Senate Republican caucus commits to House changes on transportation governance bill

When the senators sent by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle entered the wilderness of the House this evening, to cajole and bargain for a deal on a transportation sales tax, they carried this message:

Senate Republicans had agreed to make S.B. 200, originally Gov. Sonny Perdue’s measure to reorganize transportation in Georgia, a mandatory caucus vote. The House version, unchanged, despite changes that chamber made to give itself an edge.

“It has some parity in the budget process,” said Senate Rules Chairman Don Balfour (R-Snellville).

But Balfour said he didn’t know whether Perdue would actually sign the measure, which is far from the super-agency he wanted to replace the state Department of Transportation.

“It’s nowhere near what he wants,” the rules chairman.

That may have been why Gov. Sonny Perdue made a quick trip to see House Speaker Glenn Richardson on the third floor. The governor deferred comment upon exiting.

Democrats are expected to attempt amendments, which would throw the bill into a House-Senate conference committee — essentially killing the measure.

The immediate purpose of passage of S.B. 200 appears to be the way to clear any obstacles to a House-Senate deal on the transportation sales tax. Early this week, Senate Majority Leander Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) had said the governance bill needed to precede any vote on the sales tax.

If the sales tax fails, passage of S.B. 200 would also give Cagle, a Republican candidate for governor, at least one transportation victory.

One hour ago, House negotiators in the sales tax deal made their first counter offer, suggesting the addition of a parallel referendum on the November 2010 ballot. One question would ask voters to approve a statewide sales tax. A second question would ask voters to approve the creation of an Atlanta Regional Commission-based tax district that could levy a sales tax for transportation.

The offer by House Transportation Chairman Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) underlined the geographic dimensions of the impasse — House negotiators have said the view the Senate’s regional approach as a measure effective only for metro Atlanta.

Senate Transportation Chairman Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) countered by placing — literally in the center of the negotiating table — the same regional sales tax defeated by the Senate last year. It would pass this year, Mullis said.

Added state Sen. Kasim Reed (D-Atlanta): “We the lieutenant governor’s firm commitment that we will not fall short again.”