Transit tax legislation in limbo until there’s a state budget
As we surmised a couple of weeks ago, House Bill 148 — allowing Triangle counties to levy a 1/2-cent sales tax for transit — isn’t sailing through the Senate quite the way its proponents hoped it would. The bill is in the Senate Finance Committee, which was scheduled to talk about it today. But the bill was dropped from the agenda following the Senate Democrats’ caucus at mid-day. Sen. Josh Stein, D-Wake, said the the party consensus was to finish the state budget first, and see how much of a sales-tax increase that might entail, before taking up the transit-tax issue.
Stein and Rep. Deborah Ross, D-Wake, who shepherded the bill through the House, both expressed confidence that HB 148 will be enacted in this session. “We just need to keep talking about it and building the momentum,” Stein said.
Passage of HB 148 is critical to kick-starting mass transit in the Triangle.
But getting it passed won’t be simple. Continue reading »
