WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE REPORT - April 4, 2009
Lack of leadership dooms transportation solution
For the second year in a row, Georgia legislators left the State Capitol at the end of the 2009 session of the General Assembly on Friday without agreeing on sufficiently funding a transportation system that has failed to keep up with the state's growing population.
Although the House of Representatives and Senate had staked out their respective positions on a one- cent sales tax plan early in the session, the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker failed to negotiate a compromise because they were too busy strong-arming lawmakers on separate legislation to expand their own power over transportation revenues and road-building priorities.
SB 200 was passed in the House on Wednesday by the slimmest of margins, with the speaker casting the deciding vote after he allowed an extraordinary amount of time for Republican leaders to convince their members to switch their votes in favor of the so- called governance bill. The Senate gave final passage to SB 200 on a party-line vote under extreme pressure from the majority leadership.
The power-grab legislation creates a new position of Director of Planning at the Department of Transportation, who is appointed by the governor. They are charged with developing a long term plan for the DOT which is submitted to the governor and General Assembly for approval. But DOT board members and rank-and-file House and Senate members, who have a say in what projects are funded now, would have their voices limited under the bill. Top House and Senate leaders and the governor would have greater authority over the DOT appropriations process. The DOT commissioner would still be appointed by the board but would only be responsible for running the department and implementing the long range plan. Members of the General Assembly currently band together to elect DOT board members from the state's 13 congressional districts.
While they were preoccupied with gaining more power, the leadership failed again to resolve differences between the House and Senate transportation funding proposals. The House version was a constitutional amendment calling for a statewide one-cent sale tax that, if approved by the voters, would have raised $25 billion over 10 years for transportation projects. Senators insisted on a plan allowing contiguous counties to band together and vote to pass a one-cent sales tax for transportation projects in that region. House and Senate conferees could not agree, and any solution for funding transportation in Georgia is dead for another year.
This failure also threatens to have a negative impact on MARTA, which was counting on legislation to allow the agency to use more sales tax revenue for operating expenses as opposed to capital expenditures. That proposal also fell victim to the breakdown in transportation negotiations, which would result in significant cuts in services, according to MARTA officials.
The House and Senate majorities passed an $18.6 billion annual state budget for fiscal year 2010 on the final day of the session. The plan uses $1.3 billion in federal stimulus money to balance and includes $1 billion in spending cuts. The budget restores cuts to Medicaid and provider fees that were proposed by the Governor and would have devastated hospitals and medical treatment for the poor.
Regrettably, what the 2010 budget does contain is the largest property tax increase in Georgia's history. This is because Republican leaders and Gov. Perdue failed to fund the Homeowner Tax Relief Grants that go to local governments and are passed on to homeowners. This will mean a $200-$300 property tax increase for the average homeowner later this year.
The House passed and sent to the governor a package of tax cuts for businesses. HB 438 provides certain Georgia employers a $5,000 tax credit for creating new jobs. An amendment was added in the Senate mandating that those applying for the credit must go through an electronic verification system to ensure that the employee is not an illegal immigrant. HB 481 provides a $2,400 tax credit for corporations that hire those who have been unemployed for at least four weeks. The legislation was amended to cut the capital gains taxes by 25 percent on investment earnings in 2010 and 50 percent in following years.
Another measure adopted in the House was HB 261, provides a $1,800 tax credit to first time home buyers and will be spread out over three years. Originally the bill called for a $3,600 tax credit.
Other legislation approved during the final week of the session includes:
HB 168, an ethics bill that would require the Department of Revenue to release the names of legislators who have not paid state income taxes.
SB 26, which would limit the disclosure of private information of firefighters and emergency medical technicians, protecting these public servants from identity theft.
SB 55, which would require tax assessors to consider bank-owned sales and distressed sales of comparable properties when determining the fair market value of real estate.
SB 117, which would enhance the "Made in Georgia" program by creating a web site to promote sale of products manufactured in the state.
SB 246, which would require Juvenile Court officers to give 24 hours notice to the victim when a juvenile accused of a violent crime is release from detention.
Among the bills that failed to win final approval were SB 67, which would have required driver's license examinations to be conducted in English only; SB 42, which would have stripped the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council of its authority; SB 164, which would have allowed billboard owners to clear-cut trees in front of signs located on public rights-of- way; and HB 243, which would have cut the additional pay for educators who earn national board certification.
