Delay seen in Virginia seating new appointees to airports board In November, McDonnell tapped Todd Stottlemyer of Oakton, chief executive of the Fairfax-based technology firm Acentia, and businesswoman Caren Merrick of McLean, an unsuccessful candidate for state Senate last year, to join the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. Democrats, who hold 32 of the House's 100 seats, balked Tuesday at passing the bill with a provision that would have allowed it to be signed into law immediately. House Minority Leader David J. Toscano said Democrats agreed with the bill's purpose but "didn't know why there was an emergency clause." Other Democrats said, however, that the delay would help ensure that the project stays on track with its current project labor agreements. In November, the MWAA and Virginia reached an accord that a "project labor agreement" on the second phase of the Dulles rail line would be "consistent with Virginia and federal law." "Part of the concern with positioning new appointees to revisit project labor agreements is that would cause further delay on a project that is critical to Northern Virginia's economy," Del. David L. Englin (D-Alexandria) said. Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton said, "The intent of seeking the emergency clause was to bring MWAA into compliance with federal law as quickly as possible. MWAA is facing a multitude of challenges, and Congress chose to reform the authority. It is the responsibility of Virginia and the District to implement those reforms as soon as practical. Joe T. May (R-Loudon), chairman of the Transportation Committee, who filed the bill, said he remained "mildly hopeful" that he could persuade his ­colleagues to allow the bill to go into effect immediately. "I still don't consider this a defeat,"" he said. The Senate will consider the bill as early as next week. The MWAA has been criticized for a lack of transparency in its operations and for its management of the 23-mile Dulles rail project. Phase 1, which is under construction from Falls Church to Reston, could run as much as $150 million over budget. The inspector general for the federal Transportation Department is conducting an audit of MWAA. It is expected to be completed in the spring. The new appointments come out of legislation introduced by Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) to expand the board from 13 to 17 members. The bill called for Virginia to get two new appointments, while Maryland and the District were each to get one more. Before the bill was passed, Virginia had five representatives, the District and the federal government each had three, and Maryland had two. McDonnell has long sought more seats on the MWAA board and other regional transportation organizations. He pushed to have a representative on the Metro board and eventually persuaded the General Assembly to give him the authority to make an appointment. Wolf's legislation also prohibits board members from serving past the end of their terms. Members also could be "removed for cause" by the governors of Maryland and Virginia and the D.C. mayor. The executive branch of the federal government already had that authority. The airports board voted in September to authorize then-Chairman Charles Snelling to publicly oppose Wolf's efforts. A spokeswoman for the board said the members would not comment on the appointments bill until the legislation is signed.