Your morning jolt: More slogging through transportation, but this time, voter viability is the focus

House and Senate conferees on a sales tax for transportation are scheduled to come back for a public confrontation at 9 a.m. today.

If yesterday’s 6 p.m. session was any guide, don’t expect much.

House negotiators declined to respond to a previous Senate offer to boost rural Georgia road funding by dedicating the fourth penny sales tax currently levied on motor fuel to traffic corridors outside Atlanta.

But the Senate wouldn’t budge off its demand for a sales tax voted on by groups of counties, rejecting the statewide sales tax pitched by the House.

Viability before voters was the hot topic in the short evening session. Transportation Chairman Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain), leader of the House conferees, led off by citing a statewide poll, taken in December, that showed Georgia voters mightily in favor of voting for a penny sales tax to cure the state’s transit woes.

State Rep. Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus) followed by listing the virtues of a statewide sales tax:

— Quicker delivery of more significant funding.

— A guarantee that major cross-regional paths would receive attention.

— It’d be a simpler process. A single statewide referendum would be less confusing.

Smith also said the fourth penny would mean more if directed at mass transit than at road construction. “The $165 million is just like throwing a pebble in the ocean when you look at highway bridge construction,” he said.

State Sen. Kasim Reed of Atlanta came back, again, to the question of whether a statewide referendum would survive a November 2010 vote.

Said Reed:

“We’ve been looking models for states that have taken a one-cent sales tax approach and succeeded. And we have not been able to find one. Is there any state that has had a vote for a one-penny statewide dedicated tax for transportation that has succeeded?”

Said Smith:

“No, I can’t say there are.”

But Smith pointed out that the House legislation has a fallback position. If the referendum fails, counties would be immediately authorized to band together and levy the sales tax wherever voters approve.

Replied Reed:

“Would you help me understand why it would be better to try a method that has failed every time that it’s been tried, versus a method, with the regional TSPLOST approach, that has succeeded in 15 states, including the state of North Carolina?”

Said Smith:

“Why other states failed I don’t know. Did they have the right project list? Did they educate the people the proper way?”

Said Smyre:

“Georgia shouldn’t be a follow-me state. Let’s be first some time.”

Said state Rep. Donna Sheldon (R-Dacula):

“We’ve offered the solution. We’ve heard you say you don’t think it would pass statewide. We just are asking you, is the lieutenant governor going to let the Senate vote on the statewide plan?”

Said Jeff Mulliss (R-Chickamauga), leader of the Senate conferees:

“You keep bringing up the lieutenant governor. We’re trying to make a decision here. We’re working with you. He’s not here. Neither is the speaker here. We’re working on good faith here. Let’s keep it that way.”

After the meeting broke up, senators scrounged till they found the spreadsheet of the poll referenced by Smith in his opening. Here’s the question asked in the survey:

“Would you be more likely to support a vote by the public concerning an additional penny to meet major transportation needs if you knew that your local officials, not unelected individuals in state government or some other board or state agency, would determine what projects would be funded in your region and that all the money from a penny increase would stay in your community?”

Expect that to come up at 9 a.m. today. While you’re waiting, consider these items from this morning’s ajc.com:

Do-or-die time: Legislators must wrap it up today.

MARTA says no Turner shuttle or buses for road race under cutbacks.

Georgia health insurers scrutinized over reimbursements.

Chief Justice Leah Sears says Senate budget cuts amount to micro-managing.

Budget negotiations start with 36 hours to go in 2009 session.

Two mayoral candidates say Atlanta police chief must go.

Barely into Atlanta mayor’s race, Borders takes heat from opponent.

Just published photos show MLK killing aftermath.

Some opinion:

Jim Wooten on Palin’s clothes, idle aircraft, and parking.

Tracy Downs and George Hacker say can the beer ads during the Final Four.

Elsewhere in Georgia:

Lucid Idiocy says the corporate income tax phase-out could be replaced by a cut in capital gains.

And the nation:

WP: Jobless rate bolts to 8.5 percent, 663,000 jobs lost.

TechCrunch: Sources say Google is in final talks to acquire Twitter.

WSJ: Peggy Noonan on the clarity of Obama’s domestic agenda.

Daily Beast: Tina Brown on whether Michelle Obama is the new Oprah.