Transportation bill passes first hurdle

A House subcommittee on Monday voted to advance a major transportation funding bill to full committee, an important first step for a complicated proposal.

The Transportation subcommittee heard more than an hour of testmony, including concerns from Georgia's cities and school districts before agreeing to send House Bill 170 forward. The full Transportation Committee could hear the bill as early as Thursday.

Supporters hope the bill will raise more than $1 billion in new money for transportation, largely by replacing state and local gasoline sales taxes with a 29.2 cents per gallon excise tax. Local governments could add an additional 6 cents per gallon to replace lost revenue.