Transportation funding responsibility in Georgia just went regional.

Both chambers of the General Assembly approved a conference committee report Wednesday night that calls for each of the state’s 12 districts to vote on levying a 1-cent sales tax to pay for a package of projects in the district.

State Sen. Preston Smith, R-Rome, was one of six conferees charged with hammering out the mechanism, which would pull the projects from the statewide transportation plan.

“This bill gives more control to Georgia citizens to have actual input on transportation decisions than they’ve ever had before,” he said in a speech before the vote.

Opponents said it would hurt rural districts that won’t have the revenue or clout to net major projects.

“I just have a concern about those counties that could be outvoted and underfunded,” said state Rep. Barbara Massey Reece, D-Menlo.

Floyd County is part of the 15-county Northwest Georgia Regional Commission district that stretches northeast past Ellijay and south to Tallapoosa. Reece said Floyd, Bartow, Whitfield and Paulding together contain 49.9 percent of the district’s registered voters.

In other actions:

The House passed an ethics reform package late Wednesday and immediately sent it to the Senate, where it was expected to be adopted with little opposition.

Reece and state Rep. Rick Crawford, D-Cedartown, expressed disappointment the bill contained no restrictions on gifts from lobbyists to legislators.

It does beef up reporting requirements and increases penalties for violations.

The Senate approved legislation that stops cities and counties from requiring sprinkler systems in residential structures with fewer than three units.

Rome’s Downtown Development Authority has been considering such a requirement for the residential units above businesses on Broad Street, where a fire could potentially spread to every building on a block.

Supporters of the bill cited a drop in residential fire deaths, along with the Georgia Homebuilders Association’s fear that sprinklers would make houses more expensive and depress the market.

Opponents said HB 1196 would interfere with local control and goes against the wishes of numerous firefighters’ associations. Smith voted in favor of the legislation.

The bill has already passed the House with the support of state Reps. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, and Reece. Floyd County’s fifth delegate, state Rep. Rick Crawford, D-Cedartown, voted against it.

Dempsey’s HB 1179 also cleared its final hurdle Wednesday, with the House agreeing to a Senate substitute. The measure requires hospitals to offer annual flu shots to employees who come in contact with patients.

The House also passed Senate Resolution 822, which urges the Georgia Department of Transportation to seek a federal waiver to allow private retail developments in welcome centers along the interstates.

The hope is to add restaurants and other venues to serve travelers. State Transportation Board member David Doss of Rome has said a waiver allowing the GDOT to lease the spaces would provide a vital new revenue source.

The measure has already passed the Senate. All of Floyd County’s delegates supported the resolution.

Legislation instituting zero-based budgeting also passed the House, 151-0, with all of Floyd’s delegates supporting it. Smith voted in favor when it passed the Senate last year.

Senate Bill 1 requires at least a quarter of the state agencies and departments each year to present budgets that have been drawn from scratch instead of based on previous year spending. The agencies and departments will be selected on a rotating basis.