Money for transportation funding will again be a hot topic when lawmakers meet next month. And already battle lines are being defined over how to fund new projects.

For two years, metro-Atlanta leaders failed to convince the legislature to pass a regional one penny transportation tax. They say it's needed to relieve gridlock around Atlanta.

Last week House majority leader Jerry Keene said house members are drafting a plan to revive some form of a regional sales tax.

That worries state transportation leaders like chairman of the DOT board Bill Kuhlke. He says communities outside metro-Atlanta would be left without transportation dollars.

"I’m probably more inclined to be supportive of a statewide T-splost, then I am a regional part of it. That way it gives us the resources to go throughout the state to help local governments."

Kuhlke and other board members voiced their concerns in a meeting Wednesday where they outlined the DOT’s agenda for the upcoming legislative session.

Tags: Department of Transportation, Transportation funding, GaDOT, Atlanta gridlock, Atlanta transportation, Bill Kuhlke, House Majority Leader Jerry Keene