Sen. Beach Appointed To Transportation Funding Study Committee

Staff Report

Georgia State Senator Brandon Beach of Alpharetta has been selected to serve on the Joint Study Committee on Critical Transportation Infrastructure Funding. 

The committee will meet throughout the summer and fall to study new sources and methods of funding transportation projects that are needed to allow the transportation systems in Georgia to keep up with the needs of the population. 

“As Georgia remains the economic powerhouse for the southeast, it is vital that we provide the adequate infrastructure to sustain and continue our growth,” the Republican Senator said. “Transportation is a vital necessity of a state’s competitiveness; it provides goods and services to people across the state and provides a means of getting people to work, school and healthcare facilities.  I look forward to meeting alongside my fellow senators and House members to study funding mechanisms that will benefit our state’s economic status, but most importantly, our citizens.” 

Sen. Beach has a long standing track-record of success with transportation and infrastructure initiatives. While chairman of the Public Private Partnership Committee, he was able to acquire key local transportation projects approved for Cherokee and North Fulton. 

In 2008, Sen. Beach was elected to the board of the Georgia Department of Transportation by state legislators from the 6th Congressional District. In 2001, Governor Sonny Perdue appointed Sen. Beach to the board of Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA), and in 2008, he was selected to chair one of GRTA’s most important committees: The Land Development Committee (formerly the Development of Regional Impact Committee). In this role, Sen. Beach was responsible for leading a review of every significant development brought before the 16-county area that GRTA serves.

The committee was created by House Resolution 1573 during the 2014 legislative session. As stated in the resolution, the committee will be composed of 16 members including senators, representatives and interested stakeholders from private organizations such as the Georgia Chamber, the Metro-Atlanta Chamber, ACCG and GMA. 

HR 1573 also states that the House and Senate Transportation Committee Chairman will serve as the co-chairman of the study committee. The Lt. Governor’s citizen appointee will be Steve Green of Savannah who previously served as Chairman of the Georgia Ports Authority and Chairman of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. 

The committee will report its findings and submit a final report no later than Nov. 30, 2014.