GA Transportation Bill HB 170 Update

NEWS ON HOUSE TRANSPORTATION TAX INCREASE PLAN

Rep. David Stover, one of the original sponsors of HB170, has declared he no longer supports HB170 because it raises taxes.  We appreciate his courage in speaking out against the very bad bill.  Read his statement at the link below.
A public retreat by a sponsor of Georgia’s push for more transportation cash

The House Transportation Tax increase still doesn't have enough votes in the House to pass.  The supporters of the plan are so desperate to pass this massive tax hike that they are pulling out all the stops to silence those speaking out in opposition. A very close ally of Speaker David Ralston, lobbyist Trip Martin (404.659.0001) of Blue Ridge, has filed an ethics complaint against Americans For Tax Reform for speaking out against the bill and calling it a tax increase. Americans for Tax Reform just sent out an email and wrote a blog post opposing the bill and calling it a tax increase.  We believe this is just an attempt at harassment to silence ATR and the complaint has NO merit and an attack on 1st Amendment rights. This is how desperate the pro-tax Republicans in the House and Gov. Deal are to shove this tax increase down our throats. The news story is near the end of the news story below. Cleta Mitchell, the attorney representing Americans For Tax Reform, is a fine attorney that has done legal work for Tea Party Patriots.
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/02/26/a-high-toned-effort-to-debunk-the-debunkers-of-a-religious-liberty-bill/

"House Speaker David Ralston wondered aloud the other day whether anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist was violating Georgia ethics rules by campaigning against the chamber’s transportation plan.

We may soon have our answer. Our AJC colleague Chris Joyner reports that Trip Martin, the veteran Georgia lobbyist, has filed an ethics complaint against Norquist. Writes Joyner:

“I think it is a pretty strong law and people ought to abide by that registration if they are attempting to influence a bill,” [Martin] said. “I register and list all my clients and disclose all that I spend.”

Norquist’s group, Americans for Tax Reform, has slammed the transportation bill as a massive tax increase and a broken promise for those lawmakers who signed his group’s pledge never to raise taxes. Along with Norquist, Martin also said in his complaint that Paul Blair, the group’s state affairs manager, should register as a lobbyist.

In his complaint, Martin included a blog post and an essay, both written by Blair, and a story in the AJC’s Political Insider column noting the group’s opposition to the transportation bill.

In a response back to Martin, Cleta Mitchell, an attorney for Americans for Tax Reform, disputed Martin’s claim that Norquist or Blair should register. The blog post is protected under the First Amendment, Mitchell said.

“Under the scenario and interpretation you have outlined, every editorial writer, newspaper columnist, reporter, blogger, author and public policy expert who expresses a view regarding pending legislation must register as a Georgia lobbyist,” she wrote.

Legislation filed to remove Delta corporate subsidy.

We are pleased that Rep. Earl Ehrhart has introduced HB175 that would end Delta's corporate subsidy in the form of a tax credit on jet fuel. This long overdue and we applaud the efforts. It is NOT a tax increase - it is just removing a tax-payer funded subsidy that should have been removed long ago. It is ironic that Delta is calling it a tax increase and opposing it. Delta CEO Richard Anderson urged Georgia Legislators to raise the gas tax and stated they should not be "chicken" to do so. Delta seems to like tax increases on everyday Georgians, but balk when the corporate subsidy they have received since 2005 is taken away.. We need to support this very good bill. Bill filed to remove Delta subsidy

Rep. David Stover analysis of HB175

Source:http://us8.campaignarchive2.com/?u=279aad27db90a781083339e59&id=cd7da8c81f

Comments

The 2012 T-SPLOST list was worthless.  It didn’t fix anything and it would have cost $8 billion for the Atlanta area.  We fully expect the same boondoggles would be approved by our unelected group at ARC and GDOT. Until we see a list of projects with costs and timelines, we will continue to assume that those involved with Georgia transportation planning are screwed up.  If it is a state-wide tax, it has to work for rural counties as well.  The bulk of the I-285 fix would benefit DeKalb, Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett.  Also, our federal gasoline tax revenue should go to Interstates.  Metro Atlanta needs to fix the I-285 top end congestion relief.  Cobb is adding a stadium and PCID gridlock city wants to add more high-rises.  These will increase congestion. Where’s the plan to handle this ?

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader