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Thursday, December 4, 2008
That talk of delaying a T-SPLOST vote until 2010
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Word is going around that, in several small meetings with Georgia business leaders this week, House leaders — including Speaker Glenn Richardson of Hiram — have suggested that the Legislature might not take up the issue of funding to relieve traffic congestion until 2010.
One business leader we contacted privately confirmed the reports, but said that, for now, the statements are viewed as routine posturing aimed at influencing House-Senate negotiations now underway. No reason to panic. Yet.
Asked about the statements, Marshall Guest, a spokesman for Richardson, offered this statement:
“The Speaker has been and continues to be a strong supporter of a transportation funding and improvement plan. The Speaker is committed to taking the time to ensure that we get this right. Regardless of whether we pass a plan on Day Five of Year One or Day Forty of Year Two, Georgians will still be voting on the constitutional amendment in November of 2010.”
Only last year, Richardson became a hero to the business community when he urged more haste and less deliberation: “I do not intend to study transportation anymore. We’ve got to do something, even if it’s wrong,” he said.
The likely reason for the shift: Last week, just before Thanksgiving, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle promised the introduction of legislation in early January to permit counties and regions (metro Atlanta foremost among them) to levy a one-cent sales tax for local transportation needs.
Voters would have to approve a constitutional amendment to get it done, and that would require a statewide referendum that couldn’t occur until November 2010.
Except for the timing, this is roughly the same proposal that failed in the Senate on the final day of the 2008 session by three votes. Cagle, with ambitions of running for governor in 2010, has been trying to patch things up with a livid business community ever since.
The lieutenant governor’s only requirement for action next month was that a consensus be reached first among the Senate, House and Gov. Sonny Perdue. Hence the brinksmanship.
My AJC colleague Ariel Hart came across one example on Wednesday.
House Transportation Committee Chairman Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) was at a series of Atlanta Regional Commission events.
In a lunch meeting, Smith argued, “I’d rather have the right bill out the sixth week than a bill out the first week.”
Conversation continued, and Tad Leithead, chairman of the ARC’s Transportation and Air Quality Committee, noted talk that the issue could be delayed until 2010. Leithead called that “dangerous thinking.”
“But that bill’s got to be right,” Smith replied. “It can’t be just Bill No. 102 and it says ‘Transportation’ at the top. It’s got to be the right bill.”
In addition to a simple ratcheting up of pressure on the horse-trading process, there’s also the likelihood that Cagle’s gubernatorial ambitions are an issue here. Business leaders, who provide much of the cash for campaigns, consider transportation and traffic congestion the most neglected issue of Republican rule.
Passage of additional funding for traffic woes could give Cagle an early leg up in the race for governor. The House is apparently trying to exact a price for that.
As to whether it makes no difference whether the measure passes in 2009 or 2010, most business leaders would disagree. They’d like the extra time to persuade voters that additional taxes — er, investments — for easing traffic would be well worth the cost.
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Of dog bones and burglars: Just another Thursday for State Ethics Commission
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just when members of the State Ethics Commission think they’ve heard it all, here comes Thursday.
First, Rep. Sharon Beasley-Teague (D-Red Oak), was brought up on a complaint that she hasn’t fully disclosed how she has spent thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.
When the staff of the ethics commission asked for proof, they were given several receipts, according to my AJC colleague James Salzer.
Included on the receipts, according to the commission, were expenditures for a dog bone, dog food, and a lottery ticket. None of the items are considered by the commission to be necessary to help run a campaign or maintain an officeholder while they are serving in the General Assembly.
Her case was approved for a full investigation. You’ll remember that Beasley-Teague, a 15-year lawmaker just re-elected in November, collected more than $2,300 in mileage from the state last year, contending she took lengthy treks across Georgia.
In one case, she claimed mileage for driving 889 miles in one day —from Fairburn to Albany to Waycross to Savannah to Athens to Dillard and back to Fairburn.
Following Beasley-Teague on Thursday was state Rep. Roberta Abdul-Salaam (D-Riverdale), who allegedly owes $1,200 in late filing fees, and has yet to file numerous campaign disclosure reports.
Her excuse for at least some of the missing reports? Her home was ransacked by burglars and the reports have gone missing. With wastepaper (baled, office) selling for $90 a ton, you can understand why she might have been targeted.
Her case was approved for a full investigation
And on a more serious note, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin on Thursday cleaned up one long-standing piece of ethics business in time for her last year in office.
The State Ethics Committee approved a consent order with Franklin to settle complaints that include allegations dating back to 2002, the year after she first won office.
Franklin agreed to a $5,750 fine for largely paperwork violations, including failing to fully explain some of her campaign’s expenditures. Franklin did not attend Thursday’s hearing.
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One of the many fathers of Chambliss’ victory claims his child
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The 14-point victory of Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss in the U.S. Senate race has already become the stuff of legend.
Legend in the sense that the tale of his triumph over whelming odds has been tailored to another purpose — in this case, Michael Duncan’s effort to hold onto chairmanship of the Republican National Committee.
Duncan, you’ll remember, was given a prime speaking spot on the stage at Chambliss’ celebration party on Tuesday. This morning, on Politico, Duncan explains how Georgia’s senior senator couldn’t have done it without him.
Here’s a taste:
The ground game that reelected Sen. Chambliss focused on the nuts-and-bolts of campaigning, enhanced by investments in technology that the RNC has made over the past two years. The Chambliss team, the Georgia Republican Party, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and the RNC were full partners in a Victory plan that executed the basics flawlessly.
With dozens of RNC staff and hundreds of volunteers in 11 regional Victory offices across the state, our team contacted nearly a half-million Georgians in the last five days alone.
The RNC’s investment in technology over the past two years allowed our Republican team to maximize every volunteer’s time and every contributor’s donation on behalf of Chambliss, creating a get-out-the-vote effort that overwhelmed Democrats in the state. Through sophisticated online advertising techniques we reached hundreds of thousands of Republicans who requested absentee ballots, voted early, and found their polling station.
Our investment in technology enabled our Victory program to significantly increase the Republican share of advance voters in the runoff election. We also provided volunteers the tools to make phone calls from home to likely supporters and/or send numerous e-mails to their neighbors engaging them in the reelection effort.
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