Transportation plan faces key votes
House Bill 170, the transportation funding bill, will be voted on by the full House on Thursday. But first, lawmakers will consider an amendment that could lower its annual impact by $300 million. Here’s a look at the two proposals:
In the bill now:
- A 29.2 cents-per-gallon state excise tax on gasoline.
- A user fee for electric vehicles of $200 per year for private cars and $300 per year for commercial vehicles.
- Elimination of the $5,000 state tax credit for the purchase of an electric car.
- Special option local sales taxes and optional education sales taxes enacted by cities and counties would remain, although any revenue raised from the sale of motor fuels would have to be used for transportation purposes.
- Local option sales taxes enacted to roll back property taxes or to fund water and sewer projects would also continue, but motor fuel sales would be exempt. Instead, the sales tax rate would increase from 1 percent to 1.25 percent.
The proposed amendment:
- State excise tax on on motor fuel would be set at 24 cents per gallon.
- Everything else would remain.
Study slaps Georgia’s transit spending
As House members consider a plan to boost transportation funding, a new study released Wednesday shows Georgia invests less than nearly every Southern state in transit.
The Transit Labs study found that Georgia invests $1.15 per person per year in transit, compared with $4.85 per person across the region. Nationally, states spend an average of $35.80 per person on transit.
The study awarded Georgia an “F+” compared with other states in the region and a “D-” when compared with all other states.
According to the study, the state receives more federal dollars than any other Southern state and only invests 6 cents for every dollar it receives from Washington. That’s the second-lowest ratio in the South, the study found. Nationally, states invest 99 cents for every federal transit dollar.
House Bill 170, which the House will vote on Thursday, would generate anywhere from $550 million to $884 million for transportation infrastructure projects, but it has no dedicated money for transit.
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The road to a transportation funding plan got a lot bumpier on Wednesday as House leadership pushed forward an amendment to reduce the bill’s main source of revenue, a move that pleased senators who could see the bill next week.
House Bill 170 will be voted on in the House on Thursday, but not before lawmakers first consider an amendment that would lower a proposed state excise tax on gas from 29.2 cents to 24 cents per gallon. That change could blow a $300 million hole in the bill, leaving its fiscal impact around $580 million to $800 million a year over the next six years.
The amendment was designed to appease conservative Republicans concerned that they were about to vote for a tax increase, even though the proposal also would eliminate the state’s 4 percent sales tax on gasoline. The amendment, however, also likely created opponents among those who doubt the bill has the financial heft to make much of a dent in the state’s infrastructure needs.
Majority Leader Larry O'Neal, R-Bonaire, proposed the amendment — which must be voted on by the full House — during Wednesday morning's Rules Committee meeting. The fact that O'Neal and not Rep. Jay Roberts, R-Ocilla, the chairman of the Transportation Committee and the bill's sponsor, proposed the amendment was not lost on political observers.
Study saw big gap in transportation spending
Roberts told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the amendment was not his idea and he will not be voting for it. If the amendment is adopted, it will be over the likely objections of the business community, Democrats and others who see it as undermining a once-solid intention to “be bold” and find $1 billion to $1.5 billion in new annual funding for transportation.
“We applaud Chairman Roberts and Speaker (David) Ralston for their leadership in getting us to this point,” said Seth Millican, executive director of the Georgia Transportation Alliance, an arm of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. “We will remain vigilant in our push to secure at least $1 billion in new funding for critical statewide transportation needs in Georgia.”
A special state study committee late last year issued a report saying Georgia needs at least $1 billion to $1.5 billion in new dollars just to maintain its existing infrastructure, and billions more to expand. HB 170 was expected to be the way to get at least the maintenance needs met. Now, O’Neal’s amendment leaves that in doubt.
Roberts said several members of the Republican caucus “had some concerns” that the excise tax was too high at 29.2 cents per gallon.
“If it’s the will of the body to adopt the amendment, we’ll move forward,” Roberts said.
But Roberts also said he believes he had the support of more than 80 House Republicans and more than enough Democrats to pass HB 170 with the higher gas tax.
MARTA bill could affect voting on transportation plan
Democrats are in a difficult spot as House Bill 213 is also up for approval on Thursday. That bill, sponsored by Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-Brookhaven, would permanently eliminate the state's requirement that MARTA spend 50 percent of its revenue on maintenance and 50 percent on operations.
It’s a change Democrats have long sought. If they rebel against a lower gas tax in HB 170, the MARTA bill could lose Republican support.
Rep. Calvin Smyre, D-Columbus, the longest-serving member of the Legislature and a key liaison between Republicans and Democrats, was noncommittal about the amendment to HB 170.
“I’m told that’s what the leadership wanted and they came to me with an explanation prior to the Rules Committee,” Smyre said.
Smyre said he was concerned about the loss of revenue the amendment would create.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow at this juncture,” he said. “I’ll look at it tomorrow during debate.”
State Senate has its own ideas on funding for infrastructure
Roberts, the sponsor of HB 170, said the amendment has nothing to do with pleasing the Senate, which is expected to create its own plan for transportation funding once HB 170 passes the House.
“No, we don’t know what the Senate is going to do,” Roberts said. “I have to do what I believe is in the best interest of the state. I can’t legislate based on the Senate.”
The amendment, however, could be a key starting point for negotiations with senators. Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, praised the House amendment as one way to avoid having the highest gas prices in the Southeast — although he wouldn't commit to an exact number of what he thought the state's new excise tax on gas should be.
“I’m really not for raising the money on gas,” Williams said. “That’s a depleting fund — as our vehicles get better mileage, we’re going to get less money. So we need to find a source of money that’s increasing over time, not decreasing. User fees and those kinds of things are more attractive I think to the Senate.”
Surcharges on rental cars and real estate transactions have been among the ideas that have interested Williams and other committee members. Williams favors allowing two or more counties to band together to pass a 1 percent sales tax to pay for local transportation projects, and he has said he is willing to consider raising Georgia’s cigarette tax, which at 37 cents per pack is currently one of the nation’s lowest.
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