A bill that could pave the way for a major expansion of road and rail funding cleared a Georgia House committee Thursday.
House Bill 617 would create a new Georgia Freight 2050 Program to address highway widenings, interchange improvements, rail crossings and other improvements needed to keep freight moving. The bill would create a budget fund but does not contain any funding for those improvements.
Lawmakers have been discussing how to pay for them, but it’s unclear whether they will propose a funding measure this session.
Two years ago, a legislative committee recommended Georgia spend an additional $1 billion to $1.5 billion a year to address freight transportation needs. The committee’s report said the money could come from a variety of sources, including transportation user fees, levies on home-delivered packages, new fuel taxes and assessments on warehouse and distribution facilities.
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