Trading metaphorical gridlock for the real thing, U.S. House transportation chairman Bill Shuster arrives in Atlanta on Tuesday to hear out the locals on federal transportation policy.
The Pennsylvania Republican is putting together a multi-year surface transportation bill. But – sound familiar? – Congress can’t agree on how to pay for it.
Shuster told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week that hearing from the Georgia Department of Transportation, Coca-Cola, UPS and others will help him shape a transportation bill.
But the real question is not on policy, it’s whether and how the conservative Republican-dominated House will put up the cash.
“As we come back to Congress, what they say helps me develop a bill,” Shuster said. “And it also helps me sell other members of Congress on why we need to support a long term bill, why it’s critical to the nation, to Georgia, to Atlanta.”
Transportation policymakers have an arithmetic problem a third grader can recognize: More efficient cars and trucks use fewer gallons of gas for more miles, creating more wear and tear on the roads. Because the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gas tax has been unchanged since 1993, the revenue isn’t keeping pace.
So the federal highway trust fund is set to run out of money at the end of July. Georgia and other states have put projects on hold. Shuster predicted another short-term extension to get through the construction season, and then he's counting on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee to come up with the money for a five-plus-year bill.
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has been working on a bill to overhaul the tax code for some time, and it seems like everyone on Capitol Hill is out to grab a piece of the supposed new revenue for their causes. But the money grab seems far-fetched: If Ryan significantly increases federal tax revenue, the pitchforks will be out on the right.
And a gas tax hike, the simplest solution, has no prayer of passing.
Shuster frames the issue in terms of “user fees,” not taxes.
“If you use the system, you should pay for the system,” Shuster said.
Rep. Rob Woodall, a Lawrenceville Republican, has the same view. He’ll be the other transportation committee member sitting in on Tuesday’s panel at Georgia Tech.
The topic is federal, but it will be hard to ignore what the legislators on the other side of the Downtown Connector did earlier this year, when the General Assembly voted to raise nearly $1 billion to chip away at Georgia's road woes. It was not without controversy, including a last-minute addition of a hotel-motel tax, but it got done.
“The lesson that can be learned is there wasn’t a lot of celebrating that folks had to take on the challenge, but there was some celebrating that folks did take on the challenge,” Woodall said of the state bill. “It’s hard to find an avenue that’s going to make everyone happy, but that doesn’t mean you can quit trying.”
He also pointed to Forsyth County, which voted for a $200 million bond referendum to widen Ga. 400, among other projects. The voters don't want a federal gas tax hike or a regional TSPLOST one-cent sales tax, because they better trust their local leaders to make the call, he said.
“Just because Georgia’s a conservative state doesn’t mean we don’t want to build things,” Woodall said. “We believe in building them, but we want to build them with some accountability. We want to build them with some efficiency.
“Having the chairman (Shuster) see the difference in the conversation when you have earned the trust of the taxpayer – saying, ‘If you contribute, you will see the benefit of transportation dollars’ — is priceless,” Woodall added.
Conversation appears to be the only goal. Woodall revealed that, sadly, he’s not taking Shuster on a tour of Spaghetti Junction.
Office Space
Five months into his new job, Georgia Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue finally has a real office.
His staff moved last week into 383 Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill. It’s the oldest of the Senate office buildings and not as sought after as newer office spaces, but Georgians have long inhabited the building named for one of their own, Sen. Richard Russell, so it was the spot Perdue wanted.
His new digs are one floor below Saxby Chambliss’ former home and two floors above delegation mate Sen. Johnny Isakson.
In Atlanta, Perdue’s headquarters will be at 191 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 3250, in the heart of downtown. In this case, he’s created a little space between Georgia’s senators. Chambliss’ former outpost was above the Georgian Club and a stone’s throw from Isakson’s office on Cumberland Boulevard. Both were across the river, in Cobb County.
On Capitol Hill, Team Perdue spent months shoehorned into a three-room temporary suite in the basement, alongside the other freshmen. Now they have elbow room.
“We look like somebody over here,” Perdue said.
Vote of the week
The Senate voted, 67-32, Tuesday to pass the USA Freedom Act, which would extend some government surveillance authorities while winding down bulk phone data collection.
No: Sens. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.; and David Perdue, R-Ga.
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