The Georgia Legislature late Tuesday night approved a transportation spending package that will raise nearly $1 billion in new funds annually for roads and bridges.
A conference committee compromise reached earlier Tuesday evening advanced to the House and Senate, which approved the plan near midnight. The conference committee’s version of House Bill 170 establishes a 26-cent-per-gallon state fuel excise tax, 29 cents on diesel. The House version of the bill called for a 29.2-cents-per-gallon fuel excise tax, 33 cents on diesel, while the Senate version had a 24-cent tax on both gasoline and diesel.
The House approved the bill 129-41, with House Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Roberts, R-Ocilla, calling the plan a sustainable method to move the state’s transportation forward. The Senate then passed the bill 42-12, gathering Democratic support lacking when the Senate previously passed its version of the bill by a narrow margin.
Roberts said he believes Gov. Nathan Deal will sign the legislation, and that the governor’s office was actively involved in the conference committee’s negotiations.
In another change, fees were added on heavy vehicles, $50 for those from 15,500 to 26,000 pounds, and $100 for those greater than 26,001 pounds. The bill would also create a special joint committee to study Georgia’s revenue structure. The conference committee also added a $5 per night fee for hotel and motel guests.
Fees on alternative fuel vehicles remain, as well as ending the $5,000 tax credit for the purchase of electric vehicles. Delta and other airlines would lose a tax credit on aviation fuel purchases. Language was also added allowing two or more counties to join together to fund a transportation program. Roberts said the legislation would raise about $900 million a year.
House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, praised House members for supporting the bill. “This was a tough vote tonight for some of them,” he said. “They have met that challenge tonight.”
While former Senate Democratic opponents Vincent Fort of Atlanta and Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson of Tucker now spoke in favor of the bill because of increased emphasis on mass transit, Sen. Joshua McKoon of Columbus opposed it, saying the bill “is in fact a massive tax increase.” He also objected to the Senate having only a little more than an hour to look at the bill.
Earlier Tuesday, the House and Senate approved Gov. Nathan Deal’s $21.8 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2016. The House vote was 173-0, while the Senate approved the spending plan 55-1.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Terry England, R-Auburn, told the House that Deal added $45.8 million to the budget resulting from revenue increases since the bill’s introduction at the start of the session.
Immigration amendment defeated: The Senate on Tuesday rejected an amendment seeking to deny Georgia drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants.
Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, offered the immigration amendment to a House bill on commercial drivers’ licenses. The proposed amendment would have prevented illegal immigrants from receiving drivers licenses, including those protected from deportation under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The amendment lost on a vote of 27 against and 16 in favor.
Sen. Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, spoke against the amendment, which sought to match McKoon’s Senate Bill 6, which never received a committee hearing this session after opposition by business and agriculture groups.
Williams, a farmer and restaurant owner who uses immigrant workers, said McKoon’s amendment attempted to do on a state level what should be done by the federal government.
“These are kids who did not come here on their own accord,” Williams said. “They were drug here by their parents.” Williams said many of the immigrant children born in the United States work or go to school, and that denying them drivers’ licenses would prevent them from continuing to be productive.
McKoon in speaking for the amendment said that President Obama’s executive order expanding the DACA program has not been found legal by any authority. Obama’s action was blocked by a federal judge in February, a ruling that the administration has appealed.
In introducing the proposed amendment, McKoon said “the crime of illegal immigration is a tax on Georgia, costing over $2.4 billion annually.”
But Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta, said Georgia’s anti-immigration laws have resulted in a shortage of labor in agricultural industries, to which Williams agreed. In response to questions from Orrock, McKoon said his amendment would restore the rule of law.
After the amendment’s defeat, the legislation by Rep. Kevin Tanner, R-Dawsonville, to bring Georgia code into compliance with federal law in regard to the issuing of commercial drivers’ licenses passed 51-1.
Senate approves autism coverage: Legislation to require insurance coverage for the treatment of early childhood autism passed the Senate 54-0 Tuesday. The plan originally in Senate Bill 1 was attached to House Bill 429 under a House-Senate compromise on requiring coverage of applied behavioral analysis therapy for children with autism age 6 and under.
HB 429, which also deals with insurance coverage for terminal illnesses, will now go back to the House for expected passage. Under the compromise reached by Sen. Charlie Bethel, R-Dalton, and Rep. Richard Smith, R-Columbus, the coverage limit was dropped from $35,000 to $30,000 a year. Bethel is the Senate Insurance Committee chairman, and Smith holds the same position in the House.
The legislation also includes a sunset provision pending the passage of a proposed constitutional amendment setting up a state fund for autism treatment paid for by a .2 percent sales tax. Smith is proposing the fund, which he said would cover children with autism from birth to age 18. The proposed constitutional amendment will be considered next session.
