House transportation bill supporters take aim at critics

Claims that taxes will increase drastically under the House transportation spending plan drew fire Thursday from the legislation’s backers.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Roberts, R-Ocilla, told the Highway Regulations Subcommittee on Transportation that the tax hike warnings are being raised by “a lot of those who are very misinformed.”

Roberts made his comments in response to a statement by subcommittee member Rep. Mark Hamilton, R-Cumming, who said he had received a flier claiming the plan would raise taxes by $5.4 billion. “I’m confused … I can’t find it in here,” Hamilton said about the alleged tax increase, referring to a substitute version of the transportation bill presented to the subcommittee.

As the bill’s lead author, Roberts appeared before the panel to explain House Bill 170’s revision, which adds six pages of technical information and cleans up language. The basics remain in place, converting all of Georgia’s gasoline taxes into an 29.2 cents per gallon fuel excise tax and shifting local sales taxes on fuel to transportation-dedicated excise tax.