Posted on 04/01/2015 4:12:02 AM PDT by from occupied ga
A nearly $1 billion dollar transportation funding bill is on its way to Gov. Nathan Deal after a late night compromise is passed by the state House and Senate.
The two sides agreed to convert from a state sales tax on motor fuel to an excise tax of 26 cents per gallon for passenger vehicles and 29 cents for tractor trailers.
Semis would also be required to pay an impact fee of $50 to $100 based on weight.
“Those trucks are the ones doing the most damage to our roads; we felt like that was a small, nominal fee for them to pay to be able to ride on the roads,” says Rep. Jay Roberts, chair of the House Transportation Committee.
The bill also includes a new $5 hotel/motel fee to go towards transportation.
“People come into Georgia; they use our facilities, they use our roads and this is an opportunity to get some folks coming into our state to pay a portion of the cost of our infrastructure,” Senate Transportation Committee Chair Tommie Williams tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish.
But not all Republicans signed off on the compromise. Sen. Josh McKoon (R-Columbus) was among several who voted against it.
“The plain language of the conference committee report makes it clear that it is a massive tax increase,” he says.
Sen. Mike Crane (R-Newman) didn’t mince words with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle during the final moments before the vote.
“Mr. President, isn’t it true that this is a unqualified midnight run on Georgia taxpayers,” said Crane.
“I think that is extremely offensive to every member of your colleagues,” Cagle shot back.
House Speaker David Ralston commended the work of the conference committee of three House members and three Senate members for reaching the compromise.
“We have done what many, many years of general assemblies have failed to do by passing something that is significant and meaningful,” he says.
Deal, who vowed to call a special session if lawmakers didn’t pass a bill that raised enough money for the maintenance and repair of the state’s roads and bridges, is expected to sign the measure.
Oh and BTW that son-of-a-bitch Deal will sign it. Deal along Ralston and Jay Roberts have long since been bought and paid for by the Chamber of Commerce
Mike Crane got it right when he said "this is a unqualified midnight run on Georgia taxpayers." Remember how your reps voted at primary election time.
And the money will get siphoned off and the roads will be just as bad as ever...
And the lions share will be spent on roads in Atlanta. Savannah, Augusta and the rest of the state will see token road improvements. Heck, they’ll probably use it to buy more red light cameras
With this kind of tax on fuel, hotels and trucking, on my next journey East, I will drive several hundred miles out of my way to avoid putting my tires on Georgia dirt.
Here’s a good look at exactly what this is:
https://www.atr.org/atr-opposes-house-bill-170s-massive-gas-tax-increase-georgia
There might be a few road improvements, but primarily this is just a wealth transfer from the long suffering GA taxpayer to the corporate fat cats who fund the Ga chamber of Commerce.
The Iowa Method is to actually spend the money on the roads, but ensure that they don't last too long before needing replacement. The other two legs of the Hawkeye oligarchy's stool (public schools and gi-normous agriculture) don't seem to begrudge the road builders, probably because they can't bus the dwindling number of farm kids to the mega-schools or accommodate all the subsidized land barons cum truck operators without Class A or better roads.
Mr. niteowl77
I’ll put my tires on Georgia dirt but make sure I can drive through it without stopping. The law of unintended consequences will start to happen, and like in Kalifronja, they will just keep raising the taxes to try and makeup the resulting shortfall. This is just the inducement of the consequences to eventually start taxing people on the number of miles they drive, along with toll booths at the borders to collect from those who will make the run through without stopping.
With Republicans like Deal, who needs Democrats?
“I think that is extremely offensive to every member of your colleagues,” Cagle shot back.
Typical, avoid answering the question and take "offense"...
So they wants us to use less gasoline but they need to tax it higher to get more money.
These ideas are opposed to one another.
I get a bit nervous when a special tax is levied on one sector, in this case trucking; I understand the rationale that heavy trucks do more damage, but there is always the risk of predatory taxation levied against a politically vulnerable minority. Maybe we should tax all vehicles based on weight, and let the soccer moms in their SUV's pay their share.
Whether Georgia spends its highway dollars wisely or poorly is a separate question. Nationally there is clearly an infrastructure backlog. People bicker on how to pay for improved infrastructure, but the need is there.
The implication is that it will pay for roads, but it is a "transportation" tax not a road tax. Doubtless large fractions of it will be squandered on things like transit, light rail (always a politician's favorite), bike paths, etc. make no mistake about it this is plundering of the GA taxpayers pure and simple. What they should have done is cut spending elsewhere to pay for this, but easier to stick it in the taxpayers' collective backsides than risk offending any of the mouthy special interest groups that grow fat on taxpayer loot.
Logic and legislature rarely have anything to do with one another.
Correct. Usually when the say taxes are for ‘roads’, they are lying.
Deal and Ralston have been bought and paid for by big money (like the Chamber of Commerce) for years. They no more represent that people that elected them than Boehner does. In fact they're the same pay to play type of Republicans that make Democrats look better.
Nathan Deal besides being the biggest Federal dollar hoe in the GOP realm is Mr. if it moves tax it.
My understanding and correct me if I’m wrong is that the state is now going to take the taxes from the local municipalities and put it in their coffers. So now the locals are just screwed.
I sometimes think the easiest solution would be to stop using eminent domain for roads being built primarily to convenience commuters. (This would involve some hard line-drawing questions, but leave that aside.) If people want to live 30 miles from their jobs, fine ... but they ought not to be able to smash other people's neighborhoods to shave five minutes off their commutes. If we stopped subidizing sprawl, we would have much more compact development and probably more good, diverse, entertaining urban neighborhoods. I am fortunate to live in one such, and as a model for major metro areas, I think quality neighhborhoods are much preferable to remote suburban pods connected by speedways. I'm spoiled, I know: I live in the middle of DC on a quiet tree lined street with home, job, church, groceries and light shopping, daughter's school, etc. all within a mile radius. Good city neighborhoods are like small towns. They should not be sacrified on the altar of the car culture.
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