Georgia leaders lay groundwork for transportation overhaul

Georgia Republicans are laying the groundwork for what could be a monumental effort to raise new revenue to fund transportation improvements, possibly by hiking taxes or imposing new fees.

In private gatherings and at public conferences, GOP politicians and their allies talk of the need to raise $1 billion in new revenue each year to maintain and improve the existing network of highways, roads and bridges. A larger annual infusion, they say, could speed along more projects on the state’s wish list.

“It is timely for us to take a serious look at it,” Gov. Nathan Deal said Tuesday at a state transportation summit. “The question of whether it’s going to be new revenue, and the source of that revenue, is the most important question we need to answer.”