In a previous diary, I previewed the effort by state Republicans to untie the Gordian knot they've tied for themselves. On the one hand, beholden to corporate masters, they have to raise money to improve our state's broken transportation system. On the other hand, they are a philosophically bankrupt party that has preached taxes are evil like the devil - naturally, their base will tear them apart like rabid wolves if they even hint at raising taxes.
The first move by the Republicans was the release of a widely-publicized report. Based on that report, I expected the Republicans to go after their favorite target - the poor. But, wily as they are, just when you think they're going to zig, they zag.
Following up on the report, the House Republicans announced the outline of a plan! As House Majority Leader Larry O'Neal stated in words that should be etched in stone, "It's really not a sleight of hand."
I have to hand it to the House Republicans, they're crazy like a fox. All this time, I thought they would try to get the money from taxpayers. But why go through all the trouble of pissing off Republican voters, when you can just take it from Georgia's counties and schools instead? In what can only be a cynical ploy to hit those too afraid to hit back (witness the Cobb county chairman immediately walking back his criticism), the House plan is to plunder funds currently being used by the counties, cities, and school boards of Georgia. Yes, they found some big pockets to shove their hands into - including, as it turns out, their own. Stick with me.
Let me break this thing down right here. Under current law, when you buy a gallon of gas in Georgia, four different taxes come along for the ride:
1) A 7.5 cents (as in pennies) per gallon excise tax which is dedicated to the state Department of Transportation;
2) A 3% sales tax (yes, percent this time) which is also dedicated to DoT;
3) A 1% sales tax dedicated to the state general revenue fund (this is popularly known as "the fourth penny," even though that only makes sense if gas costs a dollar even)
4) A special local option sales tax (splost), which applies to all sales including fuel. Depending upon where you are, this goes anywhere from 1% to a high as 4%. Local voters choose what to spend the money on - schools, parks, libraries, new fire trucks, etc.
The Republicans have pitched to replace all that with a combination into one excise tax, indexed to inflation and CAFE standards. Hence they have described the 29.2 cent per gallon excise tax they've proposed as revenue-neutral and not a tax increase. (Tea Party Leaders do not seem convinced.) As the AJC, ever a Republican-organ if there were one, puts it, "The key to the new revenue is to convert the existing state and local sales tax on gasoline to a 29.2 cents-per-gallon excise tax that would increase with inflation."
Convert, you say? Local governments would be banned from collecting splost money from motor fuel, after the terms on existing splosts run out (the maximum term for a splost is five years). Afterward, the state of Georgia would be taking that money, thank you very much. Per the AJC, under this proposal, state school boards would lose out on $172 million per year. For all local governments, over half a billion dollars per year would be commandeered by the state. Who needs schools and libraries, anyway?
Poor and rural counties may be hit hardest by the proposed change. An early estimate is that the scamscheme could cost rural counties 5-10% of their current sales tax revenue. How do you fill up a hole like that? These are counties that have already cut to the bone. What choices do they have left? Take your pick - they can raise property taxes, raise emergency response times by further underfunding first responders, or maybe just raise the number of days school is closed because the teachers are furloughed.
The Republicans (and the press) have also completely ignored what impact taking away the "fourth-penny" would have on general revenues. But the "fourth-penny" adds up to over $180 million dollars a year. Question: How do you borrow $180 million dollars from yourself, and describe it as new revenue? Answer: Ask a Republican in the Georgia House. Don't expect a quick response, though - they've got to figure out where to hatchet out that much money. Do we really need a Public Safety Department?
By the way, let's go back to that report, released in the long-lost-mists-of-a-month-ago. That report stated, in bold, that Georgia needed a minimum of $1.0-$1.5 billion dollars of new investment for basic maintenance needs. The report itself described this as the amount needed to "merely preserve" our existing roads and bridges. The new plan unveiled by the Georgia House Republicans comes in shy of a billion dollars, not counting the transit bonds (more on that in a moment). The Republican brain trust's plan does not even provide enough money to "merely preserve" our existing roads and bridges - forget about making any improvements to the struggling system. If you think the roads are bad now, the Republicans have got a deal for you - they'll keep being just this bad.
Finally, much fanfare was made of the earlier report's bold language, when it stated " Funding is needed annually for investment in transit systems around the state and to assist in coordination of services between transit systems in metro regions. It is in the State of Georgia’s and numerous transit systems’ best interests to establish a separate, permanent funding stream for those interests." In a completely expected development, Georgia House Republicans completely failed to follow through on this sensible recommendation in their proposal. However, they would like you to pat them on the back for a $100 million one-time only bond package, recipients unknown, that they proposed for transit. It's bad enough to be force-fed gruel - I'm not about to say please and thank you for it.