The Metrorail Funding Charade? The Virginia Senate Finance Committee offers more money while MWAA says it won't change its stance on PLA

 From the Fairfax Times, March 22, 2012:

Senate budget would boost Dulles rail funding

Bill amended to include $450 million for second phase of rail extension

by Kali Schumitz, Staff Writer

The Virginia Senate Finance Committee signed off on a revised state budget plan Thursday morning that includes additional funding for the  Dulles rail project.

The bill was amended to include a total of $450 million for the 11-mile second phase of the rail extension, which includes three stations in Fairfax County, one at Dulles Airport and two in Loudoun County. The total estimated cost for the second phase is $3.2 billion.

State officials had previously pledged $150 million for the rail line. Sens. Janet Howell (D-Dist. 32) and Mark Herring (D-Dist. 33) led the charge to get more rail funding in the state budget.
Staff with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority have said that any additional state money would slow the pace of toll rate increases on the Dulles Toll Road. The authority is using bonds backed by toll revenues to pay for a significant portion of the construction costs for the rail line. . . .

While not much in the scheme of Metrorail construction--$450 million is about 7-8% of the total Silver Line construction cost and less than 3% of the total $15 billion financing cost of the revenue bonds--to re-invent a turn of phrase from the late Congressman Tip O'Neill, "A million here, a million there, pretty soon you're talking about real money."  $450 million is a start.

Nonetheless, on the same day the State Senate Finance Committee was stepping forward a bit, MWAA stuck its finger in Virginia's eye by saying that it would keep the PLA preference according to this Washington Examiner article:   
  

Airports board won't give in on Dulles Rail union labor

By Liz Essley

The airports authority in charge of the Dulles Rail project held its ground in a labor dispute with Virginia on Wednesday, insisting it would not give up its preference for union labor on the project despite the state's threat to withhold $150 million unless it did so.

"If the labor agreement [on Phase I] worked, why would we say, 'We don't want to do that again, we want to change course'?" asked authority member Dennis Martire, who is also vice president of the Laborers' International Union of North America. "You do what's right for the project, what's right for the toll road riders, what's right for the taxpayers, not what's right for politics."

Virginia officials claim that the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is violating the spirit of the state's right-to-work laws by encouraging the use of union labor on the $6 billion Metrorail project and threatened to withhold $150 million in state funding if the authority didn't change course. The authority, however, said that if it lost the state funding it would shift the additional costs onto drivers on the Dulles Toll Road in the form of higher tolls. . . .

Someone a bit more cynical might say it was all a charade.  The Senate committee can say "we tried" when the bill is defeated or vetoed because of MWAA's PLA position.  MWAA can say we backed off from requiring a PLA to merely giving contractors using a PLA a preferential consideration.  The Governor can say, "I told them not to give a PLA preference."  Posturing may well win the day.

If it does, it will be the Dulles Toll Road users who will take it in the pocketbook by paying that extra amount in higher tolls.  No one seems to care that half the toll road users are from Fairfax County according to Wilbur Smith's 2009 customer survey.  Another 20% come from Loudoun.  They will be the ones who suffer most financially--or change their driving routes to NoVa's already congested alternative roadways, which will just deteriorate further.  Northern Virginia's "economic engine" will literally slow to a crawl with the diverted traffic.  The latter is especially true if the Virginia legislature decides on transportation "devolution:"  Transferring responsibility for state and local roads to the counties (but so far they haven't suggested transferring the associated funds).