WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE REPORT – March 27, 2009

Senate renews call for regional transportation solution

By Sen. Tim Golden

As the debate continued this week over the future of transportation funding in Georgia, the Senate held its ground on the position that a regional solution paid for by dollars raised within those regions is the appropriate direction to take.

On Monday, the Senate amended legislation previously approved in the House of Representatives, which originally called for a statewide 1 percent sales tax to pay for a pre-determined list of road-building and other transportation projects over the next 10 years. The Senate changed that language in HR 206 and HB 277 in favor of a regional sales tax approach, which we had previously approved in SR 44 and SB 39 early in the session.

Under the Senate plan, Georgia counties would be able to join with neighboring counties to implement a regional 1 percent sales tax, if approved by voters in those counties, to fund transportation projects in their own areas. For example, revenues generated in metro Atlanta would be spent there, while proceeds from a sales tax in South Georgia would be used to meet our transportation needs here.

With only three legislative days remaining in the current session, and both the Senate and House basically adhering to their positions on the issue, a conference committee will have to reach some sort of compromise if the transportation funding problem is going to be solved in 2009. It is my hope that the conference committee can find a compromise as funding transportation is critically important to all Georgians.

A slim majority of Senators also voted again to approve a plan to strip the state Department of Transportation board of its authority and replace it with a new State Transportation Authority, with members hand-picked by the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker. Inserted Wednesday into a new version of SB 39, I voted against this proposal again because it concentrates too much power over the state's highway program and threatens to weaken the voice of many areas of the state.

On Wednesday, the Senate voted overwhelmingly for two tax cut proposals aimed at generating job growth in Georgia, as the state's unemployment rate approaches 10 percent. HB 481 would provide businesses a $2,400 tax credit and unemployment tax advantages when they hire someone who is unemployed. The Senate amended the bill to gradually phase out corporate income taxes for Georgia-based businesses, so HB 481 goes back to the House for further consideration.

Senators also adopted HB 482, which would eliminate the state's income tax on businesses. Having already passed the House, HB 482 now goes to the governor for his signature.

The Senate passed an amended version of legislation that would extensively reorganize the massive state Department of Human Resources (DHR). HB 228, as amended, would create a Department of Behavioral Health, move the state's public health responsibilities to the Department Community Health and rename DHR as the Department of Human Services. If enacted, this restructuring would bring more efficiency to DHR, which has a budget of $4 billion, approximately 11,000 employees and a history of management problems and complaints about how the agency administers mental health services.

Other House-sponsored measures approved by the Senate this week include:

HB 116, which would extend for two years a sales tax exemption on the purchase of aviation parts used to repair out-of-state planes. The bill is designed to save jobs for aviation repair companies, including Gulfstream Aerospace in Savannah and Standard-Aero in Augusta.

HB 160, which would put add $200 fine against "super speeders," motorists who are convicted of driving more than 85 mph on a four-lane highway or more than 75 on a two-lane road. According to the bill's sponsor, revenues raised by the extra fees would go toward trauma care funding, but revenues cannot be designated without changing the Constitution. Because of that lack of a guarantee the funds would be used for trauma care, as well as the fact it would not produce enough revenue to adequately fund it, I opposed the legislation.

HB 261, which would stimulate the housing industry by giving home buyers a one-time income tax credit of up to $3,600.

The 40th and final day of the 2009 legislative session is scheduled for Friday, April 3. In the coming week, the Senate will vote on its version of the annual state budget for fiscal year 2010, with a conference committee expected to work out differences between it and the House version prior to final adjournment.

Sen. Tim Golden represents District 8 (Brooks, Cook, Lowndes and Thomas counties) in the Georgia State Senate. During the legislative session, contact him at 121-A State Capitol, Atlanta, Ga. 30334; by phone at 404-656-7580 or by e-mail at tim.golden@senate.ga.gov.