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DEL.ICIO.USEric Johnson on defeat of transportation bill: ‘I wasn’t doing the governor any favors’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nearly three weeks after the end of the 2008 session of the General Assembly, lawmakers are still dealing with the repercussions.
Eric Johnson, the ranking Republican in the state Senate, just sent out an e-mail defending his vote against S.R. 845, which would have permitted regions to levy one-cent sales taxes for transportation.
Wrote Johnson:
Recent reports have hinted that “Senate leadership” may have voted against T-SPLOST (SR 845) because the Governor opposed it. That is incorrect. And there are reports of political revenge by “business interests” against those who voted against higher taxes for roads. I hope that this is incorrect, too.
The Senate president pro tem’s full explanation can be found below.
What’s Johnson reacting to? There’s been plenty of criticism. Tom Barton, who runs the editorial page of the Savannah Morning News, which circulates in Johnson’s district, had this blistering column on Saturday.
And there was this last week on InsiderAdvantage:
The business community is on the verge of declaring war on legislators who failed to support transportation and other pro-business issues during the 2008 legislative session.
While their actions, for the moment, are expected to remain well hidden, there is a strong likelihood that numerous incumbents - particularly in the Senate - will find themselves facing well-financed challengers.
Already, two Republican senators from Cobb County have silent but strong competition lining up for their seats. Other senators who are viewed as having “talked one way and voted another” are expected to get opposition in the days leading up to qualifying.
Read the Johnson’s entire statement on the jump.
Tuesday statement from Senate President pro tem Eric Johnson of Savannah:
Recent reports have hinted that “Senate leadership” may have voted against T-SPLOST (SR 845) because the Governor opposed it. That is incorrect. And there are reports of political revenge by “business interests” against those who voted against higher taxes for roads. I hope that this is incorrect, too.
While I cannot speak for other Senators, I believe that they were opposed for the same reason I was - it amounted to ‘taxation without representation’. That issue started a revolution 232 years ago and I believe it would have started another one if it had passed.
When SR 845 left the Senate on February 20, it passed 51-4. It would have allowed any county to add an additional one penny sales tax for transportation needs. Like other Special Purpose Local Option Sales Taxes (SPLOST), it would be for specific projects for a limited time and require voter approval. I voted “YES”.
On April 4, with literally 4 minutes left on the last day of the session, the Senate was presented with a new version that allowed a large group of counties to decide on regional road projects and then voted on by every county in the region. If a county voted against it, but it passed regionally, that county’s taxes were raised anyway. That was obviously unacceptable to many Senators, including me.
As a proposed Constitutional amendment, it required a 2/3 vote. It passed comfortably in the House, but failed in the Senate by 3 votes. 14 of 34 Republican Senators, including their 4 top leaders, and 4 Democrat Senators, including the Minority Leader, voted against the final version of the bill. The bill was reconsidered and failed again by the same vote.
I represent a portion of a large county (Chatham) and two smaller counties (Bryan and Liberty). Under the provisions of SR 845, Chatham County voters could outnumber the two smaller counties and force their taxes to increase. That is political suicide. It also isn’t fair. I make no apologies.
I want to help with traffic relief. I voted for T-SPLOST. But I couldn’t support what we were faced with at the last minute. I also believe that, if SR 845 had passed and been on the ballot for voter confirmation, it would have been defeated. We can come back and give local communities the ability to raise their own taxes if they want, but we should never allow someone to raise it against their will.
Comments
By PartyLine
April 22, 2008 6:52 PM | Link to this
That “blistering” column by Barton just says what a LOT of people happen to agree with. My new motto is “Re-elect no one” unless there’s no one else running. Then, write in someone else like Donald Duck. These elected officials operating under the “Republican” label are, for the most part, an absolute disgrace. Their behavior this year should be used as background for SNL or some reality show — cheap entertainment at best.
By Mike K.
April 22, 2008 9:07 PM | Link to this
I wonder if one of those senators from Cobb County who has competition is my state senator-John Wiles from Acworth. He was one of the few metro Atlanta Senators to vote against the bill.
Also: “I represent a portion of a large county (Chatham) and two smaller counties (Bryan and Liberty). Under the provisions of SR 845, Chatham County voters could outnumber the two smaller counties and force their taxes to increase.”
Yet another reason to get rid of some of these small counties by combining some of them. We have 159 cooks spoiling the broth.
By Youtsy
April 23, 2008 12:00 AM | Link to this
Youtsy
The Senator needs to state all the facts no just the the select few to support his weak excuse for not letting the voters decide this issue in November. If you actually read SR 845, no county would be forced in to any regional vote against its will. The county commissioners could by simple majority vote refuse to join a regional vote if they believed it was not in the best interest of their county. The other adjoining counties would have no legal ability to overide the decision of another duly elected county commission. It is correct, that once a county joined a regional vote, it would be the majority of the citizens of those counties which have joined together to create a region that would decide the vote on regional transportation projects. Traffic does not respect county lines, which is why a regional approach must be the answer. If the Senator thinks this approach forces taxation on voters who voted against the tax, then he should propose a bill to allow each county that votes against a state sales tax to opt out or local cities which vote against a local county splost to opt out if he wants to be consistent in his political beliefs.