Transportation Funding Bill Gets Boost From Public Transit Advocates

(3/17/08) The local option transportation funding bill that’s making its way through the Georgia General Assembly drew fresh support at a rally Monday of public transportation advocates who hailed it as a potential source of new funds for bus systems and commuter rail lines. The proposal already has strong support from a coalition of key Georgia business leaders and from those who look to it as a way to fix a backlog of problems with the highway network.

Headed for a vote in the House when the Legislature returns from recess is a measure that would allow the state’s 16 regional planning districts to suggest transportation projects aimed specifically at regional needs and then to seek approval from voters within their counties for a local option tax increase of up to 1 percent aimed at funding those projects.

It’s the result of a joint legislative study committee which spent much of last year looking into the state’s transportation problems and looking for possible solutions. The work spawned two separate bills when this year’s session opened. Introduced in the House was a proposed constitutional amendment for a statewide sales tax increase for transportation. A proposed constitutional amendment introduced and passed in the Senate would have allowed one or more counties to pass a local option tax increase for transportation needs.

The current measure is an attempt to reach a compromise between the two versions. The language has been attached to SR 845.

But there’s already been some controversy over the compromise, including the fact that the tax would be imposed based on the results of the region-wide vote. Critics say that leaves the door open for bigger counties in a region to out-vote their smaller neighbors and force them to pay the extra tax, whether they want to or not.

Sierra Club lobbyist Neill Herring said at Monday’s rally that’s one reason the bill may have a tough time on the floor. “It looks like an Atlanta bill,” he said.

His solution? Add the Democrats’ proposal to dedicate the fourth penny tax on gasoline sale to the DOT for traditional road-building projects. (Motorists pay a 4 percent state sales tax on gasoline. The first 3 percent goes to the Department of Transportation. The remainder currently goes into the state’s general fund.)

“It’s $150 - $200 million a year. Instant money,” he said.

House Democratic Leader DuBose Porter of Dublin told the rally it’s critical for the state to invest in mass transit, saying, “We cannot pave our way out of gridlock.” But he also said the current version of the bill should be expanded “to include some options that rural Georgia needs. That 4th penny would allow for state aid projects and LARP. It would sure balance out what the urban areas need in additional lanes and mass transit.”

Unlike an earlier Senate version, the bill headed for a vote in the House does not specify that 10 percent of the money raised locally must be used for mass transit.

Asked if he saw that as a problem, Rob Thompson, a spokesman for Georgia PIRG, said, “We’re happy to see the money is left open to be used for any transportation purpose ... Localities know they need public transit. We’re very confident that if given the option, local governments are going to use that money to fund public transit.”