What’s Next? Parking-Ticket Forgiveness?
by James A. Bacon
State Senate Democrats announced yesterday a deal to pay off $36 million in toll debts accumulated by thousands of drivers using the Downtown and Midtown tunnels connecting Norfolk and Portsmouth.
Woo hoo! Free money for everybody! Well… free money for some! Image credit: Bing Image Creator
“I’m proud to announce because of our 2025 Appropriations Bill, the Virginia Department of Transportation and Elizabeth River Crossings have successfully completed negotiations and reached an agreement to wipe out all outstanding toll balances and fees from 2014 to December 31, 2023, for drivers in Portsmouth and Norfolk. That’s right, the toll debt is gone,” said House Speaker Don Scott, D-Scott, as reported by WVEC News.
“If you have been buried under toll tickets and those late fees have been holding you back, if you felt like no one in Richmond was listening, we heard you,” said Scott. “Nobody should be buried under hundreds or thousands of dollars in fines just because they are trying to get to work or take care of their kids.”
But not just anyone gets their debts wiped away. As WVEC makes clear: “The relief package is targeted specifically at Portsmouth and Norfolk drivers, recognizing that they have carried the brunt of Elizabeth River Tunnel toll costs since the fees were imposed.”
Hmmm. Don Scott’s district is Portsmouth. The district of his collaborator in this deal, Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas includes… Portsmouth.
“This is about giving people a fresh start,” said Scott. “This is about government finally doing what it is supposed to do: work for the people.”
Let me be more precise. Scott works for the people who don’t pay their tolls, transferring costs to taxpayers and/or people who do.
Oddly enough, Scott and Lucas didn’t say who exactly was paying for this $36 million in relief. VDOT? Toll concessionaire Elizabeth River Crossing? Virginia taxpayers? Other tunnel users?
Oddly enough, WVEC didn’t ask that question, noting only that “Wednesday’s historic action is part of a broader $101M toll relief imitative passed by the General Assembly.”
If you’re an Elizabeth River tunnel commuter who dutifully paid your tolls all these years, you’re a sucker, a sheep to be sheared by politicians who maintain power by giving away other peoples’ money.
