WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE REPORT—March 7, 2008
Assault on local control dooms Speaker’s tax plan
By Rep. Hugh Floyd
Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson has talked for nearly a year about an ambitious plan to eliminate property taxes in Georgia. When his original proposal was exposed as a tax shift to 175 new sales and use taxes, he trimmed down the legislation to only a removal of ad valorem taxes on vehicles.
But in the end, the speaker’s effort failed because of a provision that was a problem throughout the discussion: the plan’s seizure of control from cities, counties and school boards to meet their communities’ needs.
SR 796, the proposed constitutional amendment that the speaker was using to push his proposal, failed to receive the necessary two-thirds majority when the House of Representatives voted on the measure Wednesday. The legislation would have artificially capped assessments and property tax revenues without any regard for local needs or resources. The authority of locally elected officials to make local decisions would have been severely restricted.
While I applaud the sentiment of bringing any form of tax relief to Georgians, it must be done in a more responsible manner than this proposal. For example, schools could have been forced to halt bus service, school nurse programs and other critical departments under the revenue cap provision.
The Georgia Association of Educators, the Georgia PTA, Georgia AARP, state School Boards Association, Superintendents Association, Georgia Municipal Association, the Association of County Commissioners in Georgia and many other representative groups were opposed to this measure.
House members voted to approve HB 1209 on Wednesday. The “Investing in Educational Excellence” Act is designed to give local school systems more flexibility in the expenditure of state funding, in exchange for more accountability in reaching academic standards.
The proposal would relieve local schools of certain mandates and allow systems to apply creative solutions, while being held accountable for student achievement.
HB 1209 now goes to the Senate for its consideration.
The House approved two more water-related measures Tuesday. HB 1226 would help speed up the permitting process for constructing and securing funding for reservoirs. New reservoirs would have to comply with the new statewide water management plan, and inter-basin and intra-basin water transfers would be strictly regulated under the legislation.
HB 1281 would allow cities and counties, if they get permission from the state Environmental Protection Division, to back off water restrictions set by the state but prevents local governments from imposing water restrictions that are stronger than the state’s.
Other legislation approved by the House and sent to the Senate this week includes:
HB 1100, which would offer motion picture, television and video game producers up to a 20 percent income tax credit if they spend at least $500,000 on production in our state and include a Georgia logo in the final credits of the presentation.
HB 1245, which would impose new controls over costs associated with the state’s indigent defense system and would require that death penalty cases be heard by active Superior Court judges rather than senior judges.
HR 1276, which calls for a constitutional amendment to give forest owners a property tax break of up to 50 percent if they leave their land undeveloped.
HB 1217, which would require home inspectors to be licensed by the state and create a related licensing board.
HB 1286, which would require that Veterans Day be observed as a school holiday in Georgia.
HB 336, which would increase the penalties for drunk drivers and establish a felony DUI offense upon a fourth conviction.
On Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending and participating in the Gwinnett Village Community Alliance Kick Off Party at Lucky Shoals Park. As a longtime supporter of the Gwinnett Village CID effort, I would not have missed this event, which started at 2 p.m. and lasted until 4 p.m. I look forward to continue working closely with the Gwinnett Village leaders in active participation and support of all community activities.
- Rep. Hugh Floyd (D-Norcross) represents the 99th District (Gwinnett County) in the Georgia House of Representatives. Contact him at 611 Coverdell Office Building, Atlanta, GA 30334; by phone at 404-656-0314 or by e-mail at hughfloyd@mindspring.com.
