ATLANTA — Senate and House transportation leaders said Thursday they were near a solution on providing more money for transportation.
The Senate passed a measure last month to allow a regional special purpose local options sales tax specifically for transportation, so counties could band together and voters approve a list of projects the 1 percent sales tax would fund.
House Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. Vance Smith, R-Pine Mountain, had been trying to pass a 1 percent hike in the statewide sales tax, but his measure has been changing more into a regional sales tax.
Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, said he and Rep. Smith hope to meet this week to work out an agreement.
He said voters can expect some transportation funding to be on the ballots Nov. 4.
Representatives of Get Moving Georgia, a coalition of business, government and environmental groups, said they favor the regional funding approach.
HOUSE PASSES INDIGENT DEFENSE REFORM
The House in a 141-21 vote on Tuesday passed extensive reform to the state’s fledgling indigent defense system.
The measures would increase the role and input of counties, which fund more than 60 percent of the system, and require more accountability on the part of the Public Defender Standards Council, which heads up indigent defense statewide.
The council, which was formed just more than three years ago, has come under scrutiny for asking the Legislature for more money and for reports that the capital case defense of Brian Nichols, which the council oversees, has cost more than $2 million without being heard in a court yet.
The bill is the result of a legislative oversight committee of the council.
“This is a program worth saving, and to save it, it must be changed,” said sponsor Rep. David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge.
Public defenders have said they’re concerned the reforms will restrict them at the local level when all the problems have been at the statewide council level.
The bill passed by the House does keep local public defender terms at four years, instead of the suggestion to knock them down to two years, but it would allow local selection bodies to fire public defenders “without cause.”
The legislation is now in the hands of the Senate.
CROSSOVER DAY
SET FOR TUESDAY
Tuesday is the do-or-die day for bills to be passed into the next chamber. If a bill hasn’t passed at least one chamber by the end of the 30th legislative day, or “crossover day,” it can no longer be considered.
Legislators expect this to be an unusually long day, so they decided to take Friday and Monday off and let the 30th day of session fall on Tuesday.
They also voted to hold sessions Tuesday through Thursday the rest of March, allowing them plenty of committee meeting time as the end of session approaches and decisions on the budget must be made.
Leaders expect to wrap up the session in the first week of April.
