Tuesday, November 25, 2008
News Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle pushes transportation tax — again
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 10:12 PM
Lawmakers learn from their failures, right?
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle yesterday told a crowd of 400 mobility-minded businesspeople, politicians and lobbyists at a luncheon sponsored by the Get Georgia Moving coalition and the Council For Quality Growth that a regional sales tax for transportation fixes — or T-SPLOST — would be given priority consideration when the General Assembly convenes in January.
The tax would be similar to a local option sales tax and allow Georgians — if the measure passes and is approved as a constitutional referendum on the 2010 ballot — to vote on a list of predetermined projects such as road, rails and bridges. Cagle said stakeholders in the coming weeks needed to reach a consensus for the proposal to be considered at the start of the legislative session.
Cagle — before he started espousing charter schools, an obvious tapdance routine to advertise his 2010 run for governor — also said the state needed to work with the private sector to fix the state's gridlock. He said Georgia needs "4,000 new road miles" and he's committed to finding the $50 billion needed to build them.
If the regional sales-tax strategy sounds familiar, that's because a similar concept was proposed and applauded before the last legislative session yet failed to pass the state Senate in the final minutes of Sine Die. This after lawmakers touted "transportation, water and taxes" as the three big issues on their legislative to-do list.
Get Georgia Moving — a coalition of more than 100 interests that includes everyone from roadbuilders to environmentalists — was the most vocal urging the state to find a new transportation funding source. It's also a clear signal to lawmakers that the state's powerful interests think attention to transportation is long overdue.
According to Dick Anderson, executive director of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, Georgia could miss out on an estimated 320,000 jobs and $515 billion in economic investment if it continues to drag its feet transportation-wise.
Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Gena Evans sat on a panel alongside Anderson after Cagle spoke and said that it would take a variety of funding sources — public-private partnerships, T-SPLOSTs, etc. — to make up for the shortfall the state currently faces.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
Comments (1)
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He better not be screwing around here...if we don't get the transportation spolst this session, I'm busting skulls. Okay, that may be a but extreme. But there may be some business types who may decide it's time to find a new horse to ride. I'm just sayin'.
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