(rshsdepot) Atlanta, GA

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Funds proposed for transit station
$2.6 million is put in midyear budget

By DAVID GOLDBERG
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

For the first time since it was proposed a decade ago, a multimodal transit
station planned for downtown Atlanta would receive state funding under a
midyear budget adopted Wednesday by a key state House committee.

Although House leaders called the $2.6 million for the train and bus station
the most controversial item in their budget talks, it was hardly the only
area of contention in this year of recessionary budget making. To add their
own priorities to Gov. Roy Barnes' recommendations while keeping a lid on
spending, House members horse-traded among themselves while carving out some
of Barnes' projects.

The full House is expected to consider the budget today.

"This has not been an easy process," said Rep. Terry Coleman (D-Eastman),
chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

The spending bill would add a relatively modest $21 million to the
governor's proposed $1.4 billion construction package, to be funded with
bond debt. The annual loan payments for that package would grow by about
$2.75 million, said House Majority Leader Larry Walker, who presented the
budget proposal to the Appropriations Committee.

The midyear budget adjustment is traditionally the best opportunity for
legislators to earmark money for "special projects" that benefit their
districts back home --- sometimes labeled "pork barrel" spending. House
leaders had vowed that there would be "virtually no special projects" in
their budget, and under the narrowest definition that goal was largely
realized.

The House did add $38 million in bonds for construction projects at several
rural technical colleges. Among them was a $10.6 million campus extension
for the Georgia Aviation Technical College in Coleman's hometown, Eastman.

"They're all on the state priority list," Coleman said of the projects. He
said the Eastman campus had been inadvertently skipped over in previous
budgets.

The House budget also includes an additional $21.3 million for facilities at
six colleges and $3.3 million for libraries in Berrien, Telfair, Toombs and
Wheeler counties. Rep. Charlie Smith (D-St. Marys), the governor's floor
leader, earmarked $250,000 to relocate boat ramps away from a city
waterfront park in his hometown.

House leaders cut some local projects, too, including $14.5 million for the
Yahoola Creek reservoir and recreational area near Dahlonega, which had been
recommended by Barnes. Also removed was $3.3 million to expand the golf
course at Gordonia Altamaha State Park in Reidsville. House Speaker Tom
Murphy had insisted that the project be deferred, Walker said.

"It probably would not look good when we've had to cut so many areas to
build a golf course," Walker said.

Indeed, advocates for the uninsured had noted that the cost of the golf
course exceeded the $2.1 million needed to extend health care coverage to
5,000 children of state employees who can't afford insurance but earn too
much to qualify for Medicaid. Barnes cut that from his recommendation; the
money was restored by a House subcommittee, but eliminated again later.

The money for the multimodal station in Atlanta nearly met the same fate.
While the governor recommended the $2.6 million for the project's first
phase, House Speaker Tom Murphy, a consistent skeptic on rail projects,
urged that it be taken out. After protests from the Legislative Black Caucus
and lawmakers from Fulton and DeKalb counties, the money was restored, with
the stipulation that it be used to acquire right of way and not for any
construction.

The state money is expected to leverage a much larger sum from Congress,
which earmarked funds for the station several years ago.

Located adjacent to MARTA's Five Points station, the multimodal terminal
would serve as the nexus of suburb-to-city commuter rail, express and
intercity buses and MARTA's bus and rapid rail service.

In addition, the House proposal:


Adds $5 million to provide grants to rural hospitals for equipment and
infrastructure;

Restores $250,000 in start-up funding for health centers for migrant workers
and other low-income residents;

Restores $600,000 to the Babies Born Healthy program to provide prenatal
care to low income mothers;

Restores $150,000 to fund Life Flight helicopters, which serve rural areas;

Eliminates $873,354 in additional funding to cover the increased cost of
vaccinations for uninsured children;

Cuts in half $1 million in proposed additional funding for legal
representation for indigent defendants.
After the House adopts its budget bill, the Senate will take up its version
of the midyear budget.

------------------------------