John Oxendine, the leading contender for the Republican nomination as governor, told the Metro Atlanta Chamber on Tuesday that he will likely vote in favor of raising the state sales tax to fund transportation projects, but he won't commit to using the governor's bully pulpit to encourage others to do the same.
Oxendine was the only one of the four GOP candidates to speak to the chamber who would not commit to working as governor to encourage voters to approve the 2012 referendum.
"You're talking about in 2012, another campaign of letting people decide if they're going to tax themselves," Oxendine, the state's insurance commissioner, said in response to a question from moderator Bill Nigut. "Right now I'm real busy going ahead and securing and wrapping up the nomination."
The other three candidates to appear at Tuesday's forum, Nathan Deal, Karen Handel and Eric Johnson, all said they would actively support the regional transportation funding plan and would encourage voters to do the same.
Getting the transportation funding bill into law was one of the chamber's biggest legislative priorities, and the group is expected to be a major advocate for its passage in 2012.
More than 100 Metro chamber members gathered at the group's office across from Centennial Olympic Park to hear from the four leading candidates for the July 20 GOP primary.
The transportation funding plan, passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue this spring, will divide the state into 12 regions. Voters in each region will decide in July 2012 whether to add a penny to their local sales tax to fund a specific list of transportation projects.
"You're asking me specifically what I'd do in ‘12," Oxendine said. "I think I'll probably vote for it. I'm going to have a million things on my plate in January. I don't know exactly how active I'll be in 2012. I will vote for it. I'm going to be busy trying to be governor 18 hours a day."
Deal, the former congressman from Hall County, said he will vote in favor of the regional sales tax to fund transportation projects and said he supports many of the same priorities as the Metro chamber.
"The plan that the Metro chamber has advocated is certainly, as I see, is one I can endorse," Deal said. "It includes a variety of different aspects of transportation, light rail, expanded lanes on interstates."
While Oxendine wasn't sure if he would back the referendum, he said he would seek "unique ideas" for easing transportation woes.
"Initially you're going to have to address roads," he said. "Rail, buses, other things are going to be part of it. We have to find a way to move people from one part of the state to another part of the state."
All four candidates agreed the state must do a better job of positioning itself to qualify for federal road dollars.
"We have lost some years in terms of our planning," Deal said. "We need to make up that time."
On transportation, Handel, the former secretary of state, said she, too, will support the sales tax referendum and said the state has to "deal with the transit issue."
As for MARTA, Handel said she would try to replicate the turnaround at Grady Memorial Hospital since a new governing model was implemented.
"What we need to do is map out what we want transit to look like," she said. "Before we go out and ask anybody to put down one more additional penny, we have to show them what is in it for them."
Johnson, a former state senator from Savannah, said he "can't wait" to get started on transportation. Johnson said he would not wait for the referendum but would try to use state bonding capacity to fund road projects more quickly.
But Johnson also said he would try not to interfere with project selection or use a heavy hand in dealing with the Department of Transportation.
"Hopefully I won't," he said. "Hopefully the system will work."
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