Georgia’s top leaders unite behind need for new transportation revenue

Transportation funding levels

A report released late last month by a joint legislative committee offered three options to maintain or build on the state’s transportation system:

Source: Joint Study Committee on Critical Transportation Infrastructure Funding

Georgia’s three most powerful state politicians sent a clear signal Tuesday that they will put their clout behind a growing effort to raise new revenue for transportation that could lead to increased taxes or new fees to fund infrastructure projects.

What’s lacking is a consensus on how to raise the new funding.

Gov. Nathan Deal, House Speaker David Ralston and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle all voiced their support for raising funds to maintain and expand the state's system of roads and rails, an endeavor that one state report said would require at least $1 billion in new funds each year.

Ralston and Cagle used remarkably similar phrasing when they told more than 1,000 attendees at the Eggs & Issues breakfast that doing nothing on transportation this year is “not an option.” And Deal said he wanted to make it “clear here this morning that I support increasing funding for strategic transportation investments.”

The venue for their remarks was important. The event was sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and corporate forces are outspoken in their support for new revenue. Executives with UPS, Delta Air Lines and other Fortune 500 firms have all expressed support for the change. Georgia Power Chief Executive Paul Bowers said Tuesday that he was heartened to hear that a need for more funding was a theme running through the speeches.

The debate is likely to put a bloc of Republicans, many who campaigned on a platform of fiscal conservatism with a vow not to raise taxes, in an uncomfortable position. Democrats hope to wind up in the driver's seat of the debate if a faction of conservatives revolt, and they hope to push for an influx of transit funding and other priorities in exchange for their support.

The governor, who has previously been largely silent on the issue, said he expects to use a section of his State of the State address on Wednesday to make a case for why Republicans, particularly those outside of metro Atlanta, should support new ways of raising transportation revenue.

“Things change, and sometimes they change rapidly. We have been in a rapidly changing environment in this state, and fortunately it’s been good,” he said. “And changing circumstances require that you re-evaluate your stance on the issues.”

Expect the governor to invoke the deepening of Savannah’s port to make the case to rural lawmakers to boost infrastructure to handle an expected increase in shipping through Georgia’s highways. He also said he would pay particular mind to the plight of Northern Arc commuters between Gwinnett and Cobb counties, an area that has attracted much new development.

The state’s leaders are confident they can strike an accord before the session ends in the spring. Deal and his aides have held behind-the-scenes discussions with legislative leaders about forming a unified plan, although none seems to have yet been reached. For now, he said, “all of it is on the table.”

Likely options include shifting the fourth penny of a motor fuel sales tax back to transportation projects and raising the gas tax. It could be harder to secure support for a statewide sales tax increase, particularly among lawmakers who represent metro areas that have already voted to increase sales taxes to fund MARTA or other local projects. Some want to propose another increase in the cigarette tax to fund the projects.

Cagle, who has previously stressed the need for mass transit funding to be involved in the solution, told the crowd that it’s as much about people stuck in traffic for Little League games as it is about far-flung communities that need more access to economic development opportunities.

“Those people are why we can’t afford to put the issue on the back burner,” the Gainesville Republican said.

And Ralston, who comes from the North Georgia town of Blue Ridge, recalled childhood trips that took a full day to reach Atlanta. That trip now takes about 90 minutes thanks to a new state highway, he said, opening up the mountainous region to tourism and jobs. He urged lawmakers to view the debate through a “long-term lens” lest Georgia fall behind other states.

“A fixation on the rhetoric of ‘no’ won’t get us to the next level of greatness in Georgia,” he said. “Now is not the time for naysaying.”