Georgia Senate Unveils $1B Transportation Plan
The Georgia Senate has come up with its own plan to raise $1 billion for transportation. It’s significantly different than the version passed by the House.
Both plans eliminate a state sales tax on gas. But unlike the House version, the new Senate proposal would raise the excise tax on motor fuel to 24 cents per gallon. That’s about a nickel less per gallon than the proposal put forward by the House. Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, says the Senate changes will be better for drivers at the pump.
“One of our goals in the Senate was to try to keep gas prices as low as we can,” Williams says. “Most everybody that fills up doesn’t want to pay a lot more taxes on gas, so we’re trying to look at other places to get the money.”
Those places include eliminating a popular sales tax holiday for back-to-school items.
Senators also proposed a $5 per day rental car charge. The new fee already has some opposition from the rental car industry. Jeff Mills, a vice president of finance for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, told a Senate committee its customers already pay their “fair share.”
The plan also asks those driving cars to pay a $25 “highway user impact fee” every year when they renew their tags.
Buses and trucks would have to pay double that amount.
“Primarily, we want the people who are driving on our roads to pay for the cost of the wear and tear on our highways,” says Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega.
The Senate plan also calls on state lawmakers to try and set aside $250 million a year from the state budget. That would be used to pay off debt from previous road projects and is supposed to free up money for new ones.
“We want to show a commitment that we’re not just going to look to raise taxes to find our solutions, that we’re going to take money from existing revenues that are coming into the state,” Gooch says.
The plan would continue to allow local governments to get sales tax revenue from gas. But it says governments can only collect taxes up to $3.39 per gallon at the pump.
Similarities to the House plan include: the elimination of a state tax credit for electric vehicles. It also calls for those owning an electric car to pay a $200 user fee annually. It also does away with a tax break that airlines like Delta get on jet fuel.
The plan passed a Senate committee over the objection of Senate Democrats.
Sen. Valencia Seay, D-Riverdale, argued if the legislature were to earmark any funding it should first be for education.
Sen. Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain, raised concerns about the elimination of the tax credit for electric vehicles. She proposed phasing it out instead.
Democrats also want to the state to guarantee a greater percentage of participation by minority-owned businesses in future transportation projects.
The plan could be voted on by the full Senate as early as Friday.
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