Weekly Column: Newport News Shipbuilding and Virginia's Port, Important to the Entire State

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, The Mt. Vernon Voice and The Potomac-Stafford Local in the week of November 25, 2015.

Newport News Shipbuilding and Virginia's Port, Important to the Entire State

Last week, I joined the Virginia Senate's Finance Committee in Portsmouth for briefings on   Virginia’s economy, revenue projections  and other important issues facing the state legislature.  More on that later.  While in Portsmouth, I toured two significant and under-appreciated Virginia assets. 

While neither the shipyard nor the Port is located in Northern Virginia, both have a significant impact on our quality of life and the entire state’s economy.  A healthy Port of Virginia has beneficial ripple effects across the whole state.

Newport News Shipbuilding

Newport News Shipbuilding, dating to 1886, is the only facility in the United States capable of constructing an aircraft carrier and one of two in the country that can build a submarine.

Port of Virginia: A Big Asset Off NOVA's Radar

One of the things I've come to appreciate since being elected is the impact major pieces of public infrastructure has on Virginia's economy.  Dulles Airport tends to grab much of the attention in Northern Virginia.  Access to an international airport creates all kinds of possibilities in attracting business. 

Another asset that most Northern Virginians are not familiar with is the Port of Virginia.  The Port of Virginia was dates back to the 1700's, but was officially created by the 1982 consolidation of the Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth Terminals along with the creation of the Virginia Inland Port (Intermodal Transit Facility off I-81 where containers are initially shipped by rail). 

Using Money Wisely? $1.4 Billion for 5,500 Vehicles

Today's Washington Post has an article about a new bypass for U.S. 460. 

The new toll road is being constructed pursuant to the state's Public-Private Partnership Act and does not require legislative approval.  According to the Washington Post, taxpayers' portion of the road is being funded as follows:

• $250 Million from the Virginia Port Authority (which McDonnell recently fired the entire board and replaced with his own appointees);
• $216 Million from state bonds rated BBB- (one notch above junk status); and
• $80 Million from Virginia's brand new Transportation Infrastructure Bank in case toll revenue underperforms.

It was proposed twice and no private entity would make a bid.  After the state put this amount of money on the table, a private entity finally made a bid to construct the road by 2016, charge tolls, and earn a profit.

However, what struck my eye about this project was the amount of vehicles expected to use it - 5,000 to 6,000 per day.  In other words about $254,545 per daily vehicle trip. 

Weekly Column: Should Virginia Put Its Port on the Auction Block?

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, the Mt. Vernon Voice and Patch in the week of October 1, 2012. 

Should Virginia Put Its Port on the Auction Block? 

Largely out of sight in the Northern Virginia media, there has been a controversy raging in the Hampton Roads area about the privitization of Virginia's Port.

Governor McDonnell is very passionate about privatizing government functions. Everyone is familiar with his effort to privatize the state liquor stores. He has also announced multiple efforts to privatize Virginia's roads by selling tolling rights to foreign investors for I-95, US 460 and a new tunnel between Portsmouth and Norfolk.

In May, APM terminals offered Virginia $540 million to run the Virginia Port for 48-years. Governor McDonnell is now soliciting proposals from other private entities. After a flood of criticism about the timing of the proposal, the lack of information provided to elected officials, and the short timeframe for accepting proposals, the Governor slowed the process down a bit.