A House committee approved plans Wednesday to change the date of next year's regional transportation referendums, clearing the first hurdle for a bill favored by Gov. Nathan Deal.
By a unanimous vote, the House Transportation Committee sent the bill -- HB3EX -- to the House Rules Committee for review. The Rules Committee will decide whether to allow all House members the opportunity to vote on it.
Deal asked lawmakers last week to consider moving the 2012 referendums from the July 31 primary ballot to the Nov. 6 general election. The referendums, which have never before been put to voters, would add a 1-cent sales tax to pay for transportation projects.
The date change would likely bring out more voters and perhaps work in favor of the referendums, especially the one for metro Atlanta.
The referendums will be held all across the state next year, in each of 12 regions. Their likely move to the November ballot seems to be a complicit acknowledgment that officials need more time to sell the idea to voters.
That is especially true in metro Atlanta, where voters in 10 counties will be asked to approve a 10-year, 1-cent sales tax. It is expected to raise $7.2 billion, $6.1 billion of which is to be spent on a list of projects of regional significance. A draft list of projects was approved Monday.
"This is the most significant infrastructure self-taxing decision Georgians will make across the state," House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, R-Milton, told committee members Wednesday on Deal's behalf. "We want these proposals throughout the state to live or die on their own merits."
Deal said last week that the move would allow "more Georgians to participate," since voters typically show up in greater numbers during a general election. He allowed, however, that local officials may face a hard sell given the sour economy.
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