HB381: HB381 Lower Chattahoochee Regional Transportation Authority; add Clay, Marion, and Webster counties

The Lower Chattahoochee Regional Transportation Authority was created in 2012 to let a group of counties in that part of Georgia jointly own, operate, and fund transportation projects, including issuing revenue bonds. This bill amends that original authorizing law to formally add Clay, Marion, and Webster counties to the authority, joining Harris, Quitman, Randolph, Stewart counties and the Unified Government of Cusseta-Chattahoochee. The bill rewrites several sections of the founding Act so the new counties are named everywhere the old member counties were listed. It updates how members are appointed to the authority's board, confirms that authority bonds do not count as debt of any member county, extends the authority's tort immunity (legal protection from certain lawsuits) to cover the new counties, and clarifies that the Act does not strip any county or city of its existing power to run transportation projects on its own.

• Adds Clay, Marion, and Webster counties as members of the Lower Chattahoochee Regional Transportation Authority alongside the existing member counties.
• Revises Section 2 to set the authority's membership at 15 members, with two appointed by each of the eight member governments and a 15th chosen by the other 14.
• Revises Section 13 to state that authority revenue bonds are not a debt of Clay, Marion, Webster, or any other member county and do not obligate them to tax or pay for the bonds.
• Revises Section 25 to extend the authority's and its officers' tort immunity (protection from certain lawsuits) to match that of all member counties, including the newly added ones.
• Revises Section 27 to confirm the Act does not remove any member county's or municipality's existing power to run its own transportation projects or issue its own revenue bonds.

The county governments of Clay, Marion, and Webster, which gain seats on the regional transportation authority; the existing member counties (Harris, Quitman, Randolph, Stewart) and the Unified Government of Cusseta-Chattahoochee; and residents and municipalities within all these counties whose transportation projects may be handled by the authority.

By joining the authority, Clay, Marion, and Webster counties gain a formal role in regional transportation planning and bonding, including appointing board members, while keeping their own taxing power separate from the authority's bond debt and preserving their existing rights to run local transportation projects independently.

• Section 1 revises Section 2(b) of the original Act to expand the authority to 15 members, two appointed by each of the eight member governments including Clay, Marion, and Webster, plus one member chosen by the other 14.
• Section 2 revises Section 13 to state revenue bonds issued by the authority are not a debt or credit pledge of any member county, including the three newly added counties.
• Section 3 revises Section 25 to give the authority and its staff the same tort immunity as the member counties, extending that protection to Clay, Marion, and Webster.
• Section 4 revises Section 27 to clarify the Act does not take away any member county's or municipality's authority to own, operate, or fund its own transportation projects.
• Section 5 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-05-13Effective Date 2025-05-13
2. 2025-05-13Act 139
3. 2025-05-13House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-07House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-03-18Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2025-03-18Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
7. 2025-02-24Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
8. 2025-02-21House Passed/Adopted (House)

• Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)Primary sponsor
• Mike Cheokas (R, HD-151)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 21, 2025

   170 yea, 0 nay (7 not voting, 3 absent)

   Local Calendar : House Vote #58

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 18, 2025

   51 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)

   Local Consent Calendar: Senate Vote #235

• regional transportation authority
• county government
• Chattahoochee region
• local government law
• transportation funding