Transportation Coalition Ramps Up Effort To Get Something Moving On Taxes

(3/6/08) Advocates of a tax increase for transportation are ramping up their efforts to get something rolling in the last quarter of the General Assembly session, and the chairmen of two key committees said Thursday the advocates have reason to hope for success.

The General Assembly has not yet reached agreement on proposals that have been bouncing around for well over a year, but the chairmen announced at a news conference they are close to a compromise.

“Before we leave this session, we hope we come up with a package that will be beneficial to 9.5 million people in the state of Georgia,” said Rep. Vance Smith, chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

Sen. Jeff Mullis, the Senate Transportation Committee chairman, said history could be made this session. “Here we are on the 29th day of the legislative session and we’re very close to coming to some agreement on the issue.”

They commented at a news conference with members of the Get Georgia Moving Coalition, a group that includes the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Metro Atlanta Chamber and dozens of other organizations.

Mullis and Smith held hearings across the state last year exploring ways to meet a massive backlog of transportation needs across the state, but in the end they offered separate proposals this year.

The Senate already has passed a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow one or more counties to ask their voters for permission to impose a time-limited penny sales tax for roads to fund specific projects. That is in the House.

The House had been looking at a 1 percent statewide sales tax for transportation, but Smith said earlier this week that lacks the votes to pass and he now is looking at a different proposal that is providing the framework for the compromise.

Smith’s plan is a local option sales tax, but it would be imposed in community development districts, which are composed of many counties.

The two chairmen said they’re still working out the details. The plan backed by the coalition would leave 100 percent of the money in the districts in which it is raised. The Senate version takes a portion of the money for statewide needs.

After the news conference, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle issued this statement:

“Funding our future transportation needs can no longer wait and the good news is that we are closer than we have ever been to reaching a consensus solution that puts our voters in the driver seat. It will be our citizens who determine how their transportation dollars can be best spent to improve their region."