HR1951: HR1951 House Study Committee on MARTA Governance, Financial Accountability, and Regional Transit Oversight; create

This resolution creates the House Study Committee on MARTA Governance, Financial Accountability, and Regional Transit Oversight. It responds to MARTA's request to extend its penny sales and use tax collection from 2057 to 2067 and to falling ridership, which the resolution says sits at 50 to 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels. The committee would include five House members appointed by the Speaker, four citizen members from DeKalb, Fulton, and Clayton counties and the City of Atlanta, plus representatives of the Atlanta-region Transit Link 'ATL' Authority, MARTA, and the Atlanta Regional Commission. It would study MARTA's governance under the MARTA Act, financial reporting, debt, sales tax revenue use, external audits, capital project delivery, and long-term financial sustainability. The committee must file any report before it is abolished on December 1, 2026, and legislative members receive standard expense allowances under Georgia law.

• Creates the House Study Committee on MARTA Governance, Financial Accountability, and Regional Transit Oversight to examine MARTA's operations and finances.
• Sets committee membership at five House members, four citizen members from the four MARTA jurisdictions, and representatives from the ATL Authority, MARTA, and the Atlanta Regional Commission.
• Directs the committee to study 12 specific issues, including MARTA debt restructuring, sales tax revenue allocation, audits of executive pay and contracts, and capital project delivery.
• Authorizes the committee to recommend legislation or other action based on its findings.
• Sets legislator and citizen member expense allowances under O.C.G.A. §§ 28-1-8 and 45-7-21, capped at five paid days unless extended.
• Abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026, requiring any report to be filed and approved before that date.

MARTA riders and taxpayers in DeKalb, Fulton, and Clayton counties and the City of Atlanta; MARTA's leadership and board; the Atlanta-region Transit Link 'ATL' Authority; the Atlanta Regional Commission; and House members and citizen appointees who would serve on the study committee.

The committee's findings could shape future legislation on whether MARTA's sales tax extends to 2067, how its debt and capital projects are managed, and what new audit or reporting rules apply, affecting transit funding and oversight across metro Atlanta.

• Paragraph (1) creates the House Study Committee on MARTA Governance, Financial Accountability, and Regional Transit Oversight.
• Paragraph (2) sets membership: five House members and four citizens appointed by the Speaker, plus designees from the ATL Authority, MARTA, and the Atlanta Regional Commission.
• Paragraph (3) directs the committee to study MARTA's conditions and problems, including the 12 issues listed in the resolution's preamble, and recommend legislation.
• Paragraph (5) sets expense allowances for legislative, state official, and citizen committee members, capped at five paid days absent further authorization.
• Paragraph (6) requires any committee report to be approved by majority vote and filed with the Clerk of the House before the committee is abolished.
• Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026.

1. 2026-04-02House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-31House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-27House Hopper (House)

• Long Tran (D, HD-080)Primary sponsor
• Karla Drenner (D, HD-085)
• Deborah Silcox (R, HD-053)
• Shea Roberts (D, HD-052)
• Omari Crawford (D, HD-089)

• MARTA
• public transit
• transit funding
• government oversight
• sales tax