House, Senate pass transportation bill (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Breaking a legislative traffic jam that has endured for more than three years, the Georgia General Assembly on Wednesday voted to allow referendums throughout the state on transportation funding.
Taking to the well for the first time this session, Speaker David Ralston in a rousing speech led the Georgia House to pass the bill, HB 277, by a vote of 141-29. The Senate passed it 43-8 shortly afterward.
The bill would divide the state into 12 regions. A “roundtable” of local elected officials in each region, working with an appointee of the governor, would draw up a list of projects for the region. The region could then submit the list to its voters for their approval in a referendum, along with a 1 percent sales tax to fund them. No county could opt out of a region’s tax, but a roundtable could decline to hold a referendum in the region.
If the bill becomes law, it also will probably ease the draconian cuts MARTA was facing, though it was unclear Wednesday night by exactly how much. It lifts, for three years, a restriction on how the transit agency can use its revenues from sales taxes, freeing up several million dollars for operations.
The strong margins of support in both houses delighted supporters.
“I feel exhausted. I feel ecstatic. I feel so thankful for the people who worked so hard,” said Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, one of the bill’s key backers. That includes Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, Williams said, who was instrumental in helping deliver the House. “We were afraid we were going to lose the House this afternoon,” Williams said.
Reed was at the Capitol on Wednesday, and after passage, he said it was not yet law and there was still work to be done to get a good referendum passed. But he said it would be a massive boost for the Atlanta region’s transportation. Projects have yet to be chosen, but would Atlanta get the Beltline? “No question,” he said.
The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Sonny Perdue, who first proposed the legislation earlier this year, giving it critical momentum. Transportation Planning Director Todd Long, who reports to Perdue, said the governor supports Wednesday’s bill. A spokesman for Perdue, Bert Brantley, said Perdue would have to review the final language, but he supported the concept and had worked closely on the compromise.
Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga), who worked on the issue for years, said it wasn’t perfect, but could be refined.
Indeed, not all was perfect with the bill. If a region approves its tax, it still won’t get money for about the next three years. But the money will be significant: The Atlanta region’s tax could raise about $750 million to $790 million per year. It would sunset after 10 years, and go up for a vote again.
In his speech, Ralston, brandishing his MARTA Breeze card, hit back at criticism that the bill does not do enough for MARTA or mass transit. The new tax could not be spent on operations for the current MARTA system, or on raises for MARTA employees. But it could be spent on operations for new MARTA projects.
“I have heard this talk about two Georgias to the point that I’m sick of it,” Ralston said. “We are one state. And you know what, the members of that committee accepted that challenge” to spread the benefits of the bill.
DuBose Porter, the House minority leader, said that “this is basically a Band-Aid for MARTA, if that.”
House Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Roberts then took to the well and replied, “Are you telling me that you want to keep the wound open?”
A critical moment apparently came when Perdue backed down on the issue of whether a region could opt out of the tax. The final compromise: Yes, it can, but the region will lose out on some new state benefits, including a bit more money for small local road projects. And it wouldn’t be able to try again for a vote for two years.
In a show of cooperation, Lt. Gov Casey Cagle, who heads the Senate, and Ralston praised Perdue in a joint statement and said they made transportation a priority and looked forward to the referendum.
Staff writer Ernie Suggs contributed to this article.
By Ariel Hart
