House GOP plan funds roads and bridges… but what about transit?

One piece of legislation has sucked up all the oxygen in the Capitol this year. Meet House Bill 170, an overhaul of the state’s gas tax, the chief revenue source to pave (and expand) roads, plus repair and build bridges.

Introduced by state Rep. Jay Roberts, R-Ocilla, who chairs the House Transportation Committee, the proposal replaces the state’s gas sales tax with an excise tax of 29.2 cents per gallon and phases out local gas taxes. Local governments would have the option of levying an excise tax — and potentially facing voters’ wrath — of up to 6 cents per gallon.

The bill is needed because cars are more fuel-efficient and people are driving less. Roberts and other state lawmakers say the new formula, coupled with accompanying legislation placing a $200 fee on Nissan LEAFs and other electric cars, would raise at least $1 billion to maintain Georgia’s existing roads and bridges. The funding wouldn’t fund new projects — just the maintenance of existing ones.

There are several kickers, however. Roberts’ proposal calls for using part of the existing gas tax revenues that currently fund education, health care and other needs to pay for transportation. And state lawmakers don’t know how they’ll make up the cash. In addition, buses and rail won’t receive a penny from the new gas tax revenue. According to the Georgia Constitution, gas tax revenues can be spent only on roads and bridges. Transit systems of today and tomorrow have to find pennies somewhere else, unless that formula changes.

That’s not to say that, like usual, transit’s being ignored entirely this session. Legislative proposals to free MARTA from burdensome restrictions that require the transit agency to spend half its cash on building new projects and the rest on operations could be done away with. State lawmakers are also considering a bill that would help the Atlanta Beltline partner with the private sector to build transit.

But the constitutional issue has unsettled environmentalists, including the Sierra Club’s Georgia chapter, who are urging lawmakers to fix the bill so that bus and rail, including MARTA, could finally see a sustainable source of funding. MARTA’s obviously proving itself to be an economic development engine; large employers including State Farm chose to relocate headquarters near MARTA stops, and polls show strong support for transit expansion.

Roberts recently acknowledged the dilemma, noting the state’s ultimate responsibility for bus and rail. He uttered words that would have been labeled blasphemy when the GOP took over the Gold Dome in 2004.

“I believe it is time for the state of Georgia to step up and put money in for transit,” he told a House transportation committee.

That would come in the form of $100 million in one-time bond financing. Georgia’s 128 transit agencies, including MARTA, could compete for the limited funds. Republican state reps made the addition partly to win support from some Democrats, whose votes are needed to pass the gas tax overhaul thanks to anti-tax Republicans. Whether that cash survives the budget talks is uncertain. In addition, the state Senate has yet to unveil its funding proposal.

“Everyone is not going to be happy,” says state Rep. Pat Gardner, D-Atlanta, who says the proposal must be fair to education and local governments. “But I learned early on that a good compromise means everyone kind of likes it but doesn’t love it.”