UPDATED: House hits the road: S.B. 200 on the floor now

Rep. David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) is in the well of the House now introducing S.B. 200, the bill that represents the House plan for changing the way the state governs its transportation systems and agencies. 

Do House GOP leaders have the votes? That was in doubt yesterday and earlier today. The fact that it’s up on the floor now might indicate that Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) and his top lieutenants believe they have the numbers now. 

“The people of Georgia have are looking for us to build a plan for transportation,” Ralston said. 

The House version differs greatly from the one put forth by the Senate, meaning any vote in favor of this bill today will lead to a precarious negotiation in conference committee. 

More to come …

UPDATE: 2:04 p.m.: Rep. Jay Shaw (D-Lakeland) blistered House leadership moments ago from the well of the chamber, accusing them of bring a “fool’s” bill to the floor. 

“I tell you, I cannot believe we even see this bill today,” Shaw said. “This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I know someone is going to tell us in a few minutes this is April Fool’s Day. Nobody in here would vote for this unless they’re a fool on April 1.”

There’s nothing wrong with the Department of Transportation, Shaw said, that wasn’t caused by “meddling” from the governor. 

AND NOW a note about process. The Rules Committee on Tuesday voted to limit debate on all bills today to no more than one hour (not counting the sponsor’s time to introduce it). That means those speaking against the bill have no more than four-and-a-half minutes and those in favor have six minutes (each side getting 30 minutes total). So … we should have a vote around 3 or so.

UPDATE: 2:24 p.m.: House Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) is the first supporter of the bill to take the floor. And he’s railing against opponents who worry about losing control of DOT. 

“You don’t get to appropriate it (now), you don’t even get to think about it,” Ehrhart said. “Under this bill, the money is coming to us. Follow the money, folks.”

UPDATE: 2:42 p.m.: Transportation Committee Chairman Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) gets the last 20 minutes before a vote and he’s going to use some of it and yield some of it to others, including, apparently, Richardson. We’re getting close!

UPDATE: 2:56 p.m.: Richardson is speaking now and regaling the House with the woeful tale of his failed 17-year effort to get a road in his home of Paulding County widened. 

The takeway would appear to be that if the House would just approve S.B. 200 he can get his road built and the rest of the 180 members could get theirs done, too.