Transportation need outpaces funding

State transportation leaders meeting in Savannah say, Georgia can’t keep up with its growing list of transportation needs… and some change in funding is needed.

Roads are gridlocked. Bridges are unsound. And state Department of Transportation has a 7-billion-dollar shortfall in funds to fix the situation.

That’s why a joint House-Senate Transportation Funding Study Committee met this week in Savannah and will meet next month in Columbus. House Transportation Committee Chair Vance Smith of Pine Mountain says, this year lawmakers considered bills imposing a new state-wide sales tax or allowing regional sales taxes to boost transportation funding.

“Those 2-bills were introduced, but no action taken because we wanted to have this study committee, listen to the people of Georgia to see what their needs were and come up with some recommendations,” he said.

Meeting participants included representatives from various transportation modes, including road, rail, bus and air. Committee members also toured the Georgia Ports Authority, where officials noted 3-projects critical to keeping up with growth.

Moving Georgians: a look ahead

Georgians will be able to tell state officials what they want in public transportation next week. The plan's dubbed the Investing in Tomorrow’s Transportation Today initiative (IT3).

Officials say they want to hear what Georgians want in public transportation. They say they'll use that input to set strategic policies, and create a business model for the future.

The public is invited to a week-long series of meetings starting September 22. They'll be held in Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Dalton, Macon, Savannah and Valdosta.

Officials on-hand for the series of public forums will include DOT commissioner Gena Abraham, department board members, and local officials to the particular area.

Ericka Davis of the Department of Transportation says the forums will be one-stop shopping for residents to give their opinions:

"That’s an opportunity for them to be in one spot and the key decision-makers on the transportation plan for Georgia will be right there listening to what they have to say."

The legislature failed to pass a transportation plan this past session. That was after a group of legislators held similar hearings around the state last year.

Lawmakers are expected to try again come January.

More information is available at http://www.it3.ga.gov.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of state transportation and infrastructure issues.

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.

State Senate Leaders Push DOT Overhaul

State Senate leaders Monday revealed a plan that would virtually gut Georgia's Department of Transportation. The proposal announced by Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers strips all but oversight responsibility from the DOT Board and from DOT Commissioner Gena Evans. However, Rogers was quick to point out that the measure is not so much a slap in the face to the DOT. Instead he says, it's a recognition that the massive job at hand to solve Georgia's transportation issues may be too much for the department to handle:

"The transportation process in Georgia for delivering transportation projects is broken...Georgians deserve better. We spend billions of dollars on transportation, but we're not solving the problem. We're not laying all this at the feet of the DOT...that's not what this is all about."

In the proposal, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and State Road and Tollway Authority would fall into a newly-created entity--the State Transportation Authority.

Georgia DOT would retain inspection and maintenance responsibilities, but much of the road building could be awarded to private companies.

Transportation Funding Hits Roadblock in legislature

The State Senate this week passed a regional transportation funding bill that would allow groups of counties to band together and vote on whether they want a penny tax for their own transportation needs.

The idea, however, is running into problems in the State House. House Majority Leader Jerry Keen said today that his chamber prefers funding that would benefit all of Georgia’s transportation needs.

“We’ve been saying from the beginning we need a statewide transportation plan and initiative. Transportation’s just not fixing congestion in Atlanta.”

Keen says smaller counties don’t have enough of a revenue base to get enough money for roads in their area. The Atlanta business community is lobbying hard for the regional Senate approach because it would be the fastest way to improve metro Atlanta gridlock that, they say, hurts business in the state.

Transportation committee makes recommendations for state

A committee of lawmakers who studied ways to fund transportation in Georgia issued its final report Wednesday at the Capitol.

The committee spent the past year criss-crossing the state and now has 18 recommendations for lawmakers. Suggestions include a constitutional Amendment to replace the 7-and-a-half percent tax on fuel, with a penny sales tax on other goods. It would allow regions like metro Atlanta to pass their own penny tax for transportation to be spent on projects only in that region. Senator Jeff Mullis of Chickamauga co-chaired the study committee, and said they were determined to do something for the state's transportation woes.

Lawmakers also want to have influence over transportation issues. They want regular reports from the DOT, and recommend the establishment of an official transportation oversight committee.

Transportation top issue for State Senate

Transportation top issue for State Senate

The Georgia State Senate is taking another crack at passing a transportation plan endorsed
by Atlanta Business Groups.

The current plan is very similar to a proposal that failed in the Senate last year---
it would allow voters in regions to decide whether they would want a 1 cent
transportation sales tax.
Senate Republican Majority Leader, Chip Rodgers says the plan puts the power of funding
transportation projects in the voters hands.


“We are certainly open to working with the house," Rodgers says. " If they have got a better plan, we’re all ears and, we’re certainly happy to incorporate it.”


Last year The plan was criticized by some rural and conservative senators as a road to higher taxes.
Those concerns helped kill that bill in the last hour of last year's session. Rodgers says he believes those concerns have been
worked out.


Jeff Mullis agrees. The Republican state senator from Chickamauga says Senate Leadership
is committed to passing the bill this year.

“You know, transportation is also the Lieutenant Governor’s priority in the General Assembly this year. He’s made no bones about it since the last session," Mullis says. " So hopefully with the Governor’s Office we’ll find a solution.”

Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle caught a lot of heat after the bill's failure last year. For it's part, the state House is now pushing a plan that is much more statewide in scope, but could make it harder
to fund the metro atlanta projects. Rodgers says negotiations will continue through the
session.

House Committee Rejects Gov. Perdue's Transportation Plan

The House Transportation Committee today said "no" to a plan unveiled earlier this year by Governor Sonny Perdue for remaking transportation in Georgia.

When the Governor introduced Senate Bill 200, he said he wanted to dismantle the Georgia Department of Transportation, create a new state agency, realign transportation construction responsibilities and fold the DOT into the appropriations process.

The much leaner plan approved by the committee today does only the last. It ensures the DOT, like every other state agency, must face the General Assemby when budget time rolls around. But the bill, among other things, keeps the existing DOT in place as lead transportation construction agency and keeps GRTA and SERTA operating.

Republican Representative David Ralston describes the measure approved today as a balance between the two legislative bodies.

"I think what it does is allow us to reach a compromise on a bill we can get passed. And it still retains the ability for the General Assembly to appropriate funds."

In previous committee meetings, some House members expressed concern that the original bill stripped the General Assembly of its power to elect board members.

But amendments made today keep that procedure in place.

"There was some concern amongst some members about doing that, I think. And some people were a little reluctant to do that and create a new authority and create a board having that relationship," says Ralston.

The measure will make its way back to the Senate where members will likely disagree with the changes. That will force the bill into a conference committee, where lawmakers from both chambers will try to hash out their differences.

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Gov. Perdue: State Transportation System Is Broken

State lawmakers announced new legislation Thursday that would overhaul Georgia's transportation system.

Governor Sonny Perdue says the transportation system in Georgia is broken. That's why he, House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle are joining forces to combine two state agencies into one - the State Transportation Authority.

Perdue says right now, the state is likely losing money because of poorly managed projects and too much gridlock on the streets. But he believes the new agency will create stronger oversight and accountability.

"It will abandon the scattered approach that spreads resources too thin and will instead focus the investment that will actually move the needle on congestion and job creation."

Mismanagement at the current Department of Transportation has left the agency millions of dollars in debt with hundreds of projects unfinished.

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Ticket to ride: state lawmakers mull transit options

Columbus Deputy City Manager David Arrington
addresses the session. (Photo: Dave Bender)

State lawmakers continue a series of meetings around the state to come up with ways to improve Georgia's Transportation infrastructure. They are in Columbus this week.

Monday and Tuesday's sessions of the State Senate and House Transportation Funding Study Committee is the third of six such meetings.

Co-Chairman, Republican Senator Jeff Mullis of Chickamauga says the group is talking about a lot more than just funding:

"It's not just money; it's policywise, it's new technology that's come on-board, such as "HOT Lanes," which is "High-Occupancy-Toll-Roads" and new roads. We don't believe in tolling existing roads, but to create new lanes or new roads to do that, so that the user's paying for it -- and not just all the taxpayers."

Experts also talked to the committee about public transportation, air travel and port-facility improvement.

• Previous GPB News coverage of this issue is here.
• For more on this issue, click here.
• Detailed agenda and webcasts are here.

Presentation slide from the session illustrating
transportation modes within Georgia.
(Photo: Dave Bender)

In related news, the idea of a regional airport in northeast Georgia is gaining steam, with the re-activation of a dormant transportation commission. For more on that, click here.

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State Leaders Consider Combining Two Transportation Organizations

State leaders are considering a plan that would combine the State Road and Tollway Authority and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority into a new entity. It would create long and short-term statewide transportation plans.

Members would be appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House.

This would completely scrap the responsibilities of the Georgia Department of Transportation Board. They are currently responsible for handling the state’s $2 billion annual transportation budget.

(AP)

Transportation funding dies last day of session

State lawmakers ended the 2009 legislative session without any penny tax for transportation. All evening house and senate negotiators tried to compromise between a statewide plan and regional plan. In the end they gave up trying to find common ground. Members of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Atlanta Regional Commission were angry and disappointed.

"I blame the leadership of this state," said ARC Chairman Chip Crautler. “I can't tell you how angry I am."

Republican leaders including Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle said they don't want to play a blame game.

Transportation funding also failed in the last hour of last year's general assembly session.

However, this year the legislature did pass new governance for transportation. The Department of Transportation will no longer be in control of highway dollars. SB 200 shifts that responsibility to the legislature and particularly the state house.

Lawmakers also passed an 18.5 billion dollar budget for the next fiscal year that includes cuts across state agencies and some social services.

A controversial bill requiring that driving tests are given in English only failed to get a majority in the senate and failed, but lawmakers did pass a requirement to show citizenship before registering to vote.

House Committee Debates GDOT Changes

A special House Subcommittee on Transportation Funding is meeting at this hour to hear testimony on Senate Bill 200. The measure - titled the Transforming Transportation Investment Act - would abolish the State Road and Tollway Authority and create the State Transportation Authority.

Senate Speaker pro tem Tommie Williams testified in favor of the measure, telling the committee that trying to appease board members, lobbyists and politicians means little gets done by the DOT.

SB 200 would also relegate the Georgia Department of Transportation to the task of road maintenance and inspections.

The bill also forces GDOT to compete alongside private contractors for transportation construction projects.

Legislative Round-up: Bills Passed Final Day

The 40-day session came to a close, Friday. Here's some bills that passed the finish line before the gavel came down.

Georgia Budget 2010

The $18.6 billion state budget slashes about $1 billion in spending because of the lagging economy. The Senate's top budget writer said agencies will see an average cut of about eight percent. The plan voids increasing health insurance costs for state workers by tapping federal stimulus dollars to pay for Medicaid, the health program for the poor that's seeing enrollment soar as the economy worsens. The budget covers the fiscal year beginning July 1st.

Transportation

Lawmakers agreed on a separate transportation overhaul that would give state politicians vast new control over infrastructure dollars. The transportation makeover, which passed the Senate
33-22, comes after heavy lobbying from Republican leaders who argued that granting the governor and lawmakers new powers over transportation funding would help transform a dysfunctional bureaucracy into one that is more accountable to voters. However, no new funds for transportation were passed.

Tax Breaks

Lawmakers approved a sweeping new tax break that cuts the state's capital gains tax in half over two years. A capital gain is the difference between what you paid for an investment and what received when you sold that investment. Investments include mutual funds, bonds, stocks, options, precious metals, real estate, and collectibles.

The measure also doles out a $2,400 income tax credit to any business that hires someone who has been unemployed for at least four weeks. It creates a one-year "new business holiday" that waives the $100 filing fee for new businesses. Those efforst are aimed at encouraging businesses to hire new employees, but critics say the capital gains cuts would rip an even greater hole in the recession-ravaged budget and would benefit only the wealthiest Georgians.

Tax Delinquent Lawmakers

Georgia lawmakers who fail to pay taxes could soon face sanctions from a legislative committee.
The House and Senate each overwhelmingly passed measures late Friday that would allow their chambers' respective ethics committees to investigate and sanction legislators who fail to pay
their taxes.

The vote comes after the state Department of Revenue revealed that 22 state lawmakers - about 10 percent of the General Assembly - are delinquent on their taxes. Only three of those lawmakers' names have been made public. Legislators said they cannot consider sanctions unless they know who they are.

Voting Checks

Georgia lawmakers voted Friday to require prospective voters to prove they are U.S. citizens before they cast their ballots. Georgia would become the second state with such requirements. Only Arizona requires its residents to prove they are U.S. citizens to register to vote.

The measure, which passed the House by a 104-67 vote, would require voters to prove their citizenship using a passport, a driver's license or other documents. It now goes to Gov. Sonny
Perdue.

Access to Flu Vaccines

Pharmacists would be able to continue administering flu vaccines under legislation that cleared the Georgia Legislature. The "Access to Flu Vaccines Act" received final passage on Friday.

It allows doctors to enter into agreements with pharmacists and registered nurses to order and dispense the shots without each one needing a separate prescription.

Governor Sonny Perdue said the bill was needed to prevent confusion among pharmacists about whether they could dispense the shots. Perdue said the bill makes it easier for Georgians to receive their yearly flu shots.

(The Associated Press)

House votes Thursday on transportation tax

On Thursday, the state House of Representatives will vote on a measure that gives communities a say-so in how local tax dollars are spent on transportation. The proposal is a voluntary regional TSPLOST, or transportation special purpose local-option sales tax. The measure is similar to education SPLOSTs, because voters get to decide whether or not to increase their taxes to pay for local transportation projects.

A Constitutional amendment is required to give local governments the authority to enact a one percent transportation sales tax. The regions would, in turn, call for a voter referendum to enact the tax when they need it.

But, the measure has limits. First, the regions must work with the Georgia DOT to come up with a list of projects. And, the proposed T-SPLOST must have a clear and finite ending date. Finally 100 percent of the taxes collected must remain within the local community. The state Senate has already approved a similar TSPLOST proposal.

Atlanta-Area Cyclists Hit The Road For Bike Trails

(Courtesy MAMA)

Hundreds of bicyclists, led by dozens of metro Atlanta mayors and officials, rolled into town and up the steps of the Capitol on Monday. All part of a grassroots gathering to improve bicycling conditions in Georgia.

Scores of police motorcycles escorted upwards of 1,000 cyclists, from school kids to seniors in the fourth-annual “Georgia Rides To The Capitol” event.

Bicyclist Mike Laurie lives in Grant Park, and joined riders from as far as Covington and McDonough, Roswell and Decatur:

"It's a nice turnout today! It's nice seeing people you normally see on your daily commute on your bike - you see them all riding together at the same time in one place - and I think it's a great sight."

They rode everything from clunky newspaper delivery bikes, to state-of-the-art road bikes weighing less than ten pounds, and costing more than some cars.

The event was co-sponsored by the Metropolitan Atlanta Mayors Association.

The message delivered at the Capitol steps was as simple as, well, falling off a bike: To rally support for a better, safer bicycle network across the state.

Legislators (in blue windbreakers) and biking enthusiasts addressed the group of close to 1,000 bicyclists at the state Capitol in Atlanta, on Monday, Mar. 3, 2009 (Photo: Dave Bender)

Mike Thomas, Division Director of Field Services at the Georgia Department of Transportation told the group that his office supports that aim:

"We presently in Georgia have 768 miles of signed bicycle routes; we also have 158 miles of multi-use trails, which we hope to be increasing as different projects come forth…(applause)."

Dekalb’s 83rd District Representative, Democrat Mary Margaret Oliver, says despite severe state budget cutbacks – such projects can get federal funding:

"The federal transportation statutes have some mandatory minimums for alternative transportation, so, even when everything is cutback, there’s still some money available for bike paths. We also have a lot of philanthropy going on in Atlanta, that’s promoting greenspace and bike paths – the beltline as an example."

But funding might not be easy to come by. As bikers mingled outside, inside the Capitol lawmakers passed HB 277.

(Courtesy MAMA)

The bill is a state penny sales-tax for transportation, with no provision for bike trails or alternate transportation options.

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Lawmakers seek solutions to transportation woes

State lawmakers came to Atlanta to study Georgia's growing transportation problems as money becomes harder to find.

A committee of mostly rural lawmakers says transportation is as much a problem in their areas as it is in Georgia cities. But the costs of fixing roads are rapidly outpacing public funds.

Pine Mountain Rep. Vance Smith says the committee will study nearly all the ways to cut costs, and raise money.

"The citizens of this state are in need of better modes of transportation and they're tired of paying more taxes," he said.

State transportation officials testified to the committee that Georgia's primary source of revenue—the gas tax—is becoming outdated as drivers turn in their gas guzzlers for more efficient vehicles.

There was no talk of public transit, but Smith says that will come later.

Transportation Funding Study Committee wraps meetings

Finding money for Georgia’s transportation needs is the issue a committee of state lawmakers hopes to solve. They wrapped up two days of meetings in Atlanta today.

Members of the Joint Senate and House Transportation Funding Study Committee heard a number of proposed solutions, but it’s the bigger ideas that will be debated the next few weeks-—an additional statewide gasoline tax versus a sales tax.

Committee chair, Republican Senator Jeff Mullis of Chickamauga, says the emergence of non-taxed alternative fuels changes the equation:

"I think a sales tax maybe instead of a motor fuel tax could be the funding source".

House Speaker Glenn Richardson in his brief address to committee members says he's "willing to do anything, except do nothing" in solving Georgia's transportation woes. Richardson told reporters he would hope lawmakers in next year's General Assembly can consider a transportation sales tax, along with his own sales tax proposal.

The committee expects to come out with its recommendations in a few weeks for consideration by top lawmakers.

Transportation Compromise Looks Unlikely

State House and Senate lawmakers have just one day left to come up with a transportation compromise. But talks between both chambers appear to be grinding to a halt.

Lawmakers seem to be unable to move from their positions. House negotiators in a transportation conference committee say a penny sales tax for transportation should be paid by all Georgians – because it would bring in more money.

Representative Vance Smith:

“I say let’s crank this engine and move the whole state forward.”

But senators, including Jeff Mullis, say there is no way the Senate would ever support a statewide penny sales tax. It wants regions to decide whether to tax themselves for their transportation needs.

"I've told you from day one - I've told everybody from day one. And I don't know if I'm being heard. Is anybody hearing me? Can anybody hear me today? Well I'm telling you the facts. We will not pass a statewide in the Senate."

House leaders have put forth a plan that would let voters decide if they want a statewide approach. If that vote fails, then the Senate's regional plan would take effect.

But Senate leaders are sticking to their guns and want nothing "bigger" than a regional approach.

GDOT cuts road repairs, instead of jobs

TV monitor at budget hearings showing page of proposed 2009 draft budget, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Gena Evans today laid out proposals for recouping her department’s $456 million dollar deficit – in part.

GDOT has to cut that sum from the 2009 fiscal year, to make up for that sum in the '08 budget.

GDOT Commissioner Gena Evans holds up a folder containing the 2009 budget, at a meeting with the transportation board on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008 where she put forth budget-cutting proposals. (Dave Bender)

Among the tough proposals Evans offered the board was slashing over 500 jobs – a road not taken by the transportation board:

“Oh, we’re ecstatic. We’re really thrilled. I mean, to me, every time you saw a list from us, the last thing we wanted to do was lay off employees. It’s a very difficulty decision for the board between those state aid projects, that are local, community-driven projects versus laying off employees.”

Evans explains a point in the draft budget proposal to reporters after the GDOT transportation board session on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Evans says a one-day employee furlough program was also ruled out.

GDOT spokesman David Spears, however, says the Local Assistance Road Program (LARP), which funds local and county road repairs, including pot holes, was among the major cutbacks the board agreed to:

“It’s a total of 52 million dollars that we’ll be unable to distribute to local governments in the coming year. We’re hoping we’re going to be able to identify new funding sources or new savings as we go from month to month in our budget process, and be able to redirect some of that money back into local assistance.”

Evans faced tough questioning from the board members during the morning session, including issues of protocol.

Board Member Dana Lemon, who represents the 13th Congressional District, chided Evans over forwarding the draft directly to the Office of Planning and Budget, without the board getting a look at it first:

Evans: “Ms. Lemon, I’m not sure when we would have possibly been able to get any more information…”

Lemon: “Gina, we get inundated all the time with stuff from you guys, so we could have seen it; we might not have been able to address it at a meeting, but we all could have at least looked at it, reviewed it…”

Officials say that rocky interchange is but a verbal example of the bumpy road drivers can expect on Georgia’s highways and interchanges in the coming fiscal year.

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