Wednesday, August 01, 2012
Will Generate Over $1.8 Billion in Transportation Investment
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce and its affiliate, the Georgia Transportation Alliance, congratulate voters in the Central Savannah River Area, Heart of Georgia and River Valley regions for passing the regional transportation referendum. Collectively, the regions are projected to raise over $1.8 billion to fund much needed local transportation projects that will create jobs and fuel economic recovery.
“We commend the voters in these regions for their willingness to invest in their own future,” said Chris Clark, president of the Georgia Chamber. “This decision will allow them to move forward with much-needed transportation projects that will create jobs and attract new economic investment at a time when it is needed the most. We want to especially thank our local chamber partners for all they did to lead this effort throughout the state and the donors whose financial support made it possible for us to conduct a meaningful campaign.”
The Georgia Chamber and Georgia Transportation Alliance formed the Connect Georgia campaign last year to support regional leaders and local chambers of commerce in their efforts to pass the referendum. The bi-partisan effort included an aggressive grassroots strategy as well as direct voter contact in each of the eleven economic development regions outside of metro Atlanta.
“We knew from the beginning that this would be a difficult referendum to pass,” continued Clark. “We were asking voters to agree to a tax increase at a time when we are all still recovering from the recent recession - and we didn’t need polling to tell us that there is unfortunately a high level of skepticism of government at every level. That said, we still believe that investing in transportation is the right thing to do for our state’s future. We look forward to seeing the positive results of the referendum in those regions that passed and to working with elected and business leaders throughout the state to continue to plan for our future.”
