The Georgia House Thursday afternoon agreed with arguments that Georgia needs at least an additional $1 billion a year to maintain its roads and bridges.
Despite avowals that a new state fuel excise tax of 29.2 cents a gallon represents a tax increase, the House rejected a proposed amendment that would have lowered the amount to 24 cents. Then the chamber approved the entire bill 123-46, sending it to the Senate.
“I thought we had the votes, I really did,” said Transportation Chairman Jay Roberts, R-Ocilla, who objected to the amendment offered by House Majority Leader Larry O’Neal, R-Bonaire, and Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City.
Roberts, the bill’s author, told reporters, “I think we made the case we needed to get to a billion dollars. Taking us back $500 million is not where we needed to be.” Now the bill heads to the Senate, where Roberts said he expects more changes in the bill. He said that Senate Majority Whip Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, will spearhead the legislation in the upper chamber.
The legislation’s approval after weeks of revisions and intense debate capped a dynamic day in both chambers. On the House side, House Bill 170, which Roberts said for the first time completely dedicates fuel taxes to transportation as mandated by the Georgia Constitution, was temporarily moved back to the Rules Committee to fix the amendment proposed by O’Neal Wednesday. The first proposal neglected to seek reducing the per-gallon excise tax on diesel fuel from 33 to 28 cents.
In Rules, several other amendments were proposed, but only one was allowed to advance to the House. That proposal, by Rep. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, would require a referendum on a county rail project. It was defeated 84-87, while the O’Neal amendment went down 77-94.
The Rules deliberations resulted in the House recessing until the afternoon, when other bills were passed before the debate on the transportation proposal, which House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, limited to one hour.
Ramsey said the 24-cent-per-gallon excise tax would have brought the bill back to its original revenue neutrality. He said that bill changes gave local governments a 2 percent sales tax increase, requiring the corresponding reduction in the state tax..
After the transportation vote, the House also approved legislation permanently removing the restriction on MARTA that required the transit agency to use 50 percent of its revenues for operations and 50 percent for infrastructure.
In the Senate, Gov. Nathan Deal’s opportunity school district legislation and the religious freedom bill by Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, passed despite fervent Democratic opposition. The minority party sought to fasten a number of amendments to the administration bills that would let the state take control of failing schools, but the Republican majority beat back the efforts.
The two bills required for the proposed constitutional amendment gained just enough of the two-thirds majority needed, with 38 votes. If the House also approves the legislation, the proposed constitutional amendment will be on the 2016 ballot.
Deal, in a statement released by his office, said, “Today, we are one step closer to creation of an Opportunity School District, and one step closer to restoring children’s and parents’ hopes for a brighter future.
“We’ve seen the successes that Louisiana, Tennessee and Michigan attained with similar, bipartisan measures. Working together, I believe Georgians can achieve the same for our students and families. I congratulate Sen. Butch Miller on his diligence and hard work in advancing these education reforms, and I commend the courage of the 37 other senators who supported this legislation. As the House considers this bill, I am confident that its members will
also put the needs of Georgia’s most vulnerable students first. Through the efforts of our legislators, we will put this referendum on the ballot so that Georgians can assure that a child’s chance of success isn’t dependent on his or her ZIP code.”
McKoon’s Senate Bill 129, titled “the Georgia Religious Freedom and Restoration Act,” passed 27-15. The bill mirrors a 1993 federal act, and restores a higher standard to prevent the state from restricting the free exercise of religion, a press release from McKoon said.
