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Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The House makes its transportation pitch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a hastily called, late Wednesday meeting with lobbyists and business leaders, House Transportation Committee Vance Smith unveiled his proposal for a one-cent, statewide sales tax for transportation.
Designed to generate as much appeal as possible from a GOP-controlled House that rejected something similar last year, Smith said the tax — subject to a 10-year sunset — would raise $25 billion over its lifetime.
The state’s largest 30 cities, plus the counties of Forsyth, Paulding and Coweta, would be allocated a share equivalent to $1,000 per resident.
Smith said his bill remains a concept. He has put nothing in writing. Moreover, the transportation chairman said he had no control over what could clearly become the most important part of his legislation.
Smith said the question of “governance” — what state authority would determine who got how much of the money — was a topic of ongoing negotiation among Gov. Sonny Perdue, House Speaker Glenn Richardson, and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.
“It’s certainly something that’s huge — very important — to the general scheme of things. Don’t disregard it. It’s very important,” the committee chairman said.
Smith said he didn’t know whether “governance” includes a bill that House Majority Leader Jerry Keen is reportedly ready to drop, which would take appointments to the state transportation board out of the hands of low-level state lawmakers and give that power directly to a triumvirate of the governor, the lieutenant governor and the House speaker.
Here’s what Perdue said Wednesday in his state-of-the-state address:
”Once I feel certain that we can deliver transportation value to Georgia citizens, I will support responsible measures to raise additional revenues.”
House Speaker Glenn Richardson has endorsed Smith’s proposal — a constitutional amendment that would have to be approved by voters in 2010. He called it the “Citizens Transportation Funding Bill.”
But the House last year failed to bite on a similar proposal. Smith and his Senate counterpart, Jeff Mullis, arrived at a compromise that would allow groups of counties — especially metro Atlanta — to band together and levy the one-cent tax. The compromise passed the House, but failed in the Senate. Until December, negotiations continued to refine the concept — which was endorsed by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.
Only in the last few weeks has the House peeled off, baffling Cagle, the Senate, and the business community.
At the impromptu and surprisingly open meeting of the House Transportation Committee, lobbyists and others wondered out loud whether Smith could win the support of House Republicans. “What we can’t control is your membership,” said Chuck Clay, a former GOP state senator who’s advising the pro-transportation coalition Get Georgia Moving.
Others advised Smith that they feared getting trapped in the three-way political calculus. Mike Kenn, president of Georgians for Better Transportation, an advocate for road-builders, told Smith that the business community intended to remain an “honest broker” in the process — and, while aiding Smith, would also back Cagle’s regional support.
“We’re going to help the Senate with what they’re going to propose,” Kenn said.
In pitching his bill, Smith gave a detailed laundry list of possible projects:
— Major interstate intersections, including the I-285/I-75/Windy Hill Road in Cobb, I-75 and I-16 in Macon, and I-285 and Ga. 400;
— The creation of freight truck “conduits” that would remove such traffic from the interstates;
— Economic development corridors;
— “Roads of regional significance,” which would include shifting Ga. 316 to limited access;
— Light suburban rail, “especially” on the north side, and “possibly” the Athens-Atlanta “brain train.”
Smith acknowledged that the list was long, and ambitions. “I don’t want to say I can’t do it until I try,” he said. “Think about this. Sleep on it. And come back with suggestions.”
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The Democratic response: Perdue is an absentee governor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
House Minority Leader DuBose Porter of Dublin just delivered a red-meat, Democratic response to Gov. Sonny Perdue’s state-of-the-state speech.
Consider it the first oration on that party’s side of the 2010 race for governor.
Though he hasn’t announced yet, Porter is a highly likely candidate for the state’s top job.
One often remarked-upon sign of an intention to run for high office is an obvious attempt to lose weight, for the sake of TV cameras to come. But another harbinger for certain candidates — witness Perdue in 2002 — is the loss of the combover.
Porter, also follicly challenged, has lost nearly all of his.
But seriously: It was significant that Porter served as the sole spokesman for Democrats this afternoon. Senate Minority Leader Robert Brown (D-Macon), a man of legendary silence, was content to perch himself against a wall and watch.
Porter sought to define Perdue as an absentee governor. Below are a few excerpts:
”We in the House came together to pass a transportation bill [last year] that would have moved forward on solving one of our state’s most crippling problems. The bill failed in the Senate and when we looked to the governor for leadership, he was in China.
“When gas prices spiraled out of control, we called on the governor to take bold, dramatic action. To step up to the plate and give Georgians relief by reducing the gas tax.
“Instead he went to Spain and our families were left here, to take the brunt of higher gas prices from which they still have not recovered.
“In September, after seeing August revenue figures, our Democratic House Caucus realized the extent of Georgia’s faltering economy and we called on the governor to bring us back into session - to give parties on both side of the aisle a chance to roll up our sleeves, fix the problem before it got worse, and do the job the people of this state elected us to do. That call went unheeded.”
Porter also assailed the governor’s priorities:
”In Georgia today, law enforcement is working overtime to keep us safe, and due to across-the-board cuts our law enforcement officers are stretched almost to the breaking point, but the majority party is building a multi-million dollar horse park in Houston County.
“In Perry we are building a fish pond while veterans, who were willing to give their very lives for that land were being evicted from their home. Evicted because in across the board cuts, they were not a priority.
“The priorities of this administration do not match the values that I know are the values of the Georgia I grew up in and the Georgia I know and love.”
The minority leader questioned Perdue’s relationship — or lack of one — with the incoming administration of Barack Obama:
”Georgians pay their share to run the federal government, and we must make certain that we get our fair share from our federal government in return.
“Currently talk is coming back that, Georgia and Texas are being referred to as the orphan states because our current administration is not playing well with others.”
Porter even conveniently included a tidbit of personal biography that some might have considered out of place:
”This is a time to work together to ensure that we create the Georgia we want our children and grandchildren to inherit. My family has lived in Georgia over 10 generations. I want the next 10 generations to have the same security and prosperity…”
Photo credit: Ben Gray/AJC
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Sonny Perdue: The Reader’s Digest version
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In parsing Gov. Sonny Perdue’s state-of-the-state speech, no other topic was as closely watched as transportation. The governor devoted all of two sentences to it:
”The Lieutenant Governor, Speaker and I share a mutual commitment to address our transportation needs, and we will continue reforming DOT with a goal of standing up a system that can take that funding and provide the value Georgians deserve. Once I feel certain that we can deliver transportation value to Georgia citizens, I will support responsible measures to raise additional revenues.”
Here’s a thought: It’s known that the governor likes a bill that would change the way that commissioners of the state transportation board are named. Right now, they are elected by state legislators within each of Georgia’s 13 congressional districts.
Under a measure soon to be proposed, members of the transportation board would be appointed — a third by the governor, a third by the House speaker, and a third by the lieutenant governor.
One wonders whether, in that pair of sentences above, whether Perdue just named his price for his support of the transportation funding bill.
On other topics:
Perdue said his proposed hospital tax was forced on the state by the federal government.
“Washington, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that if we assess a fee against our Care Management Organizations as we currently do, we must impose it on all commercial health plans.
“We had to choose: everyone or no one. If we said ‘no one,’ it would have cost Georgia $96 million in state Medicaid funds.
“While I’m recommending cuts to many agencies and programs above ten percent, even a five percent cut to the state Medicaid budget would mean an additional $112 million reduction.
“So my budget will reflect, and an accompanying bill will propose, a 1.6 percent fee on hospitals and health insurance plans to fill the hole in Medicaid, and to do what the health care community has asked of us for so long: one, to significantly raise reimbursement rates for providers, particularly for hospitals; and two, in conjunction with SuperSpeeder legislation, provide $60 million to sustain and expand the state’s trauma network.
“Like most things we address here at the Capitol, this plan will not be universally acclaimed, but I have arrived at this solution after thoughtful, careful deliberation. I implore you. Do not rush into a short-sighted cut that would have long-term consequences for Georgia’s most needy.
“Finally, for those that would wait for Washington. We have waited before. And while I am hopeful that we may receive additional federal funds, when I put the budget together, I did not have the option to budget for money that may never materialize.”
Both Democrats and Republicans were talking down the hospital fee. “I’m unequivocally opposed to that new tax,” state Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs), chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee, told my AJC colleague, Aaron Gould Sheinin. “That’s not a tax on hospitals. It’s a tax on individual consumers.”
Said Senate Minority Leader Robert Brown (D-Macon): “I don’t think it’s a good idea to tax hospitals to fund trauma care.” Read more about this on Gold Dome Live.
More excerpts can be found on the jump.
Above: Lorenzo Wallace, the Senate sergeant-at-arms, waits to finish the escort duties that come with the governor’s State-of-the-State speech. Photo credit: Kimberly Smith/AJC
On the use of budget reserves: “I have recommended using the maximum amount available for appropriation from the reserves, appropriating $50 million this year and $408 million next year, as well as $187 million for the midyear education adjustment.
“We are using some one-time strategies to help balance this year’s budget that won’t be available next year. Therefore, I have recommended that the largest portion of available reserve funds be committed to next year’s budget, which stands at $20.2 billion.
On reorganizing the Department of Human Resources: “After a thorough review by the Health and Human Services Task Force, we have determined a course of action that will re-orient our approach to healthcare by shifting the focus from inputs to results.
“First, we are proposing the creation of a new Department of Behavioral Health which will include all mental health and addictive disease programs. This will improve our responsiveness to mental health needs and will make funding more transparent.
“We will continue to improve care by moving towards a community-based delivery system. I know some folks will be concerned with how this might affect jobs in their area, but when it comes to mental health, I believe we have an obligation to provide services to Georgians as close as possible to where they live.
“Second, the bill would establish a Department of Health - a combination of the public health and oversight programs in DHR and the current functions of DCH. This agency, which will be led by Dr. Rhonda Medows, will deliver workable solutions on the key healthcare issues we face…”
On learning from the Clayton County school board debacle:
“As I outlined yesterday, I am proposing legislation that will ensure that every student in Georgia has the benefit of responsible leadership at the school system level.
“Most local school board members in this state are in that position for all the right reasons and they do a great job for our students, but unfortunately, that isn’t universal. And we must take action, because when a school board is failing, every student that depends on them is cheated.
“This legislation will clearly define what citizens expect from school board members and it will give the state the ability to replace board members with responsible, local citizens when accreditation is threatened. Never again, do I intend for the state to be handcuffed by our current law and powerless to help students who are being failed by the adults in their community.
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State senator wants ACORN’s tax-exempt status yanked
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You generally don’t find north Georgia lawmakers going to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for favors. But state Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) is making a very formal request.
He’s filed legislation — a resolution — urging the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of ACORN, also known as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
Last year, the group hired more than 13,000 part-time workers to sign up voters in minority and poor neighborhoods in 21 states. Some of the 1.3 million registration cards submitted to local election officials, using the names of cartoon characters or pro football players, were obviously phony, spurring GOP charges of widespread misconduct.
“An organization that chooses to undermine the integrity of our nation’s election process should not be entitled to tax exemption benefits,” Mullis said.
During the final debate of the 2008 presidential campaign season, Republican John McCain said ACORN was possibly conducting “one of the greatest frauds of voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy in this country.”
Mullis was an important and early supporter of McCain in Georgia. So consider this effort a bit of undigested frustration left over from November.
Update: Thomas Wheatley over at Creative Loafing was able to obtain an e-mailed response from ACORN:
ACORN says there’s just one problem — it doesn’t have such a status. ACORN President Maude Hurd says Mullis “indicates his ignorance” with the resolution.
