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2008 Legislative Update
By Chris Farris | May 5, 2008
Its been a little over two weeks now since the gavels came down and the legislature adjourned Sine Die, and we’re sifting through the dust of that hectic day to see the good and bad to come out of the 2008 session of the Georgia General Assembly.
Media reports of the session focused on the conflicts between the Senate and house leadership and the bitterness between Speaker Glenn Richardson and Lt. Governor Casey Cagle. Those who look to always find fault called it a do-nothing session, but this session was anything but.
Fiscal Issues
Those of us who want smaller government won several significant victories this year. Three of the biggest were SB12, SB300 and HB296.
SB12, also known as Zero Based Budgeting was sponsored by RLC Honorary Chairman Senator David Shafer (R-Duluth). SB12 would mandate that all government agencies justify every penny of their budget to the legislature once every four years. The current practice is that an agency would automatically get the same dollar amount they had the year prior, and would only have to justify any new spending. This led to spending programs never ending. The state was still funding programs to eradicate “rickets” decades after it was discovered to be a vitamin deficiency and almost completely eliminated throughout the United States.
SB300, The Transparency in Government Act, would require the state to establish a free public website showing all state expenditures that exceed $50,000.
HB296, sponsored by Rep. Jeff May (R-Walton) forces all Local Option Sales Taxes (SPLOTS, etc) to be held on one of three election days: General Election in November, Primary day in July, or the quadrennial Presidential Preference Primary. In the past local governments looking to sneak in a tax hike would set the LOST votes for mid-September, March or some other time designed to maximize turnout of those who would vote _for_ raising taxes. This puts an end to that despicable practice.
Gun Rights
Another big victory is HB 89. HB89 was news last year as the NRA attempted to muscle Republican legislators into voting for this bill, and many of those legislators telling the NRA to take a hike. At issue last year was the NRA wanting to make it illegal for a private property owner to restrict who could bring a firearm onto their own property. The NRA was in favor of the bill. The various Chambers of Commerce and business leaders were opposed. Over the summer and fall the two sides worked out an arrangement. This bill is a major victory for those who wish to carry a gun to protect themselves and others. If you hold a valid license:
- You may now carry into restaurants that serve alcohol, provided you do not consume any alcohol
- You may now carry at historic buildings, state parks and recreation areas
- You may carry on Marta.
- You may keep a firearm locked in your personal vehicle in your employer’s parking lot _if_ that parking lot is open to the general public
HB89 also codifies how quickly the probate court and law enforcement must act with regard to a license application.
Several powerful lobbying groups are encouraging Governor Perdue to veto this measure. Please contact the Governor and tell him to sign HB89 and protect Georgians and their right to carry.
Educational Choice
Educational Choice was also a winner this year. Last year Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) established a voucher program for special needs students. This year he attempted to expand the program to give vouchers to students at schools that lose their accreditation (Clayton County is facing this issue) or schools that have been labeled “needs improvement” for more than a certain number of years. Also this year, the legislature approved a bill HB 881 that would make approving charter schools easier by giving charter applicants another venue to apply if the local school board refuses to relinquish control. Slowly but surely our Republican Majority is working to improve education my offering more choices to parents.
Nanny-State bills defeated
Not all the bills introduced were good, and quite a few bad ideas were stopped cold in their tracks.
SB 506, also known as the SHAPE Act, would require schools to take kids Body Mass Index scores and forward them on the State Board of Education. All in the name of protecting the children from the scourge of obesity. Beyond the nanny-state nature of this bill, little thought was given to what exactly the local schools would do with the information collected, that the state would do with the information collected, or how any of it would be disposed of properly. This bill passed the Senate, but failed in the House.
Another silly bill, SB 59, would have made it illegal for a social networking site to allow minors to create a profile website without parental permission. How this would have protected minors escapes me since most websites meet this requirement with a checkbox saying “I’m over 18 years of age” and require no further verification. Apparently the Senate Science & Technology Committee agreed, because the bill didn’t get out of committee.
Faux Tax Reform
Another very bad measure that was killed this session was Speaker Glenn Richardson’s Tax Reform Proposal. Normally the Republican Liberty Caucus supports any and all tax-cuts that are broad-based and not targeted at specific individuals or groups. However the Speaker’s plan had several fatal flaws that led us to oppose the measure from nearly the very beginning.
Speaker Richardson’s plan was to do away with all property taxes in the state. The problem is that very little of your property taxes go to fill the state’s coffers. Most of the money is used to fund local government operation - your cities, counties and school boards. So in order for Glenn Richardson to repeal the property taxes he needed a way for those local governments to be funded. His solution was a constitutional amendment that would require the state of Georgia to fund local governments. Gone would be the direct link between voters who live in an area, and the elected officials who are responsible for raising or lowering taxes. Your county commission could raise taxes all it
wants - the State of Georgia would pick up the tab.
Glenn Richardson proposed the biggest entitlement program the State of Georgia has ever seen. And to pay for that he’d expand the state sales tax to include all services - everything from your medical care to your lawn mowing.
Pretty much everyone who studied the plan said it was a bad idea. Even Arthur Laffer, architect of Reagan’s tax cuts in the 80’s and advisor to Glenn Richardson, said that cutting property taxes wouldn’t be as beneficial as a cut to the state income tax.
As the session wore on the Speaker was forced to change is plan over and over. By the time it came up for a vote, gone were the changes to property taxes, gone were the expansion of the sales tax. All that was left was a cut in the car tax and the same constitutional requirement that the state replace those funds through general appropriation. In other words, taxes would go up somewhere else.
The Lieutenant Governor and the Senate came up with their own tax cut late in the session. The Senate plan was to cut the state income tax by 10% over a 5 year period - starting in July of 2008. This plan suffered from two issues - one it was introduced late in the session so where wasn’t much time to analyze it, and two the Speaker had invested too much of his own political capital in his property tax plan to allow a competing plan to make it to the floor for a vote.
The fact that the Senate and House could not come to a resolution on tax reform this year is a good thing. Because with the death of the House and Senate plans came the death of a huge tax increase being pushed by the chambers of commerce, rail proponents, and road builders through out the state. All session various transportation sales tax programs were being pushed by various legislators and lobbyist.
Senate Resolution 845 was a constitutional amendment that would have provided for a regional 1 cent sales tax dedicated to transportation. The amendment, through the enabling legislation (HB 1035 ), would have allowed an unelected entity, a regional development commission (RDC), to “pass a resolution calling for a referendum within the participating counties.” Counties in the region would have 45 days to opt-out and not participate in the tax. The only way a county could opt-out is if its Board of Commissioners voted against it. Even if the voters of our county voted down the referendum, we would still be bound to pay the tax if a majority in the region voted for it. Senate Pro-Tem Eric Johnson found this to be unacceptable, noting that smaller counties in a region would be at the mercy of larger counties. He called it “political suicide” and unfair.
The tax was not limited to a certain period of time. In theory, it could last for 20 years or it could last for 50 years. The length of the tax would be up to the RDC to determine. Also, 20 percent of the funds collected by the tax would have gone back to the state and a whopping 10 percent of that would have been dedicated to mass transit, something less than 4 percent of Georgians actually use.
This measure would have potentially been the largest tax increase in Georgia history. Virginia tried something similar and the Republicans lost control after they voted to raise transporation taxes. Several were ousted by primary challengers for voting to raise taxes so much.
The final transportation bill died in the Senate on the last day. Eight RLC endorsed Senators were among the 14 Republicans and 18 Senators who voted against this tax increase.
Sunday Sales
I leave this for last, because in the grand scheme of things it isn’t that important. Last year I said that the “free market aspects [ of Sunday Sales ] are clear and passage of this measure should be a no-brainer for a party that believes in the free market.” Last year, the Senate Regulated Industries Committee held two days of hearings and voted out a bill but it was held up in the Rules Committee and never voted on by the full Senate. This year, the House Regulated Industries Committee attached a Sunday sales provision to a bill dealing with the technical corrections necessary to allow the new Gwinnett Braves stadium to sell beer on Sunday. It died in the House Rules Committee after Governor Sonny Perdue threatened to veto it.
As long as Sonny Perdue is Governor, I doubt that we will see retail Sunday Sales. The Governor is quite clear that he feels he knows what is best for the people of Georgia, and being able to buy alcohol on one of your two days off isn’t in your best interest.
Election Season
Now that the General Assembly has adjourned for this year, political focus will turn to the primaries in July and general election in November. Since this is a presidential year, the media will be focused on John McCain and either Hillary or Obama as they battle for the presidency. Little notice will be given to state and local elections.
The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia is currently putting together its 2008 endorsements committee. We’ll be analyzing the results of the 2007 and 2008 legislative sessions to see which representatives and senators have adhered to their commitments to restore liberty, shrink government, reduce taxes, abolish programs and to promote the freedom and independence of the citizens of Georgia.
Last year we established a Political Action Committee to assist candidates who face challenges from big government Republicans and Democrats. This year we ask for your support to help us send a message to those in elected office that there is a silent majority who want to see less government and more freedom here in Georgia. We don’t have well heeled lobbyist who spring for expensive meals. Our influence is felt through the voting booth and by small contributions to well meaning legislators. Please consider Donating to the Freedom Fund of Georgia.
Thank you for all you do for Liberty,
Chris Farris
Chairman - Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia
Topics: General Assembly, Legislation |
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