Tuesday, June 16, 2009
News Pettys: Vance Smith to be named GDOT director on Thursday, but...
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 12:50 PM
...that's not the real story.
The veteran political reporter's sources say the state agency wants to avoid ending the fiscal year with a deficit, possibly by tapping $75 million in federal funding. There's also the question over what exactly Senate Bill 200, a piece of legislation that mixes up transportation decisions in the state, means for GDOT.
At the same time – and this is where it gets interesting – talks have been underway between the DOT staff and the governor’s office over how to implement SB 200, the governance reform bill that gives the governor (through the new planning director) and the Legislature (through new budget authority) broader control over DOT. There are some loose ends that the bill does not address.Some believe the two issues have become entangled in something of a quid pro quo, with the governor holding both a carrot (the bailout money) and a stick (the new rules which dissidents believe give the planning director – and through the planning director, Perdue - more power over issues like public-private partnerships and funding allocation formulas than the law stipulates.)
Others don’t see any such entanglement, but this week’s meeting should be interesting nonetheless. Even if there is no suspense about the new commissioner.
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