With only one week left in the 2007 legislative session, the House has already completed many of the important issues we promised our constituents we would address. We have adopted two fiscally responsible budgets that fund our priorities in education, natural resources, public safety and healthcare. We have adopted a statewide water management plan and a plan to make it easier to build new water reservoirs. The House adopted a plan to eliminate the car tax for every Georgian and this week we addressed transportation by enacting a plan to give regional power to raise funds for local transportation projects.

Senate Resolution 845 is a constitutional amendment that would allow a 'Regional Commission Area Transportation Tax.' Currently in Georgia, there are Regional Development Centers that exist and under another measure would be changed to Regional Development Commissions made up of local elected officials in a multi-county area. These commissions would meet to determine the top transportation needs of the region and then would be able to propose a ballot question to the region's voters calling for a transportation sales tax not to exceed 1 percent and only for a specified time period. All funds raised will stay within each their region to fund transportation projects in that region.

There were some concerns with the bill and so the House addressed those on the floor. We amended the bill to say that an individual county could choose to 'opt out' of participation in the regional transportation sales tax. We also amended the measure to include certain exemptions to the tax including fuel for off-road heavy duty equipment, farm and agricultural equipment, locomotive, aircraft and water craft. The logic here was that these different vehicles do not use the traditional roadways. We also added one other key amendment. Currently, funds collected from our motor fuel taxes are deposited into the state's general fund. We adopted an amendment that creates a special fund within the DOT to collect the motor fuel taxes so that those can then be used for transportation projects.

This is a good bill because it addresses our transportation needs on a regional basis rather than attempt a 'one size fitsall' solution. This is a better solution because our rural communities have different priorities than Metro Atlanta and we are empowering every corner of the state to address their own needs. We have also put the power of taxation directly in the hands of the taxpayers! This bill gives those who would pay the tax the voice to decide if they want to pay the tax.

With the Fiscal Year 2008 Amended Budget now behind us, we are completing our work on the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget. The Senate has adopted a version of this that differs from what the House passed. The Senate has refused to fund the additional $10 million needed for equalization grants for our schools, cut $35 million from the money we included to reduce the austerity cuts to education, added an additional $48 million in bonded debt above the limit the state is allowed to hold, raided $16 million from the state's reserve fund for the State Health Benefit Plan, and eliminated the pay raises for our correctional officers.The House has unanimously disagreed with these changes and a conference committee has been appointed to work out those differences.

Our work here will be completed on Friday, April 4th. In our final days, we will finalize the FY09 budget, hopefully reach an agreement with the Senate on a tax cut, and still be home to spend Spring Break with our families.

I will continue to keep you up to date on our actions as the legislative session progresses. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at my Capitol office.I look forward to hearing from you soon.

(Representative Mickey Channell represents Greene, Putnam, Oglethorpe and Wilkes counties. During the Session he may be contacted at: 401 State Capitol; Atlanta, GA 30334. Office:404-656-7855.