Transportation Overhaul Passes House

Day 39 of Georgia's legislative session saw arm-twisting and drama, as lawmakers are running out of time to get bills passed this year.

The state House voted today on a version of transportation governance that looks a lot different than the original bill favored by Governor Perdue.

House Speaker Glenn Richardson asked his colleagues to support this version which sets up one person to become a transportation planner and give his chamber the power to distribute gasoline taxes, which now flow directly to the DOT.

He urged House members to take charge of transportation money.

"The one thing we don't have the power to appropriate is the billions of dollars in this state that gets to be put on the roads of this state for our citizens to travel on and who do you think they call when they have a problem with their roads? They call you..."

After about an hour of debate, Speaker Richardson called for the vote.

But when it didn't look like the bill had enough votes to pass, the voting machines were left open. And after some arm-twisting on the floor, a few 'No' votes changed to 'Yes.'

Once the machines were locked, the bill was one vote shy of a needed constitutional majority, leaving Richardson to cast the tie-breaking vote.

Now the bill heads back to the Senate. A spokesperson for Governor Perdue called the vote "a step in the right direction," but suggested that changes might be made in a conference committee.