State. Rep. Rashad Taylor urges Perdue take action on MARTA

Gov. Sonny Perdue said earlier today he’d like to avoid a special legislative session to reconsider a bill that would give cash-strapped MARTA more control over its main source of revenue.

Well, State Rep. Rashad Taylor, D-Atlanta, has offered the governor another option. The freshman lawmaker today wrote Perdue urging him to issue an executive order to help MARTA. (Click here to view the letter.)

“Because of the House’s failure to pass SB 120, Metro Atlantans are now looking to you for leadership on this issue,” Taylor wrote. “If the law will allow, I urge you to issue an Executive Order suspending the capital reserve restrictions that currently tie MARTA’s hands. If you are unable to do this by Executive Order, I ask that you call a special session of the Legislature so that we can pass legislation that will give MARTA access to its capital reserves. We must do better for the capital city and for the citizens who rely on public transit to work for Georgia’s present and future.”

Taylor, who serves on the House MARTA Oversight Committee, will join other lawmakers tomorrow for a press conference about the issue at 2 p.m at downtown’s Five Points MARTA station.