With T-SPLOST In Rearview, Metro Atlanta Lawmakers Push Transportation Bills

For Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, it started with a personal challenge to travel by transit from Kennesaw State University to Gwinnett Arena. According to Beach, the 30-40 mile trip took nearly four hours due to a lack of coordination between the region’s various transit agencies.

“Each system independently works well. They just don’t communicate and coordinate together,” said Beach on the Senate floor last month.

Beach is carrying Senate Resolution 735, which would set up a centralized website to help coordinate travel times between MARTA, Cobb Community Transit, Gwinnett County Transit, and GRTA, the state transit agency.

The website would be called www.goATLtransit.com and go online in July.

For years, policymakers have talked about unifying metro Atlanta’s various transit agencies. Beach said SR 735 is a start.

“It’s a baby step in trying to get these agencies to communicate, coordinate, and be more efficient,” said Beach.

The Senate passed the resolution 50-0. The House is now considering it.

Other post-TSPLOST legislative efforts center around funding.

Rep. Mike Glanton, D-Jonesboro, is carrying House Bill 1009, which would allow Clayton County to hold a referendum on increasing its local sales tax in order to join MARTA. 

HB 1009 actually builds off previous legislation that allowed a similar referendum to be held between 2010-2012, pending approval from the Clayton County Commission. The commission, however, never moved to put it before voters.

Glanton’s bill would give the county another chance.

“The commission at that time decided not to utilize it and our new commission now wants to utilize it so this would simply give them another tool in the toolbox,” said Glanton during the presentation of HB 1009 on the House floor.

The bill was approved 163-2. The Senate is now considering it.

Another pair of bills that remain alive – SB 99 and HB 153 - would allow counties to pass fractional sales tax increases. Currently, only whole percentage point increases are allowed. Bill supporters say fractional increases offer more flexibility and precision when pitching local transportation projects.

Meanwhile, other legislative efforts haven’t fared as well.

Rep. Rahn Mayo, D-Decatur, pitched HB 390, which would have paved the way for a referendum in DeKalb County on a one percent sales tax increase for local transportation projects. State approval was necessary because the county is currently assessing the maximum allowed local sales tax under Georgia law.

On the House floor, Mayo emphasized a provision in the bill that would have required approval from all cities in the county before holding the referendum.  

“That’s a good step in the right direction for DeKalb which has had a fractured relationship between the cities and the county,” said Mayo. “This bill would force us to the table to sit down and talk about our needs and prioritize for transportation infrastructure for the entire county.”

Mayo’s House colleagues weren’t convinced and the bill ultimately failed to gain passage by Monday’s Crossover Day deadline. 

Another stalled bill is HB 195, which would have allowed counties to band together and hold small scale T-SPLOST referendums. Rep. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, introduced the bill last year but it has languished in the House Transportation Committee.