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FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
March 28, 2008
CONTACT
Representative Calvin Smyre
(404)656-0116
SMYRE TAPPED FOR TRANSPORTATION FUNDING CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
ATLANTA - State Representative Calvin Smyre, Chair of the House
Democratic Caucus (D-Columbus) has been appointed by House Speaker
Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) as one of three House conferees who
will meet with their Senate counterparts to reach a final version
of legislation to address Georgia's transportation funding crisis.
The other two conferees from the House include Representative Vance
Smith, (R-Pine Mountain), who is Chair of the House Transportation
Committee and Representative Donna Sheldon, (R-Dacula). On the
Senate side, the conferees include Senator Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga),
who is Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, Senator Doug
Stoner (D-Smyrna) and Senator Don Balfour (R-Lilburn), Chair of
the Senate Rules Committee.
Smyre is one of two Democrats among the six legislative conferees
who will try and work out House and Senate differences over one
of the most closely-watched measures of the 2008 session.
SR 845 calls for a constitutional amendment to allow Georgia counties
to join together and implement a transportation special purpose
local option sales tax (T-SPLOST), on a regional basis, to help
relieve traffic congestion or make other road and bridge improvements
- if a majority of voters in those counties approve such a tax
levy.
The Senate adopted SR 845 by a vote of 51-4 on Feb. 20. The House
approved an amended version Thursday by a 136-35. If the conference
committee is successful in ironing out differences between the
two versions, the measure will still require a majority approval
by Georgia voters in the November general election.
Some significant differences between the Senate and House versions
of the legislation include:
~ An opt-out provision in the House version gives individual county
commissions 45 days to vote for or against being included in the
tax region once the plan is approved by the regional commission.
~ There are differences between the two versions with regard to
sales tax exemptions on food and other items.
~ The Senate version allows 20 percent of the sales tax proceeds
to go to the state Department of Transportation. Under the House
version, 100 percent of the tax collections must be spent in the
dedicated region for transportation purposes.
"I am confident that we will be able to work out these differences
with the Senate in a conference committee," Smyre said. "We
need to get traffic moving and transportation improvements must
return to the top of the priority list."
Besides serving as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Rep.
Smyre, one of the deans of the House, is a member of the Rules,
Appropriations, Higher Education and Ethics committees
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