Last week, State Sen. Brandon Beach, R- Alpharetta, endorsed a potential MARTA rail extension for North Fulton. Beach is secretary of the Senate Transportation committee and a a former board member with Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA). Today, he addresses the recently passed transportation bill, House Bill 170, and its impact on highway maintenance and increased road capacity.
On raising the gas tax: "I have been saying this for a long time, we are too dependent on federal dollars; 68 percent of our funding comes from the feds. You compare that with Florida, 27 percent of their money is federal dollars, the rest is state dollars. Why does that make a difference? They use their federal dollars for maintenance, resurfacing and bridge repair. We have to use our federal dollars for capital projects. But when you use a federal dollar, you have to go through the federal bureaucracy and regulations and agencies to use that money.
For example, if the state of Florida builds an interchange, like say the McGinniss Ferry Road and 400 interchange, a $40 million interchange, they would use their state money. We would have to use federal money. In that case, we have to do a federal (environmental) study with the Corps of Engineers. They don’t have to do any of that because they’re using their money. This (new state tax revenue) helps us wean ourselves away from Washington. We’ll be able to prioritize our own projects, our own problems, and get them fixed. And get them fixed in a quicker more efficient manner. I am firmly for counting on Washington less and less. That Federal Highway Trust fund is broken up there. You can’t depend on them and we’ve got to take care of our own matters. We’ve grown at a rate that’s far outpaced the growth on new infrastructure.”
Is the projected $850-950 million in additional revenue enough?: "It's better than zero. It's incremental money dedicated to transportation and it's weaning ourselves off Washington. It's money we can spend and we can spend it immediately. We have 15,000 bridges in this state and 4,200 of them are structurally deficient. We got to get those things repaired before a tragedy happens. We need the resources to repair those bridges and roads. We also have to build new capacity. Citizens are going to expect it, whether it's a new left turn lane or right turn lane to make their quality of life better.
“I voted for HB 170 and some people say I voted for a tax increase. But I think I voted for the biggest quality-of-life improvement for the citizens of the metro area in the last 20 years. If they can get home to their families 20 minutes earlier, to spend more qulity time with their families, or get to a soccer game or a baseball game for their kids, we’ve made some improvements.
On HB 170 being called a tax increase: "During the legislative session, I got calls saying , 'Don't vote for it, it's a tax increase.' But I got more calls saying, 'Quit kicking the can down the road. I can't stand sitting on Georgia 400 any more. Fix it. Do something.' We just can't keep doing nothing. That's not an option. So we had to have some courage and make some tough decisions. Now, the proof will be in the pudding. Can we deliver on repairs and maintenance and make sure we get some new stuff built?"
Will there be enough new revenue to expand roads?: "I believe there is money in there for new capacity. The headlines in your paper a few weeks ago said we needed a billion dollars just for maintenance. I called a couple of my DOT board members and said, 'Wait a second, we better see some orange barrels out there. We need to be building some new capacity.' I'm going to stick with my statement, I think I voted for the biggest quality-of-life improvement for the citizens of the metro area in the last 20 years, in my opinion."
The benefits of road and transit improvements: "I believe that if businesses know we have a plan to reduce congestion and increase mobility, it helps us recruit companies. If we had kicked the can down the road and done nothing, it would have become a retention issue for us, because companies would have said, 'I'm done. I'm out. I can't take this any more'."
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