Dramatic vote keeps DOT revamp alive

A bill giving lawmakers power to handpick hundreds of millions of dollars in road projects cleared the House on Wednesday by the barest of margins after top lawmakers twisted arms to gain votes.

Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) cast the deciding vote to approve S.B. 200 after giving his lieutenants time to persuade skeptics to switch their votes.

Enlarge this image

Kimberly Smith/ksmith@ajc.com

KIMBERLY SMITH / ksmith@ajc.com House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) makes an unusual appearance at the well of the House to speak in favor of S.B. 200, the transportation governance bill, as it is debated Wednesday. Among those watching him are Rep. Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus) (right) and House Minority Leader Rep. DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) (second from right).\uFEFF

GEORGIA POLITICS

• Hopefuls for governor find big-time donors 
• Savannah River officials quit over squabble with Georgia 
• New state office considered to track stimulus money 

Political Insider:
Gone fishing.

Gold Dome Live:

• Inspector finds DNR gave ‘excessive’ raise to employee

2009 Legislature Guide:
• Track bills & more!
• Issues | Players | Links

Related Links:
• More Georgia politics
• Metro News
• National News

The action by the House breaks a logjam over transportation that had threatened to derail the final two days of the legislative session. There are two separate issues at stake: how to govern transportation planning and how to pay for it in the future.

The Senate had vowed not to move on the House’s plan for transportation funding unless the House approved S.B. 200. Now, House and Senate negotiators will scramble through the end of the legislative session on Friday night to find compromise on both issues.

When the vote came Wednesday, the bill appeared to be on its way to defeat, judging by the results recorded on the electronic boards in the House. Even Transportation Committee Chairman Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) voted against it.

But rather than call the vote to a close, Richardson — who has a screen at his perch showing the vote count — left it open as his whips, including Rep. Jan Jones (R-Alpharetta) and the bill’s sponsor, Rep. David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge), spread through the chamber.

As opponents realized what was happening, they tried to get Richardson to end it. Instead, Jones, Ralston, Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Johns Creek) and the governor’s floor leaders, including Rep. Jim Cole (R-Monroe), pushed for votes.

In that five minutes, five lawmakers switched from a “no” to a “yes”: Reps. Steve Davis (R-McDonough), Billy Horne (R-Newnan), Barry Loudermilk (R-Cassville), Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta) and Ed Setzler (R-Acworth). Rep. Penny Houston (R-Nashville) switched her vote from a “yes” to a “no.”

Davis, Horne, Loudermilk, Martin and Setzler all said they changed their votes to keep the process moving toward conference committee, where they believe the bill can be improved. They all said their decision was not influenced by Richardson.

When the vote was called, it stood as 90 in favor, 84 against. Richardson, who rarely votes, cast his vote in favor. It takes 91 votes — a majority of the 180 seats — for a bill to pass.

The bill is a priority for Gov. Sonny Perdue. Perdue has demanded transportation planning be overhauled before he would consider funding changes.

The House wants a new 1-cent statewide sales tax to pay for road construction. The Senate favors a regional approach.

The governor’s original proposal was to gut the Department of Transportation — and its board — and give most of its powers to a new agency controlled by the governor, speaker, lieutenant governor and a newly created secretary of transportation.

That’s largely the plan the Senate adopted. But the House version approved Wednesday leaves in place the DOT and its board and creates a new DOT director of planning who would oversee much of the actual work of building roads and bridges. That person would report to the governor.

Most of the debate in the House centered over who would lose power under the House version of S.B. 200. Many worried they would cede power to the governor.

Rep. Jay Shaw (D-Lakeland) blistered the bill’s sponsors.

“I know someone is going to tell us in a few minutes this is April Fools’ Day,” Shaw said. “Nobody in here would vote for this unless they’re a fool on April 1.”

There’s nothing wrong with the Department of Transportation, Shaw said, that wasn’t caused by “meddling” from the governor.

House Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) was the first supporter of the bill to take the floor. He railed against opponents who worry about losing control of DOT.

“You don’t get to appropriate it [now], you don’t even get to think about it,” Ehrhart said. “Under this bill, the money is coming to us. Follow the money, folks.”

Smith, the Transportation Committee chairman whose panel approved the House version last week, said after the vote that he had too many questions to support it.

“Do we really know what’s going to happen because of this bill?” he said. “There are a lot of criteria that I personally need more answers to.”

— Staff writers Jim Galloway, Ariel Hart and James Salzer contributed to this article.