Stay Informed
Middle Ground: House and Senate Leadership Headed Toward Transportation Funding Compromise
March 13, 2008
There’s an old saying in Georgia politics that declares “There’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow lines and dead possums.” Users of the adage were often looking to urge fellow decision-makers to swiftly choose a side on a difficult issue. But on the case of transportation funding, it looks like the middle of the road is the best place to be.
Right now the state could use a few hundred more miles of the yellow lines that saying makes reference to and the roads that go along with them. We also need more transit and an improved rail network. Thanks to some staunch state-level leadership, two legislative proposals emerged at the State Capitol this session. One was a county-by-county approach and the other a statewide program. The Get Georgia Moving coalition believes that the answer is somewhere in between, and House Transportation Committee Chairman Vance Smith and Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Jeff Mullis seem to be leading the way toward that middle ground.
Interestingly enough, the General Assembly was in a similar situation last year as a proposal to allow two or more counties to form a region with the authority to raise transportation funds was in competition with a measure that would have implemented a statewide funding system. The difference this year is that the scores of groups, corporations and associations advocating transportation funding are now organized in a coalition, and the Joint Study Committee on Transportation Funding has paved the way for an open, honest discussion.
Get Georgia Moving is an unprecedented alliance that includes local governments, the road and transit industries, chambers of commerce and environmental organizations. We have worked hard over the past 9 months to come to an agreement on a way to provide mobility and connectivity for Georgia.
The result is a balanced funding approach – a concept that merges the best features of the statewide option and the county-by-county regional proposal.
First, a statewide referendum would be held to establish regional authority to enact a transportation sales tax of up to 1%. After that statewide approval, the regions could call a regional referendum to enact the tax when – and if – they so chose.
Regional Development Centers, the longest-standing statewide framework for multi-county planning and development, would comprise the regions and coordinate the planning process for a regional transportation project list. This list would be developed in coordination with the Georgia Department of Transportation.
The state would require every region set a sunset date, but allow each region to choose the date that corresponds with the projects and the revenue needed.
The House Transportation Committee has approved legislation that contains these features. The Get Georgia Moving coalition believes that the middle of the road is where many of the members of the Georgia General Assembly and more importantly the citizens of this state may find the most common ground on this critical issue.
