Gov. Deal asks for legislation to make the state a player in mass transit (Atlanta: sales, sales tax)

[arjay57]

This is interesting.

Nathan Deal asks for legislation to make the state a player in mass transit | Political Insider

[T]hose concerned with how Georgia moves were actually distracted by some very good, but very quiet news that probably escaped your attention.

At nearly the very hour that Smith was shown the door, the governor issued an innocuous little executive order, creating yet another task force. But just past the last “whereas” and the final “resolved” was the nugget that Deal had demanded a specific piece of legislation to be drawn up by the time the Legislature assembles in January.

At minimum, the governor ordered, the measure should designate “a state agency or authority with the responsibilities of oversight and coordination of transit services in the metro Atlanta region.”

Let us put this in diplomatic, Nixon-goes-to-China terms. A Republican governor has asked a GOP-controlled Legislature for a bill that would formally recognize the need for this state’s government to participate in a solution to metro Atlanta’s commuter hell. That same governor has named transit — as in “mass” — outside the current confines of Fulton and DeKalb counties as part of that solution.

At the state Capitol, it is possible to judge a topic’s importance by the unwillingness of its owners to discuss it. Neither Deal nor the two lawmakers assigned to lead the effort — state Rep. Donna Sheldon, R-Dacula, and state Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga — would step beyond the news release.

But if you consider that only two weeks ago, the Legislature rebuffed Deal’s effort to shift the date of next year’s sales tax vote from July to the more favorable ground of the November general election, then one thing becomes clear: Georgia’s new governor is surprisingly stubborn when it comes to advocating for the nuts and bolts of economic development.

Setting aside the Democratic efforts of Gov. Roy Barnes, the current push for state involvement in mass transit can be traced back five years or so to Sam Olens, when he was both chairman of the Cobb County Commission and the Atlanta Regional Commission.

***

But all requests to the feds for cash or new technology would be made through the state. “What they inherently dislike is when local governments come to them with competing requests,” Olens said. By necessity, the state would become the big-picture planner of metro Atlanta transportation.

Olens’ successor as chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission, Tad Leithead, was effusive in his praise for the governor and called legislation to create a state transit agency “the linchpin to the successful passage of the [sales tax] referendum.”

[toll_booth]

Whoa.

I think my opinion of Governor Deal just increased.

[Mgyeldell]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Whoa.

I think my opinion of Governor Deal just increased.

Mine too, I'm starting to like this man

[AcidSnake]

Meh.

I'm not breaking out the party favors just yet. We already have a state agency whose mission was supposedly to coordinate transportation in metro Atlanta on the books.

Last time I checked, it was called "GRTA".

Why re-invent the wheel?

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by AcidSnake

Meh.

I'm not breaking out the party favors just yet. We already have a state agency whose mission was supposedly to coordinate transportation in metro Atlanta on the books.

Last time I checked, it was called "GRTA".

Why re-invent the wheel?

I'd say a better way of putting it is... The GRTA needs to be re-invented.

It doesn't have much power, much funding, and is mostly just operating as its own transit agency operating commuter buses.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

I'd say a better way of putting it is... The GRTA needs to be re-invented.

It doesn't have much power, much funding, and is mostly just operating as its own transit agency operating commuter buses.

You can thank Sonny Perdue for that. Roy Barnes put it together with the ultimate goal that GRTA would eventually have authority over all metro Atlanta transit agencies and be able to make certain key decisions about expansion without a lot of the red tape involved today. After the "boot Barnes 'cause we're mad about the flag", campaign, Perdue took over and drastically slashed the GRTA budget and power/authority. I would be shocked if Deal repairs it - it sounds like he wants something under his own name to claim fame to, but time will tell.

[arjay57]

The political reality is that Georgia is a Republican state and will likely be that way for a long time. It appears to me that the U.S. as a whole is moving that direction as well.

So even those of different political persuasions need to recognize that this is the water we'll be swimming in for the foreseeable future. You don't need to give up your plans but you'll have to find ways of selling them to a different audience.

[AcidSnake]

I think it's a fallacy to keep conflating political party with ideology. The Republican party started out as a 3rd party fringe group of slave-freeing-corporation-busting liberals. They call them "Radical Republicans" and for that time period, the RRs were as "radical" as a freedom-loving political party could be.

I would think that you would know American history like that, arjay.

Originally Posted by arjay57

The political reality is that Georgia is a Republican state and will likely be that way for a long time. It appears to me that the U.S. as a whole is moving that direction as well.

So even those of different political persuasions need to recognize that this is the water we'll be swimming in for the foreseeable future. You don't need to give up your plans but you'll have to find ways of selling them to a different audience.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by AcidSnake

I think it's a fallacy to keep conflating political party with ideology. The Republican party started out as a 3rd party fringe group of slave-freeing-corporation-busting liberals. They call them "Radical Republicans" and for that time period, the RRs were as "radical" as a freedom-loving political party could be.

I would think that you would know American history like that, arjay.

Somehow it seems like the Republican Party of the last several decades is different from those rabble rousing Republicans of the 1850s.

While it's true that party labels don't tell you everything about someone's politics, in today's world "Republican" has become a fairly identifiable brand on most issues.

But you are right that there are differences among Republicans. Some of them claim Obama is the worst president ever, whereas others say he is only the worst since Jimmy Carter.

[tomno00]

Originally Posted by arjay57

The political reality is that Georgia is a Republican state and will likely be that way for a long time. It appears to me that the U.S. as a whole is moving that direction as well.

So even those of different political persuasions need to recognize that this is the water we'll be swimming in for the foreseeable future. You don't need to give up your plans but you'll have to find ways of selling them to a different audience.

That is part of the problem in Atlanta. The conservative population is not willing to open up it's wallet or pocket book (But it's ok because we are good church going folk.). More so in atlanta than other large cities, I find that we have a "it's all about me" attitude. People would rather save a few dollars than to see their city improve.