House GOP Threw MARTA Under Itself
Decatur Metro | April 8, 2009CL’s Thomas Wheatley does some class-act digging and finally gets an answer to the question “What the hell happened to the MARTA bill?”
The beans-spiller was State Representative Ralph Long III, who informed Wheatley that the House GOP used MARTA as a “political football” in committee in an attempt to gain support for their unpopular property tax freeze bill. When Democrats still refused to back the bill, which would have royally screwed local gov’ts, the GOP tied up MARTA’s lifeline in committee.
Wheatley’s post is MUST READ for all the reasons stated above PLUS an alleged “Disney World” comment made by one GOP lawmaker regarding his level of concern for MARTA’s future.
And that’s not the end of it! Wheatley promises more later. My breath is officially bated.
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The stupid. It burns.
Are there any GOP people riding MARTA? If so, I would be interested to know your opinions about this kind of politics. If you don’t ride MARTA, probably you don’t care what happens to it.
Don’t forget the other influential contingent that definitely cares about MARTA: Atlanta big-wigs with a financial stake in the city’s reputation worldwide. I’m sure there are plenty of GOP folks in that group.
When it comes to a city’s competitive edge in attracting businesses and people Maiming public transportation is very bad PR. I’m guessing that’s one of the major reasons why you hear Sonny and Cagle saying things that sound almost supportive of MARTA.
Anyone who doesn’t support MARTA’s mission to provide safe, high quality public transportation, which I understand can be administered/executed unwisely sometimes, should forget about making or keeping Atlanta a great city and an economic drawing card for the state of Georgia. Look at all of the great cities of the world, and you will see the prominence of their outstanding public transportation systems. Look at the traffic problems in and around Atlanta and the outlandish projects and expenditures proposed to “solve” those problems, and you will surely see that the success of the MARTA system is a very big piece of the ultimate solution.
Carolyn raises a good point. I think there are plenty of GOPers on MARTA, but most of them likely live in districts that vote heavily Democrat, so why would the statewide party care?
That’s the question that’s been bugging me throughout this debate. If I’m Representative Smith from Smithville, why should I care what happens to MARTA? I realize that economically MARTA helps Atlanta and Atlanta helps the state, but the relationship isn’t really all that direct or easy to see. We keep hearing that a ‘world class’ city needs quliaty transport, but what is the obvious benefit for the rest of the state, other than being able to say ‘look, this sure is a world-class city’ every time they drive in for a Braves game or to visit the aquarium?
One of the things that MARTA advocates keep pointing out is the potential lack of convention business if there are cutbacks. Not sure how grounded in reality that claim is, but let’s go with it. If I’m a rep from outside Atlanta, How does having a convention in Atlanta help me if I live in Columbus or Valdosta? Answer: it doesn’t, really. Sure, the state gets a little more tax $$ from the conventioners and so that might keep my taxes a bit lower, but that relationship isn’t automatically clear to the avg Joe.
My point is that, while I hope the powers-that-be will get this worked out before this fall, I’m having a hard time getting up in arms with the non-Atlanta folks over this topic. We went through the same hyped-up drama every year in Chicago (and I’m sure it still goes on today) where the CTA would swear that it couldn’t last another day, and then they or the legislature would find some funds and everything would be ‘OK’.
Finally, let’s not forget that some cities have it just as bad (LA) or worse and are still considered world-class. Of course, I wouldn’t want to live their either.
It’s the old “Two Georgias” problem again. The City of Atlanta vs. the mostly non-urban rest of the state.
As a fairly Conservative (and therefore generally pro- more local control in government) rider of Marta, I nonetheless think that the state has a vested interest in funding Marta – for commerce, congestion, tourism, all the points already made. Just like Grady Hospital, there are more people who benefit than those in the Atlanta counties that fund it.
The thing just can’t fly without control over its own budget – the historical 50-50 split is silly. And I’d even say it needs (some) income from a statewide, tax-funded Transportation Authority.
If state legislators are going to continue the Us vs. the Big-City Liberals thing, or the Us vs. Redneck Rubes thing, the problem is intractable. Witness the sales tax debate this session over whether highway funds will be controlled regionally or statewide.
And to address Robbie C, currently Marta gets no state funding for operations that I’m aware of. At least the CTA gets money from its state legislature. It’s oft-repeated (so it must be true) that Marta’s the largest system in the country that gets no state money at all.
Here’s my suggestion for MARTA – use the 50% of funding designated for capital projects to buy/build billboards around metro Atlanta. Paint them with Anti-Republican ads. Charge exorbitant prices to Republicans who want to take the ads down and use the space for pro-Republican ads.
Funding problem solved.
Editorial in 4/9/09 AJC
Legislature, we’ve got your number
Thursday, April 09, 2009
The Legislature has skipped town like some fly-by-night contractor with your money in his pocket. It didn’t matter that the job was half-finished, that they left an absolute mess.
They don’t care.
They don’t care that they left MARTA facing a serious financial crisis, that they once again left metro Atlanta without resources to deal with its ever-worsening traffic problem. They just don’t care.
Eight years ago, five years ago or maybe even as late as 2008, that conclusion might have seemed a bit harsh. But after watching our leaders once again do nothing to address such serious problems, no other explanation is plausible. They don’t care.
Oh, being “leaders,” they do care about some things. They care about the petty power struggles by which they define whether they personally won or lost. And yes, many from other parts of the state care about how much milk they can squeeze from the cash cow called metro Atlanta — according to a recent study by Georgia State University, metro Atlanta is already being squeezed so hard it gets just 72.5 cents in services for each tax dollar it generates.
Unfortunately, too many in the Legislature have forgotten the first rule of farming: If you don’t feed the cow, the cow won’t feed you. And the cow is starving.
For decades, Georgia has had one of the country’s lowest gasoline taxes. Are state leaders even contemplating raising that tax to help Atlanta meet its needs?
Nope.
The state constitution requires that gas-tax revenue be used only on roads and bridges, which means metro Atlanta is barred from using those funds to build the transit it needs to handle growth. Have state leaders even talked about trying to change that?
No.
MARTA is the only major transit system in the country that doesn’t get a dime from state government for operations. Is there any hope of MARTA tapping general tax funds, as legislators already do to fund rural road projects?
No again.
Then there’s the regional transportation tax championed by metro business and political leaders. Would state leaders at least let metro residents vote on whether to tax themselves for transportation?
Once again, no.
Or how about commuter rail? It’s been promised for years, and $87 million in federal money reserved for that purpose still sits untouched and may soon disappear. A year ago, even Gov. Sonny Perdue pledged strong support for rail. Has that translated into any action of any sort?
You know the answer: No.
The worst involves MARTA. It has tens of millions of dollars of its own money in a capital account that it can’t legally tap. With its revenue from sales tax collections plummeting, the agency will have to cut operations severely unless that law is changed. Did legislators deign to make even that minor fix, a fix that would cost the state nothing? No.
This is unacceptable. The General Assembly ought to be hauled back to Atlanta in a special session and asked to do its job. But that will happen only if metro residents insist on action from the officials they elect to represent them.
So let’s call some of them by name:
• Lt. Gov. CaseyCagle, the governor wannabe: Does he expect to get votes and campaign money from metro Atlanta? Call him up and ask him at 404-656-5030.
• Earl Ehrhart of Cobb County, chairman of the House Rules Committee: Is he going to fight for his metro Atlanta constituents stuck in traffic, or is he pugnacious only in pursuit of his own personal political power? Call 404-656-5141 and ask him.
• How about Gov. SonnyPerdue, for whom transportation represents a last chance at a legacy: Will he take a leadership role, or will he be happy to just go fish? Find out at 404-656-1776.
• House Speaker pro tem Mark Burkhalter of Johns Creek: Call him at 404-656-5072 and ask him if doing nothing is really OK.
• And House Speaker Glenn Richardson of Paulding County, who blocked a regional sales tax vote and cavalierly ignored the pleas of MARTA: In 2008, he spoke with such apparent sincerity about the frustration of being stuck in traffic, unable to reach his son’s Little League game. What’s Mr. Speaker going to do? Ask him at 404-656-5020.
• Or Jan Jones of Alpharetta, the House majority whip. Her office number is 404-656-5024. Is traffic not an issue for the people of Alpharetta?
• Is it an issue in Dacula, represented by Donna Sheldon, vice chairman of the House Transportation Committee, at 404-656-5025? How about in Snellville, home of Don Balfour, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee at 404-656-0095?
These are influential metro legislators, people in the majority party who exercise real power.
If you’re mad, tell them about it. Because it seems to me the people of the metro area face three basic choices:
• They can do nothing, and continue to sit in traffic each day and fume.
• They can demand and get corrective action from the people they have elected.
• They can pack up the moving vans and go someplace where leaders actually care about doing their job.
Exactly…
The fat cats are pissed,
and that will make all the difference.
Great post…I had missed this article, but then there’s not much reason to check the AJC for actual news.
Folks, let’s get those phone lines busy.
Precisely, DM.
The only way to get those rural district people to care, since none of this directly impacts their districts, is to go after their fundraising. And if the fat cats in Atlanta are pissed (and hopefully they are), then they can ‘communicate’ their concerns to legislators in a much more effective manner than any of us.
BTW, I’m always amazed at how this is seen as a Republican vs Democrat issue by some on this board. While clearly the GOP (dropped? fumbled? punted?) the ball on this one, do you really think the outcome would be any different if the reps were Democrats? If I’m a legislator then my job is to represent the interests of my district – and if MARTA is 200 miles from home then it’s always going to be a tough sell to get me on board, regardless of political affiliation.
Yeah Robbie, but there was nothing that needed to be sold. It wasn’t going to cost your constituents one dime to keep MARTA going.
Please tell me why the MARTA can’t raise their rates? It’s my understanding that they have not raised rates since 2001. If MARTA is as critical as it is being made out to be, people wanting the service they will pay to use it.
MARTA accessing it’s capital fund to me seems like a short term solution.
Well, Robbie…I UNDERSTAND your post and agree. So, so sick and tired of the us vs. them approach to problem solving that is rampant everywhere, and Decatur is no exception.
THere is no quicker way to turn ME off of your cause that to start throwing around the “those Repubs” or Those Dem’s”.
Blame is a childrens game.
I think state funding should be allocated according to population, i.e., number of people served. Thus, the Atlanta area should receive MUCH more funding to serve the number of people who live and/or work in and near Atlanta. This includes public transportation (MARTA), of course. Don’t we pay our share of taxes? Why should we be taxed without the incentive of receiving our fair share of those tax revenues? “The two Georgias” – it is pretty much the status quo way of governing in states whose legislatures are dominated by the rural representatives. The rural representatives fail to see the “connection” between a prosperous and well-serviced Atlanta and their own small towns and districts. Somehow, this relevance must be demonstrated to them. Without employed and employable people in Atlanta, much MUCH of the state revenues would dry up and then there would be even less to “go around.” They should consider whether or not they are killing the goose that lays the golden eggs when they withhold deserved and necessary funding from Atlanta’s infrastructure and services.
Here’s what some other places are doing while Georgia has its head in the sand:
http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/freshloaf/2009/04/09/transit-other-cities-build-while-atlanta-rots/
And, someone took Jay Bookman’s advice and tried calling some heads at the Gold Dome. Here’s the result:
http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2009/04/09/meet-i-dont-know-i-dont-care-its-someone-elses-fault/
Creative Loafing excerpt: “Even during the nation’s current economic disaster, other metro areas are growing and improving their mass transit networks.
Meanwhile Atlanta’s economy is held hostage by the city-hatin’, parochial idiots who run the state government.”
I’m glad people are waking up to this. Perdue and his clan are a big part of the problem. Who are these people and what type of society created them? Yuck. They are like walking human caricatures. Its bizarre.
“currently Marta gets no state funding for operations that I’m aware of” – that is a correct statement, and MARTA stands alone among major transit agencies in that regard. “(so it must be true)” – The statement is in fact true.
They will be raising rates, but it isn’t enough. Plus when you raise rates, ridership drops – so its not all profit.
From what I’ve seen, MARTA is trying hard to solve its long-term budget shortfall under new governance. But like everyone else, they’re deeply affected by this recession since they’re mainly funded by a 1-cent DeKalb and Fulton sales tax. Its a temporary solution because the immediate shortfall is due to a (hopefully) temporary recession.
Making it a pure “if people want it they will pay for it argument” ignores the fact that government subsidies have favored highways and sprawl for over 50 years. Like everything else, the “free market” isn’t nearly as “free” as we think it is.