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DEL.ICIO.USMeet metro Atlanta’s new best friend in the state Capitol
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Not enough time has passed to be certain. Speeches are not results.
But there is evidence that the larger forces of nature are working on the state Capitol — and that this still-newish House speaker from Paulding County, as volatile and harsh-spoken as he can be, is falling into a historic pattern set by a previous House speaker from west Georgia.
Glenn Richardson could be the next champion of metro Atlanta. Perhaps a blow-‘em-up, Bruce Willis kind of champion. But then, big cities have always been attracted to the bad boys. And vice versa.
First there was Grady Memorial Hospital. Last year, the House speaker became the first figure of import in a Republican-dominated Capitol to declare that the state’s largest provider of indigent health care shouldn’t be allowed to sink.
Then came last week’s pair of addresses, one to the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and a second at the Atlanta Press Club.
In each, Richardson was a pent-up symphony of impatience on the topic of traffic congestion, the subject dearest to the hearts of business leaders north and south of I-20.
“We have done nothing, nothing, nothing,” Richardson said.
Earlier this month, the business community had again heard Gov. Sonny Perdue soft-pedal funding for roads and such in his annual state-of-the-state address.
This year, the word “transportation” actually crept into the governor’s text. But increased funding proposed by Perdue was limited to a $50 million revolving fund for local governments. This in a state with a funding gap for roads now estimated at $7.7 billion over the next six years.
Richardson’s differences with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle are more of a matter of attitude than substance. Cagle, leader of the Senate, has said the Legislature will “probably” address a sales tax for transportation before it adjourns this spring.
Last week, Richardson turned “probably” into “definitely.”
Even with immediate action, a constitutional amendment for the tax would still have to be loaded on the November ballot for voter approval, the House speaker said. Road-builders would see no money until mid-2009. Delay action this session, and an 18-month delay becomes 42 months.
“I do not believe that Atlanta and the state of Georgia can wait three-and-a-half years to start doing something about transportation,” Richardson said. The speaker promised a vote.
Personal experience has much to do with Richardson’s attitude. When speaking up for Grady, the speaker harkened back to an involuntary trip he made there, the result of an auto accident. When it comes to traffic, a daily, 60-mile round-trip commute makes Richardson, like many of you, an expert.
(It’s worth noting that, during a visit to the Capitol, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee last week gave social conservatives permission to be concerned with traffic gridlock because of the way it robs kids of time with their parents.)
But history, not just biography, also may be pushing Richardson into urban arms. When his obituary appeared in December, many were shocked by the notation that former House speaker Tom Murphy, the consumate rural politician from Bremen, Ga., was considered in many ways the father of modern Atlanta. MARTA, the interstate system, the Georgia World Congress Center and the Georgia Dome all bear his signature.
Politicians elected statewide are ill-equipped to stand up for giant municipalities. Governors and lieutenant governors must deal with the resentment that springs up in the rest of Georgia. Ask Roy Barnes.
But speakers are a different breed. With so much influence over the state budget, they are the dragons who keep a jealous watch over the cash that flows into and out of the billion-dollar treasure horde. And metro Atlanta provides the bulk of state tax revenue.
Murphy often said that, regardless of his differences with the Big City, it was his responsibility to make sure that the economic engine of Georgia ran smoothly.
The job is made easier by the fact that a speaker answers only to 60,000 voters in his district, and the 179 House members who keep him in power. “I think there’s some protection in that,” said Ben Harbin, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
But Harbin said Richrdson’s personality shouldn’t be discounted. “He thinks bold, he’s willing to take the heat, take the arrows, take the shots,” Harbin said.
This, in fact, could be the crux of the matter. No one knows what kind of relationship will develop between Richardson and metro Atlanta.
But with some degree of certainty, we know this: It won’t be a quiet one.
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