The transportation spending bill shows a new willingness by the Legislature’s Republican leaders to invest in infrastructure to attract business rather than depending on a low tax base, University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock III said.
The GOP’s main economic development strategy since taking control of state government about a decade ago has been tax inducements, Bullock told InsiderAdvantage Georgia. But the legislation shows that the Republican leaders will support “increasing some revenue enhancers in order to create infrastructure to make the state a more attractive place,” Bullock said.
The legislation, which Gov. Nathan Deal has said he will sign, will impose a 26-cent-per-gallon state fuel excise tax, 29 cents on diesel fuel. It will also add fees for heavy trucks and buses and a $5 per night charge for hotel and motel rooms. Along with ending the tax exemption for electric vehicles, House Bill 170 also places fees on alternative fuel vehicles.
Bullock said this attitude shift was the result of rumors that other Southeastern states were telling businesses not to relocate to Georgia because of its traffic congestion. He also pointed to a study released by Deal that showed that “we do do have a deteriorating and undersized transportation grid.”
The transportation bill, which will raise an additional $900 million a year for roads and bridges, will also reduce the state’s dependence on the federal transportation funds, Bullock said. “We can’t sit back and say the federal government is going to give us dollars,” Bullock said. “We have to come up with money ourselves.”
Reducing the percentage of federal funds in the Georgia Department of Transportation budget was a key objective of the transportation spending bill. Federal transportation funds have been declining, although they made up more than 54 percent of the state DOT budget in 2014. With more state money for roads, the DOT will have more freedom from federal regulations and increased flexibility in starting projects, the bill’s proponents said.
While mass transit advocates said the transportation bill provided too little for trains and buses, Bullock said the legislation is the the start of “an evolutionary process. The first step is a willingness to invest something in traditional transportation. Maybe somewhat further down the line, there will be some investment in mass transit.”
Turning to the religious freedom bill, Bullock said the storm over similar legislation in Indiana and Arkansas caused the House leadership to seek to keep the proposal from coming to the House floor.
“We know we had some boycotts threatened over the Georgia flag,” Bullock said. “This is not good for business if you are doing things that are antagonizing some of your own people and people who come to this state and spend money.”
Senate Bill 129 by Sen. Joshua McKoon, R-Columbus, was tabled in the House Judiciary Committee late in the session after an anti-discrimination amendment was added in the committee. But Bullock saw House leaders as taking steps to prevent the bill from receiving a vote in the chamber.
In keeping the bill off the House calendar, echoing a tactic from the old Democratic leadership, the House leaders acted as a “fire screen” for the chamber’s conservative members, he said. When their constituents ask why the religious freedom bill wasn’t passed, “They can blame it on the leadership,” Bullock said.
House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, and other leaders were telling members “put that on our shoulders. We can handle it,” he said. While Ralston received Tea Party opposition in the last election, Bullock said Ralston’s deep roots in his district makes him hard to beat.
“Some outside group is going to come in and say David Ralston is not conservative? I think that could a pretty hard sell up there,” Bullock said. “ One of the roles of leadership is to do something to project your people and protect them from doing things that are maybe not in the best interests of the state.”
