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Thursday, March 27, 2008
Inside dope: On transportation and two election contests
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Word is:
— That House Speaker Glenn Richardson has appointed former state lawmaker Stacey Reece to the state tollway authority board. Reece was Richardson’s candidate in the unsuccessful, House-backed attempt to dump state Department of Transportation board chairman Mike Evans.
Gov. Sonny Perdue, who backed Evans, is chair of the tollway authority board.
— Ann Wead Kimbrough, chief of staff for DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones, is considering a run for her boss’ job. He’s running for the U.S. Senate.
This won’t make state Rep. Stan Watson (D-Decatur) happy. Watson has already announced for the CEO job.
— State Rep. Jill Chambers (R-Atlanta) has picked up some November opposition. Democrat Chris Huttman wants her seat. (Whoops. It’s not his first campaign. As a 22-year-old, he ran against Republican state lawmaker Fran Millar of Dunwoody in 2002.) Huttman currently works for LUC Media, the time-buying firm of Bobby Kahn, former chairman of the state Democratic party.
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And now, the governor’s argument against a transportation sales tax
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The House debate over S.R. 845, which would permit regions to levy a sales tax for transportation, has begun.
This is the outline of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s arguments against the measure, placed on every House member’s desk over lunch.
On the jump is a copy of the “floor letter” that the Get Georgia Moving coalition placed on the desks of House members.
Dear Representative,
We are writing this letter as co-chairs of one of the broadest coalitions in Georgia’s history to ask you to vote “yes” on SR 845. The Get Georgia Moving coalition includes more than 50 organizations that cover the entire state. This unprecedented alliance - which includes local governments, the road and transit industries, chambers of commerce and environmental organizations - has worked hard over the past 10 months to come to a consensus on a way to provide connectivity and mobility for the third-fastest growing state in the nation.
We applaud the work of the Joint Transportation Funding Study Committee and the leadership that both the House and Senate have exhibited on the issue thus far this session. Get Georgia Moving feels strongly that proactive steps must be taken now to create a sustainable transportation funding system that will strengthen our economy, protect our environment and improve our quality of life. Current efforts to improve efficiency at GDOT are critical and commendable, but they alone will not allow us to overcome the funding shortfall.
A single “silver bullet” solution does not exist and all proposed solutions must be based on clearly identified needs and priorities and include measurable benchmarks that ensure progress and guarantee accountability. Get Georgia Moving funding recommendations include the dedication of the 4th percent of the motor fuel tax to all modes of transportation, a state infrastructure bank, public-private partnerships on transportation initiatives and increased rail infrastructure investments.
The coalition supports referendum-based sales tax funding that gives regions the ability to choose when and how they will invest their transportation dollars. SR 845 provides that choice, and combined with the proposal to change regional development centers to regional commissions, offers the best platform for the multi-county cooperation needed to develop and fund transportation solutions.
Enclosed with this letter for your reference is a list of Get Georgia Moving’s members, the coalition’s transportation investment principles, and a Georgia transportation funding fact sheet. We invite you to visit GetGeorgiaMoving.com to learn more about our organization. Thank you for all you do to serve the people of this great state.
List of Participating Organizations
Association County Commissioners of Georgia
American Council of Engineering Companies
Atlanta Regional Commission
BP
C.W. Matthews, Inc.
Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development
Central Atlanta Progress
Citizens for Progressive Transit
Civic League for Regional Atlanta
Clean Air Campaign
Community Improvement District Alliance
Council for Quality Growth
CSX
Cumberland Community Improvement District
Evermore Community Improvement District
Fulton County Government
Georgia Asphalt Pavement Association
Georgia Assn of Regional Development Centers
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
Georgia Chamber of Commerce
Georgia Concrete Pavement Association
Georgia Concrete & Products Association
Georgia Conservancy
Georgia Construction Aggregates Association
Georgia Department of Transportation
Georgia Economic Developers Association
Georgia Electric Membership Cooperatives
Georgia Engineering Alliance
Georgia Highway Contractors Association
Georgia Municipal Association
Georgia Power Company
Georgia Railroad Association
Georgia Transit Association
Georgia Transit Coalition
Georgians for Better Transportation
Georgians for the Brain Train
Governor’s Office of Highway Safety
Georgia Regional Transportation Authority
Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce
Gwinnett County
Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District
Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District
Henry County Chamber of Commerce
HNTB
Liberty County Development Authority
Livable Communities Coalition
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce
Norfolk Southern
Perimeter Community Improvement District
Regional Business Coalition
Sierra Club
Southern Environmental Law Center
Southwest Georgia Business Coalition
State Road and Tollway Authority
Transit Planning Board
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Sonny Perdue’s argument against Sunday sales of beer, wine, and such
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue has just put out an op-ed style piece intended for use by Sunday newspapers across Georgia, on the topic of allowing local communities to decide whether the retail sale of beer, wine, and liquor on the Christian Sabbath should be permitted.
No mention of the governor’s support for the portion of the bill that would permit Sunday beer sales in a Gwinnett Braves minor league stadium, and no “You should plan ahead” argument. The governor emphasizes public safety this time. We hear Sunday sales proponents will argue that the New Mexico data cited by the governor is faulty.
Here’s what has come out of Perdue’s office:
Do no harm. It may sound like a simple concept, but it is one that I am afraid supporters of Sunday alcohol sales may have forgotten.
Above all else, I believe it is the responsibility of the Governor and the General Assembly to reject a piece of legislation that hurts more people than it helps.
Allowing the sale of alcohol in grocery stores as well as liquor stores on Sundays will do far more harm than good. In fact, other than those who profit from those sales, it will not help anyone.
In the 1990’s, the citizens of New Mexico debated the issue of Sunday alcohol sales. On July 1, 1995, most counties in New Mexico began allowing the sale of alcohol on Sundays.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded a study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, to uncover the legislation’s long-term effects using data from the first five years that alcohol sales on Sunday were allowed.
The study found that legalizing Sunday packaged alcohol sales “exacts a significant price that is paid by crash victims and their loved ones, health care providers, insurers, law enforcement and the judicial systems.”
The sponsors of the New Mexico legislation hoped that allowing sales for off-premise consumption might encourage more people to buy alcohol and drink at home, thus reducing accidents and deaths. This argument was a tempting trap for the state’s legislators, and many of our own elected officials are chasing the same carrot without seeing the stick.
Now, I have always been a data-driven decision maker, so let me share the numbers with you. The study found that alcohol-related crashes increased by 29 percent on Sundays in counties that allowed sales.
Those additional crashes led to a 42 percent increase in alcohol-related fatalities on Sundays. If we apply these same percentages to Georgia’s highways, using 2006 data from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, we can expect approximate increases of 371 alcohol-related crashes and six alcohol-related fatalities per year.
No other day of the week saw a statistically significant change in the percentage of alcohol-related crashes and fatalities after the enacted legislation, according to the study. Counties that chose not to participate saw their Sunday accident and fatality statistics remain similar to before.
The Republican principle of individual freedom is just as important to me as it is to my colleagues in the legislature, but so is the principle of protecting innocent Georgians.
Click below to continue.
If you have ever comforted the parents or grandparents of a young person lost in a DUI crash, then you know that the cost of this proposal is too great and the damage it stands to inflict is too heavy a burden for innocent families to bear.
I know that Georgians expect me as their Governor to do all that I can to make the people of this state as safe as possible. That’s why I have made creating a Safe Georgia one of the cornerstones of my administration, and that’s why I will continue to argue against this legislation out of concern for the safety of every Georgian.
I urge the members of the General Assembly to heed the warning conveyed in the final sentence of the New Mexico study, “State legislators should consider [the] consequences when deciding on policy that is intended to serve the public well-being.”
We owe it to the citizens of this state to consider the cause-and-effect of our actions. There is no doubt that this legislation will make Georgia roads more dangerous. We cannot afford to jeopardize people’s lives, nor can we stick our heads in the sand pretending that our actions will have no consequences, even under the guise of letting the people choose.
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‘Life belt’ bill has new chrome — an amendment to discourage product liability lawsuits
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re in the dangerous, final days of the Legislature’s winter session, during which bills get married to amendments of an entirely different species.
The Georgia Trial Lawyers Association has spotted one.
S.B. 412, sponsored by state Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur), a car dealer, began innocuously enough. This legislation would change “seat belts” to “life belts” in Georgia law books. “Air bags” would be known as “life bags.”
Jones’ measure is now sporting some very strange chrome. The amendment would severely restrict product liability lawsuits in Georgia. The entire bill goes before the House motor vehicles committee at 2 p.m. today.
To read the amendment, go to the jump:
“Any claim against a manufacturer for a defective product under this Code section shall require proof that the manufacturer made the actual product alleged to have caused the injury and that that the product was the proximate cause of the injury to the plaintiff. Proof that a manufacturer made or sold the same type or category of product alleged to be defective shall not satisfy the requirements of this Code section. A manufacturer shall not be held liable for the manufacture of a defective product based on theories of market share, enterprise, risk contribution, or other theories of industry-wide liability or on the basis that the product or its use constitutes a public nuisance.”
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Perdue says he’d campaign against a sales tax for transportation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue promised a group of rural lawmakers on Thursday that, should the November ballot include a referendum on regional sales taxes for transportation, he’ll campaign against it.
The House is scheduled to vote on S.R. 845 today.
News of the 4 p.m. meeting with the governor comes from a Republican lawmaker who was one of 30 or so members of the bipartisan rural caucus, invited to the session by Perdue.
Two Democrats, Charles Jenkins of Blairsville and Barbara Reece of Menlo, both attended the meeting and gave essentially the same account. Both continue to support S.R. 845.
“I don’t remember his exact words, but he did say he was going to campaign against it through November,” Reece recalled.
Remember that the governor has established a 527 organization called Perdue PAC, which would be able to act as a treasury for such a campaign. No doubt many organizations that support the sales tax for transportation also contributed to Perdue PAC.
S.R. 845 would permit the creation of regional alliances empowered to levy a one-cent sales tax for all forms of transportation, including rail. Read more detail about amendments to the current version here.
In the meeting, the governor reportedly cited several reasons for opposing the legislation. First, it would take transportation policy out of the hands of the state. Money would flow primarily to metro Atlanta.
According to this lawmaker, the governor also said it made no sense to vote for what he called a tax increase at the same time the House is calling for a tax cut.
Perdue isn’t the only one applying heat to House members. Washington-based Americans for Tax Reform has notified those who have signed a no-new-taxes pledge put out by the organization that voting in favor of S.R. 845 would be a violation of that oath.
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