In an earlier blog, we predicted that 2008 might be the year the legislature’s short-term transportation fix unraveled. Well, it did.

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled today that the regional taxation powers of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority are unconstitutional because the authority is an unelected body. It looks as if the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority will share the same fate. These authorities would have been able to raise an estimated $400 million and $200 million, respectively, for regional transportation projects.

Lawmakers already starting dismantling the 2007 transportation package this year by striking abusive driver fees, which were supposed to raise about $65 million a year. The Virginia Department of Transportation also recently announced that the slowing economy has lowered estimated revenues over the next six years by $1.1 billion.

The 2007 transportation package is unraveling quickly.

So where do we go from here? Gov. Tim Kaine, Speaker of the House Bill Howell and Attorney General Bob McDonnell have promised to work together to create new laws that work within Virginia’s constitution.

The regional plans paved the way for the compromise package last year - allowing the state’s most traffic-clogged regions to raise money without forcing delegates or senators to vote for raising taxes. But that compromise was reached only after years of bickering that included a 246-day taxpayer-funded session.

Now the economic downturn may make compromise even tougher. There’s less money to go around and increasing taxes while consumers are pinched would be a tough political vote.