Top Ga. Democrat Reflects After MARTA Compromise Fails
This year’s legislative session wrapped up last night and Senate Democrats are weighing what was won and lost during the debate over transportation spending.
Senate Democrats made a deal with Republicans to support a nearly billion dollar transportation plan that focused mainly on roads and bridges. In exchange for their support, Republicans agreed to pass an amended bill that would have generated $200 million a year for MARTA. But Thursday, the MARTA proposal was defeated, leaving many Democrats blindsided.
Despite that, Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson said it wasn’t a total loss.
“Nobody can make you an absolute promise. We all know that. The governor spent over 90 percent of this year’s surplus money on education. We know that he plans to use the majority of next year’s surplus to pay for education. The transportation bill helps with that,” said Henson.
Democrats did help MARTA win greater flexibility with its tax dollars and pushed for a new $75 million bond package to be split among transit systems statewide. They also received a commitment from state transportation officials to contract with more minority-owned businesses.
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