Lt. Governor Casey Cagle Applauds Senate Passage of TSPLOST Bill

Lt. Governor Casey Cagle released the following statement today following the State Senate’s passage of S.B. 39 and S.R. 44, Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) resolution and enabling legislation, which will bring a funding solution to the transportation needs of our state.

“The Senate’s strong approval of the TSPLOST bill will move our transportation needs forward by allowing Georgians to decide how they want their transportation dollars spent.  I am proud of Transportation Chairman Jeff Mullis and Senate leadership for once again taking the lead on this issue and working to pass this bill with bi-partisan support early in the session. 

“Our statewide, regional approach is a flexible and optional solution for Georgia allowing for true local input and influence of transportation projects.  Just as our state has many diverse transportation needs, a funding mechanism should respect the diverse regional needs.  We have waited long enough to address our state’s transportation infrastructure and we look forward to putting this before Georgia voters for their input,” concluded Cagle.

The bill creates only one defined 10-county region in Metro Atlanta while the rest of the state can either move forward as a single county or band together voluntarily with two or more counties to meet regional transportation needs. After regional districts select a project list, and local governments decide to move forward, the vote would then go before the local citizens in the next election available for SPLOST.  Should voters approve the funding, this plan would generate up to $850 million annually in Metro Atlanta and up to $1.2 billion annually for the entire state.