Deja vu: Transportation funding may be dead in '09

Two days left to go in the 2009 legislative session and the General Assembly remains at odds over how to fund transportation improvements both in the rural and metro areas of the state. And, with the hours winding down to sine die 2009, it appears a solution to transportation gridlock may not be possible.

The House wants a statewide transportation funding mechanism. The Senate wants a regional approach.

But as time runs out, the opportunity for compromise may soon be lost.

Senator Jeff Mullis chairs the Senate Transportation Committee.

"If we want to pass something out of the General Assembly this year, the House has got to agree with where the Senate is. It's the only way we get something. Tomorrow is the last day that we have a chance to do anything. The 40th day, that is just no way to pass a major bill. You saw what happened last year, it'll be the same scenario."

What happened last year was a transportation funding bill died minutes before midnight when the senate fell three votes short of a consensus.

Late last week, a House Transportation Committee appeared to reach a compromise on funding when it agreed to let voters decide. If voters said no to a statewide tax, neighboring communities could choose a regional Plan.

Rural schools drop lawsuit against state

The Consortium for Adequate School Funding in Georgia is dropping it's lawsuit against the state because the group doesn't approve of a new judget. The lawsuit contends that education is not funded adequately in the State as is required by the Georgia constitution. The case had been in Fulton County Superior court for several years and was scheduled to go to trial next month.

Consortium officials say the new judge Craig L. Schwall who is now handling the case was appointed to the bench by Governor Sonny Perdue and used to be chaiman of the Fulton County Republican Party. In a statement Jeffery Welch, President of the Consortium says "The issues in this case are so vital to the future of our state that they must be insulated from even the appearance of partisan politics."

The consotium says it will now take other actions, including the filing of a new lawsuit in another court in Georgia.