Transitbillgoesbacktopanel

Changed transportation measure could return quickly to House floor.

and Jim Galloway

A plan to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue for transportation was sent back to its committee Tuesday, a move the bill’s sponsor said will allow for fur- ther changes.

Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Roberts, R-Ocilla, the sponsor of House Bill 170, said that he has revisions ready to be made and that the bill could reach the House floor as soon as Monday.

“We’ll have it back in the next day or two,” Roberts said.

HB 170 has already undergone major changes since it was first introduced in late January, mostly over how cities and counties tax motor fuel. Left intact is a plan to replace the state’s sales tax on gasoline with an excise tax of 29.2 cents per gallon, create new registration fees for owners of electric vehicles and eliminate a $5,000 tax credit for buying an electric car.

The coming changes to the bill are designed to please both the Georgia Municipal Association and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia. The GMA has been critical of Roberts’ plan, while ACCG endorsed it only to later raise new concerns.

Roberts has already made changes based on local governments’ concerns and appears ready to do so again.

Roberts said his committee will likely meet Wednesday to consider the changes, although the bill was not on the committee’s agenda late Tuesday afternoon. If adopt- ed in committee Wednesday, the bill could reach the House floor as soon as Thursday.

Later Tuesday, at a Legislative Black Caucus hearing on the transportation bill, Roberts walked through the changes he plans to introduce Wednesday. All of them are seemingly minor changes with major effects on local governments. One would put the special local option sales tax back on diesel fuel, which was in-

Transit

to lead a decent and normal life.”

Peake said sickle cell wasn’t the only disorder to be removed from the bill. Alzheimer’s, autism and terminal illness were among the others. Still included are seizure disorders, cancer, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis and Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The first priority is to pass a bill “that I’m confident will get the ultimate signature,” he said, referring to Gov. Nathan Deal.

Deal spokesman Brian Robinson said the governor is “not picking winners and losers on the list.”

“While it’s true he doesn’t want it overly broad — our main mission is helping children who suffer from seizures — he’s happy to talk with legislators if there’s anything on the list that would raise concerns for him,” Robinson said.

Frazier said she intends to do just that.

“We’ll meet with the governor’s deputy,” she said. “We need to be the premier state that all states should follow.”

Deb McGhee-McCrary, the chief executive officer of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia, said she hopes the disease is added back to the bill.

“This legislation is important because the present forms of chronic pain treatments are solely inadequate for sickle cell patients,” she said. “It has become increasingly clear that inflammation, which contributes to pain, can be reduced by cannabinoids. This legislation offers tremendous hope.”