Nathan Deal’s Plan B: Governor intends to step into transportation vacuum
On Tuesday morning, as metro Atlanta voters hurled an $8 million sales tax campaign into the trash, Gov. Nathan Deal held what aides called his first session with top transportation officials to discuss Plan B.
What voters dismissed was a bottom-up list of $8 billion in road and rail projects created by local elected leaders. (Read the main AJC piece on the TSPLOST vote here.)
The Plan B that staggered out of the governor’s office will be its polar opposite: Dramatically smaller, paid for with shrinking funds, and highly centralized. Projects will be hand-picked by a governor who intends to squeeze every penny available.
And no matter what others might say today, don’t look for a sequel to the TSPLOST referendum. A second vote has no place in the governor’s Plan B.
Instead, Chris Riley, the governor’s chief of staff, said traffic planners in regions across the state will be quickly asked to resubmit lists of road and rail proposals that require state and federal funding – figuring in an 8 percent decrease in federal funding. The governor has veto power over each list.
Riley said that Deal intends to use that authority to direct cash to absolutely essential projects in metro Atlanta and elsewhere. “The state’s top transportation priority is the Ga. 400 and I-285 interchange,” Riley said. But metro Atlanta residents could also find themselves enduring pot holes and worse for the sake of better roads around the Port of Savannah, he added.
That’s another priority.
The governor’s top aide said Deal had been hesitant to speak of alternatives before TSPLOST balloting ended. ”We didn’t want anyone to think that it would fail. But you can’t be a governor and not look at both options,” Riley said.
The governor is likely to express his disappointment today over the outcome of Tuesday’s vote. Certainly he will focus on the price of austerity, as chosen by voters. “Will we be able to compete in the global market with Plan B? Yes. Will every company look at us? No,” said Brian Robinson, Deal’s director of communications.
But in a way, defeat clears the way for Deal to assume full responsibility for the mess that is Georgia’s system of planning and paying for moving goods and people. The TSPLOST referendum, with its awkward system of roundtables to settle on project lists and a vote conducted in the heat of a GOP primary, was the handiwork of Gov. Sonny Perdue.
But, however liberated he may feel, Deal has few options. The most direct route – asking a Republican-led Legislature for a tax increase, whether on gasoline or anything else, is off the table. Some opponents of the TSPLOST, including Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers of Woodstock, have said they’ll push for a second TSPLOST referendum with a more road-friendly list.
But that would require a Legislature willing to debate it, a business community willing to pony up millions for another campaign, and Republican leadership in suburban Atlanta that will speak up for when the time for voting comes. Let’s ask Tim Lee, the chairman of the Cobb County Commission, how that worked out for him.
Any attempt at a second vote will move without the governor’s backing. “We haven’t given any thought of presenting it to the General Assembly,” Riley said.
That leaves the big decisions on what will be built, and with what funds, largely in the hands of the governor, the state Department of Transportation, and planning agencies like the Atlanta Regional Commission. But mostly in the hands of the governor.
“The governor will not move forward without the consent GDOT,” Riley said – very carefully. Deal will court approval from the DOT board, but he intends to keep the initiative. The governor recently appointed a trusted aide, Toby Carr, as the DOT’s planning director, giving him another layer of control over what transportation projects are funded.
So the Atlanta Regional Commission will soon have to clear its wish lists with the governor. ARC Chairman Tad Leithead said he’ll be happy to do so. “I think the entire state would welcome anything the governor does to keep transportation moving,” he said.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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424 comments Add your comment
Mark
August 1st, 2012
12:50 am
Let the roads fall apart and traffic get so bad the legislators either are forced to fund transportation infrastructure and administrate it properly and fairly or get forced out themselves. Ultimately, we can elect legislators on this issue alone. Let them get scared of losing their seats for this reason rather than let them lose it for raising funds and doing their job the right way.
Adam
August 1st, 2012
12:51 am
Thanks GA for your ignorance and shortsightedness. And thanks for making Atlanta the nation’s next Birmingham.
oldfart
August 1st, 2012
12:51 am
TSPLOST still has court challenges ahead. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the entire bill thrown out regardless of passage. They got the chicken before the egg so to speak without doing a constitutional amendment to legalize the “special districts” first. The smartest thing Deal can do at this point is throw Sonny under the bus. If he continues to bless the leftovers like TSPLOST and HOT Lanes then he will be looking at a single term.
Sameolesameole
August 1st, 2012
12:53 am
You naysayers are gonna wish TSPLOST passed when you will still have to sit in the same ole traffic and you all know who you are Cobb, Gwinnett..and all you other counties…those of you that didn’t want MARTA in their counties, yet you continue to come into Atlanta to use MARTA to attend your Braves,Falcons and Hawks games! You deserve to continue suffering!!!! So our city will forever be in that same ole rut, because of 1 penny!!!!!!!
DEAL With It
August 1st, 2012
12:54 am
One only has to look at the McGinnis Ferry Road widening project to realize the effectiveness of our government to get a job done effectively based on cost and time. FIVE FREAKIN YEARS and the project can’t be more than 5 miles.
I had the pleasure to watch the progress (or lack thereof) for years driving into work. I believe it has still not been completed. Luckily for me I work from home now.
Tim
August 1st, 2012
12:56 am
Why does the blog censor peoples’ comments even when no profanity is used?
Oh My!
August 1st, 2012
12:59 am
@MichaelB…this is not our first rodeo dealing with Repubs. They always slash the low hanging fruit and education is easy pickens for them to cut.
Decatur on Fire
August 1st, 2012
1:00 am
Looks like the Emoryites will be on the warpath now……..no softall games and Subaru rides around town.
Jason
August 1st, 2012
1:00 am
Sameolesameole, no I won’t be stuck in traffic because I wasn’t stupid enough to move far away from my job and centers of commerce. Chosing to live somewhere that requires billions of dollars of infrastructure to be built every couple of years is stupid but that’s the choice many have made. Now they have to suffer the consequences. Even if TSPLOST passed, it wouldn’t have done much to reduce the commutes of those who choose to live far away from jobs, retail, and entertainment.
KW
August 1st, 2012
1:00 am
Can you hear us now? Georgia politicians have not been good stewards of our tax dollars. The vote was about accountability. There will be major road improvement projects, but probably not MARTA expansion. Question? Did Georgia anger about renewing the toll on 400 for a few million dollars in extra revenue cost the state 8 BILLION in new funding?
O4W
August 1st, 2012
1:02 am
@KW: You sound like you’re gleeful that MARTA is getting the shaft.
Tim
August 1st, 2012
1:02 am
After the HOT lane fiasco on I-85 in Gwinnett, and the continuation of the GA. 400 toll, I don’t understand why anyone voted for this T-SPLOST nonsense.
Decatur on Fire
August 1st, 2012
1:02 am
Sameole is economically illiterate….only one penny, eh? Kind of how we got to 7% tax in the first place. By my calculations that 1 cent loon would not pay a thing on a new car purchase in relation to sale tax….
Nicholas J
August 1st, 2012
1:04 am
Well the ball is in Deal, GDOT, and ARC’s court. Maybe its better this way. I’m certain Deal and these agencies will see the need for more mass transit since the senseless, poo for brain suburbanites don’t. I trust Deal, GDOT, and the ARC to make a better, more transit oriented list. I just hope they do it in time before the consequences of not seeming to be able to think coherently as a region catches up to us.
Decatur on Fire
August 1st, 2012
1:04 am
Clean up the crime and general degenerates on MARTA and people might be more inclined to ride it. Every time I take it to the airport I am panhandled by some bum.
Aaron Burr V Mexico
August 1st, 2012
1:05 am
Cruz also won in Texas. Excellent Tea Party! Well enjoy your victory for now, and be assured that the whirlwind you are reaping is coming. Or do you truly believe that you can be ‘victorious’ when liberals and conservative are part of the gene pool and have been from time immemorial?
No, what you are doing is teaching us that Moderates do not reward moderation. What you are doing is teaching us that any tactic is acceptable if you can get away with it. What you are doing is teaching us that targeting the poor in the name of ‘vote integrity’; attacking unions in the name of ’saving the tax payer money’; attacking cities in the name of majority land mass rule; attacking the intelligent in general and then attacking science itself is OK. So when we come for the rich, the rural, the white and the ignorant, be assured, you started it.
You might THINK we started it with FDR but really that was just trying to find a decent living and an equal share of the pie and the ability for people to go to the same restaraunt counter without being harassed. No, you’re the ones that made it personal.
Enjoy that while you can. You’ve just made your nightmares real. The conspiracy theories you’ve invented to chain the ignorant are even now coming to fruition? Think I’m crazy? Well of course you do….
But just think….how many out there have picked up the Communist Manifesto again and said to themselves, “Wow. If the Republicans hate this so much maybe we should take another look…”
How many have seen the tea party elect a man who thinks that states can just ignore laws they don’t like and said to themselves, “Oh? Well then I guess we can do that when we’re in charge.”
How many of them have seen what the tea party did to take control of the Republican party and looked at the pathetic Democrats and said, “Oh. So that’s how you do that.”
Tim
August 1st, 2012
1:05 am
@Vote no Tsplost Well said.
@Iconclast No, the Sierra Club, Tea Party, and NAACP did not set Atlanta back. The panel of 21 leaders blew it with their pork-heavy project list. $600 million for the Beltline? Really? The Beltline will do nothing to relieve congestion, it is a loop of trails and parks. And what about the $700 billion rail line from the Lindbergh Center to Emory? There is already a free shuttle service from Emory to the downtown Decatur Marta station, a few miles away. So they basically already have transit. How could that project be a priority? The Beltline and the Emory rail (just 2 projects) cost over a billion dollars!! The panel who chose these projects should be ashamed of themselves. ALL THE BLAME goes to them.
Mayor Reed, since you decided to become the face of this campaign, you can wipe the egg off it now.
oldfart
August 1st, 2012
1:06 am
Some of you guys need a drink:
The Emory Manhattan
Ingredients:
2 ounces blended whiskey
1 ounce Italian sweet vermouth
2 dashes TSPLOST bitters
Kris
August 1st, 2012
1:09 am
Thank you oldfart…
Jack
August 1st, 2012
1:10 am
@Mark
“Let the roads fall apart and traffic get so bad the legislators either are forced to fund transportation infrastructure and administrate it properly and fairly or get forced out themselves.”
So what you are suggesting is economic suicide? Could you be any more irresponsible and short-sighted?
pm
August 1st, 2012
1:15 am
Voted for it but not happily, and I am not at all sad it dropped like a mattress off a pickup on I20. Too much cash tossed at people who know too well how to waste it, take forever doing any project, and then there are the cronies and cost overruns and unforseen expenses. All of them disappointed is something I can live with. Now it’s Deal’s turn to do something worth re-electing him for. This is GA so chickens have to be involved. Sacraficial or fried, makes no difference.
Cascada
August 1st, 2012
1:15 am
Actually, it failed in the Savannah are (the Coastal Georgia region). The Central Savannah River region includes Augusta. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Savannah_River_Area
Look before I leap...
August 1st, 2012
1:17 am
I am seeing a lot of bitterness from the chicken littleers.
Atlanta will continue to be the economic center of GA and the southeast for decades to come and the thumbs down on TSPLOST will do little to change that. Neither Macon, Columbus or Savannah are poised to take the crown.
If you long for the relatively bucolic commute of Charlotte, NC, try to imagine what would happen if this city, fed by a single interstate, a spur, a freeway and a couple of highways and boulevards were to see annual growth rates of 100,000 ppl? Charlotte is a lovely city, but in terms of business growth, it is little better than a Ponzi scheme.
For rankings on worst traffic/commute, Atlanta ranks anywhere from 3rd to 17th depending
on the measures used. But the measures used all have flaws in them and in the context of traffic problems in all major metropolitan areas, Atlanta’s issues are not unique and while bad, we are better off than than NY, LA, Houston and San Jose no one is forecasting the ultimate decline of those areas.
ND
August 1st, 2012
1:17 am
I voted for it, not because I thought it was a great project list (it wasn’t), but because that was as close as this ideologically, politically, and ethnically fractured region was ever going to get to a workable compromise on this issue. I would have preferred a list that concentrated on four or five major projects (for example, the Beltline, something equivalent to a Northern Arc, a new MARTA line, another north-south freeway within the perimeter) instead of a list comprised of over a hundred small projects.
Ultimately this is a victory for asphalt fetishists like Chip Rogers who would rather pave over the entire state and have everyone live 100 miles away from Atlanta, thereby ensuring that nobody under the age of 35 will ever want to move here, because it’s people like him who are going to get the power to decide how transportation money is spent in this state with the failure of this referendum.
Buckhead
August 1st, 2012
1:18 am
Tonight in Charlotte, Tampa and Dallas civic leaders have popped the champagne.
ND
August 1st, 2012
1:21 am
“And what about the $700 billion rail line from the Lindbergh Center to Emory? There is already a free shuttle service from Emory to the downtown Decatur Marta station, a few miles away. So they basically already have transit. ”
Let’s see… wait 15-20 minutes for a bus that will take you to a MARTA station going at about 10 mph (factoring in stopping at traffic lights), or wait 5-10 minutes for a train that will take you to Decatur or Lindbergh in 5 minutes. Sure, those are exactly the same.
Spoken like someone who has never been stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the Clifton Corridor.
ND
August 1st, 2012
1:23 am
“Can we get a MARTA station at Turner Field now? How come MARTA does’t go to Turner Field? I’m glad ya’ll voted no. What a total mess this was…”
Turner Field is a 7 minute walk from the Georgia State MARTA station. There are literally dozens of places in Atlanta that need MARTA stations more than Turner Field.
Ray
August 1st, 2012
1:25 am
Tim Lee proved himself to be tone deaf, when he added the Cobb County airport control tower to the T-SPLOST project list. Gwinnett and DeKalb County, each, with their own airports, managed to pay for their own (with matching FAA grants). There was just too much pork on the proposed list of 159 projects. Cobb looked piggy, trying to take advantage of the situation.
The public wanted the focus on breaking up the bottlenecks at major interchanges, adding a modest amount of some badly needed new rail lines, and of course maintaining our transit infrastructure.
CDB
August 1st, 2012
1:26 am
Asking the voters to support something as important as a transportation tax is like asking a 12 year old to decide if school is better than vacation. Both, unfortunately, would make the wrong decision. That is, after all, why we have and need government.
Decatur on Fire
August 1st, 2012
1:27 am
I will continue to work remote…..good luck with the commutes and your pork barrelled politicos………
Look before I leap...
August 1st, 2012
1:28 am
@Buckhead
You should lay off the kool-aid son, it makes you fat and stupid.
You obviously have not driven in Tampa rush hour traffic lately.
And in Dallas, they are used to driving 16 miles to buy a pack of cigarettes.
And see my previous post on Charlotte.
Grow up
August 1st, 2012
1:29 am
And CDB needs someone to look after them and let them know what to do next. Adapt, work around any issues that this perceived solution (which would not occur for 10 years, if ever) may have let you down on.
Uncle Harvey
August 1st, 2012
1:30 am
I might have voted for this without all of the trains, bike paths and walking trails. A train will never drop me off at my house. On top of that, I do not want to ride framed into a train with a bunch of low-lifes. I do not want to pay an extra tax for peoples hobbies. Bikes and walking are hobbies, they are not real transportation for most people.
J Hood
August 1st, 2012
1:30 am
The Govenor and GDOT Need to Focus on Implemeting the Reginonal Rail plan they hae on there Own Site Already and various Others Such as the Excellent Map they have at tracktwentynineblogspot
We Already have the Rails in place and Its a lot cheaper and less time Consumin to get it started…Im sure we can get a far reaching Rail system (not marta) in place for far less money and something we as a whole region can use and benefit from…Commuter Rail IS the Answer…The Only
Answer…Especially now that Funding for the Express buses is in jeopardy becuase of this No Vote…Just imagine putting that many cars back on the Road…Its one step forward…ten steps Back here in Atlanta…
Decatur on Fire
August 1st, 2012
1:31 am
Looks like that woman in the commercials all tied up will continue to be such…..that’s just too bad.
Old South
August 1st, 2012
1:34 am
Leap;
What makes you so sure that Atlanta will continue to attract high paying jobs? It’s not neccesarily about the facts, but the perception which attracts people.
If you read the tea leaves, the state government is telling Georgians expect austerity. I’m not sure anyone with common sense and a choice would want to choose to live in Atlanta. It was not that way in the 90s and 80s.
DawgDad
August 1st, 2012
1:38 am
Keep talking down to us, and see where that gets you. You wanted OUR money to pay for YOUR pet projects YOU weren’t willing to fund yourselves, all the while (and still) denigrating us and saying we’re selfish for expressing concern and opposition. Rarely in my four decades of adult life have I witnessed a more deserving bunch of losers.
I’m good with the Governer focusing scarce resources on a far narrower list of high priority projects. If he goes overboard corrupt he won’t last long.
Aaron Burr V Mexico
August 1st, 2012
1:38 am
Thanks for inviting federal intervention when we get a mayor that isn’t in the Governor’s pocket and when the governor fails…and he WILL fail.
You can get always get crazier on the Republicant side but what you can’t do is actually GOVERN and Deal is about to learn that the hard way. He has no power. He just doesn’t know it yet.
But even if STILL somehow gets all the roads (cause we know he’s not expanding Marta. Hes a Republican and Republicans are stupid), I am still pleased because all the IDIOTS OTP will get fleeced by the guy the elected…again.
Red Phillips
August 1st, 2012
1:38 am
I can’t believe how easily some people on here have been catechized by the transportation lobby. An 8% sales tax? Really? That’s more than Florida, and they DON’T HAVE A STATE INCOME TAX. Does the Georgia government really need a higher sales tax than Florida AND a state income tax to function? The Georgia government has plenty of money. They don’t need more. They need to spend what they have wisely. And we the people of Georgia don’t need sheep voting a tax increase on themselves and everyone else. It’s really quite pathetic. Instead of your wordy rants, why not save time and bandwidth and just type Baa, Baa, Baa …
Tim
August 1st, 2012
1:39 am
“Let’s see… wait 15-20 minutes for a bus that will take you to a MARTA station going at about 10 mph (factoring in stopping at traffic lights), or wait 5-10 minutes for a train that will take you to Decatur or Lindbergh in 5 minutes. Sure, those are exactly the same.
Spoken like someone who has never been stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the Clifton Corridor.”
You will have to wait for the MARTA train to arrive, so waiting for the shuttle is no big deal. You are talking as if the shuttle ride is 20 miles. The Decatur Marta station is only a few miles away from Emory. Why don’t you come back and explain why it would be worth $700 MILLION for another rail line when Emory is literally around the corner from the Decatur Marta station. Tell me how that project made the list, when people down I-20 east have been paying for MARTA for 40 years, and yet have NO RAIL. How did the Emory project leapfrog them? Because the T-SPLOST was a stinking pile of pork, that’s why.
Aaron Burr V Mexico
August 1st, 2012
1:41 am
And yet many in that I-20 corridor voted for Kasim Reed. Makes me wonder if they’ll be voting for him again.
If his opponent is white, you betcha. When you’re a cartoon character, black or white, you will get exploited, just like Kasim Reed has done with Atlanta.
Tim
August 1st, 2012
1:50 am
I think Kasim Reed will pay for this. He showed that he really could care less about his constituents in Atlanta that have been paying the MARTA tax since the 70’s. He actually pushed for them to pay a 2% transportation tax, which would have boosted the sales tax in the city of Atlanta to 9%!! He ignored many of his constituents by advocating for this tax, and there will be repercussions.
Alex
August 1st, 2012
1:51 am
Um, Aaron, much of that I-20 corridor isn’t even in the city of Atlanta….it’s Dekalb. Try again.
Look before I leap...
August 1st, 2012
1:51 am
@Old South
Atlanta is THE transportation hub in the south.
Atlanta has the world’s busiest airport.
Atlanta is the confluence of 3 of three major interstates.
Atlanta is the rail center of the southeast.
With a gross domestic product of US$270 billion, Atlanta’s economy ranks 15th among world cities and sixth in the nation.
We are not tied to any single industry and as the seat of GA’s state government, Atlanta will more or less always be in line for government largesse.
Traffic problems notwithstanding, Atlanta ain’t taking a dumpster dive any time soon.
Dean
August 1st, 2012
1:52 am
Can the Atlanta region at least step into the 20th century? Not even asking for 21st century progress. If most of the backwards thinking Georgians believe enjoying traffic congestion and poor air quality is preferable to a one penny tax. And that the best way to fund the education of the state’s children is through lotteries and slot machines, Atlanta is doomed for failure.
And when Atlanta becomes like the lost city of Atlantis, so goes the State of Georgia. You better hope the high-speed rail from Jacksonville to Charlotte at least slows down in Atlanta.
Kris
August 1st, 2012
1:55 am
Deal needs to be held accountable for actions like these that cost the state Federal Dollars
Did Not the Governor of Georgia (thief) turn down the High speed RAIL funds championed by President OBAMA?
Did Not the Governor of Georgia (in title only) sit on Millions of Federal HIGHWAY FUNDS for years,
Just because “JIMBOB” Could not get their act together and provide enough payola to the right GOP crooks.
Where were all of them and the Corporate Masters on the issue of DISPERSION of all of and REFUSED funds?
Maybe, If someone had the FORESIGHT and The Wisdom, to accept those funds.
Oh Hell Impeach the idiot..
Look before I leap...
August 1st, 2012
1:58 am
For all the ups and downs over the years and even during the recession, my stock portfolio has done pretty well.
I do have two regrets though:
Not buying stock in Apple at $19/share
Not having a stronger position in Kraft Foods, the maker of Kool-Aid.
Outlander
August 1st, 2012
1:59 am
as bad as things seem, from what I read about that bill, all it would have done was lined peoples pockets and not solved the problem.
.. at least you aren’t Detroit.
Look before I leap...
August 1st, 2012
2:11 am
I have been looking for an analogy regarding TSPLOST for months.
My wife just suggested this:
A man wandering in the desert, thirsty and near death, comes over a dune and sees an oasis. He fights fatigue and wind and shifting sands to get to the oasis. Delirious, he crawls into the palm studded garden, fixated on the vision of cool, clear drinking water. A lovely bare-breasted maiden in a short skirt hands him a crystal goblet to use to scoop the water out of the pool.
As he is about to gulp the life-saving water, the oasis and its water disappears, yet the crystal goblet remains in his hand.
Bubba dodd
August 1st, 2012
2:11 am
Look…Marta could be fixed and so could the rest of the transit problems in Georgia if the administrators of the projects could be trusted to grant contracts in the best intrests of all Georgians. However, when racial and good old boy contracts are granted the cost for services rendered increases dramatically. Voters don’t trust any proposals by Marta due to their slanted agenda and resolve to prepeturate ineffective/inflated contracts. Past history of racial bantering and lack of voter trust of effective Government spending of tax dollars killed the TSPLOSH