Highway contractors throw their weight behind S.B. 200
The House has begun an hour of debate over S.B. 200.
State Rep. Jay Shaw (D-Lakeland) was the first rural lawmaker to speak against it. “This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen in my life,” he said.
Shaw was called down by House Speaker Glenn Richardson, who has endorsed S.B. 200, called Shaw down when the lawmaker invoked Sonny Perdue’s name. Shaw said the legislation would allow Perdue, a former veterinarian, to “neuter” the Legislature.
State Rep. Mark Hatfield of Waycross was the first rural Republican to oppose it.
Just prior to the debate, the Georgia Highway Contractors Association, a major source of campaign money, endorsed S.B. 200 in a letter to House Transportation Chairman Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) — even though it largely strips power from a DOT board they’ve dominated for decades.
Download the letter by clicking here.
This is not quite a surprise, since members of the contractors association are said to be the motivation behind the House’s shift in November away from a regional sales tax for transportation to a statewide sales tax.
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© 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One comment Add your comment
Keith
April 1st, 2009
2:30 pm
If the Senate and House don’t get their acts together and pass a transportation reorganization and funding plan, voters are going to take it out on them next year!