comparisons) during calendar year 2008 that will enable structural change to provide professional regional transportation management for Hampton Roads right away and for Greater Fredericksburg, Greater Richmond, and other regions who will soon create their own Transportation Authorities. Completing this study in calendar year 2008 provides time, if necessary, for local and state leaders to craft legislation for the 2009 GA session to accomplish remaining (if any) final structural change requirements.
The two Bills differ slightly:
• SJ-92 (Stolle) calls for a new study commission while HJ-157 (Bouchard) assigns the study to last year’s Joint Commission on Transportation Accountability (JCTA). Both methods will work, but the Stolle procedure is deemed to be best—this is a new issue and needs a new, tailored study group able to do national level comparisons; that can address matters of organizational theory; and that understands relevant federal transportation legislation.
• SJ-92 (Stolle) studies the roles and mission of multiple regional transportation agencies in Hampton Roads (a single region) while HJ-157 (Bouchard) could study several regions. Again, either method would work—the lessons learned from the Hampton Roads study could easily be applied (and will need to be applied) to any region. For clarity on this point or if otherwise deemed necessary; the study could be applied, for example, to metropolitan areas in Virginia with a population of over 500,000 citizens.
Without question, these two Bills and the resultant Transportation Study designed to reconcile roles and missions will prove to be enormously beneficial to the Commonwealth and to Hampton Roads—this study is essential.
Ray T.