Campaign to begin for T-Splost support | News

ALBANY, GA - The grassroots campaign to pass the July 31 T-SPLOST begins Wednesday with the airing of a 30 second television ad featuring real Georgians who support the referendum that stands to invest more than a billion dollars in south Georgia.

“Passing the Transportation referendum is necessary for the Albany area, as well as the entire Southwest and Southern Georgia regions. Improving transportation will create an abundance of jobs in our region, from construction to the new industries we will attract,” said Winston Oxford, Executive Director of the Lee County Chamber of Commerce and Development Authority.

Connect Southwest Georgia will highlight the benefits of the transportation referendum through television ads, phone banks and direct mail to registered voters in the Southwest/Southern regions.

The Southwest region includes Calhoun, Colquitt, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Lee, Mitchell, Seminole, Terrell, Thomas and Worth counties. The Southern region includes Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Cook, Echols, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, Tift, Turner and Ware counties.

Here is the full press release from T-Splost Southwest/Southern Georgia Regional Campaign

The grassroots campaign to urge citizens in the south part of the state to pass the July 31          T-SPLOST begins today with the airing of a 30-second television ad featuring real Georgians who support the historic referendum that stands to invest more than a billion dollars in south Georgia. The ad will ask people in two transportation regions — Southwest Georgia and Southern Georgia — to vote yes on July 31.

The referendum will invest more than $670 million into the Southern region’s transportation network and support over 18,000 jobs. More than $530 million will be invested in the Southwest region’s transportation network and nearly 15,000 jobs will be supported.

“Passing the Transportation referendum is necessary for the Albany area, as well as the entire Southwest and Southern Georgia regions,” says Winston Oxford, Executive Director of the Lee County Chamber of Commerce and Development Authority. “Improving transportation will create an abundance of jobs in our region, from construction to the new industries we will attract.”

Governments and chambers of commerce from throughout the region have come out in support of the transportation referendum, or T-SPLOST. The grassroots campaign is funded by Connect Southwest and Connect Southern Georgia, made up of local Chambers who support T-SPLOST, plus Connect Georgia, the statewide advocacy campaign working with local leaders to promote the passage of the transportation referendum.

Leading up to the July 31 vote, Connect Georgia, Connect Southwest Georgia and Connect Southern Georgia will highlight the benefits of the transportation referendum through television ads, phone banks and direct mail to registered voters in the Southwest/Southern regions. The Southwest region includes Calhoun, Colquitt, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Lee, Mitchell, Seminole, Terrell, Thomas and Worth counties. The Southern region includes Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Cook, Echols, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, Tift, Turner and Ware counties.

Southwest and Southern Georgia are 2 of 12 transportation regions around the state that will vote on a 1-cent sales tax on July 31.

If approved, the sales tax will fund a list of transportation projects selected by local officials for the next 10 years.

All money raised by the sales tax in the Southwest and Southern regions can only be spent on local projects in the region it is raised in. No money raised can be spent in any other region of the state.

“Our region has to decide for itself whether or not to invest in the transportation referendum,” said Crissy Staley, Executive Director of the Berrien County Chamber of Commerce. “Southwest and Southern Georgia can’t afford not to pass this on July 31.”

To see the 30-second television ad featuring Georgians in support of T-SPLOST, click here. For more information, see www.ConnectGeorgia2012.com.