Perdue signs transportation funding bill, everything will be OK

Rejoice! Gov. Sonny Perdue didn’t pull one of his trademark, wacky tricks and suddenly veto the one transportation funding bill that — after many bungled attempts — lawmakers were finally able to pass out of the Gold Dome. Surrounded by elected officials, Perdue put the pen to the paper today and made an honest piece of legislation out of House Bill 277.

If you’re not familiar with HB 277, here’s the gist: The state will be divided into 12 regions. When voters go to the polls for the 2012 presidential primary, they’ll see a list of transportation projects within that region. They’ll decide whether they want to pay a penny sales tax to fund those projects. If approved, all money collected within the region would stay in the region. In metro Atlanta, the tax could generate an estimated $750 million each year.

Yes, yes, the legislation has several pesky provisions, especially when it comes to transit. None of the new cash generated by the tax can be used toward “existing” MARTA projects. Since the tax has a 10-year sunset, it might be difficult to woo federal funding for expensive rail projects. (The feds usually want to know that local jurisdictions can fund the projects for 20 years.) And MARTA’s “handcuffs” — the 50-50 funding restriction that requires half its revenues be spent on operations, the other on expansion — were merely loosened, not “removed” as the legislation’s supporters like to say. The cash freed up by a three-year exemption in the bill can’t be used on employee salary increases, which has led MARTA’s board to openly worry about maintaining skilled employees.

But as Mayor Kasim Reed said, it’s a start. And just think: Voters have to endure two more legislative sessions — and welcome a new governor — before they even head to the polls in 2012. Who knows what kind of shenanigans and amendments we could see between now and then?