Although we believe that private citizens have the choice to freely enter into contracts on their own free will, this amendment is very vague and broad.  Our concern is that this amendment would give broad powers to the General Assembly and the courts that could potentially inhibit competition rather than increase it.

Amendment 2: RLC-GA Recommends a NO vote.

We believe that there are other avenues to fund trauma care besides levying another tax on the citizens of Georgia.  This purpose of this amendment is to fill in the budget hole from the lack of revenue generated by Georgia’s “Super Speeder” law.  We believe this is bad policy trying to fix bad policy.

Amendment 3: RLC-GA Recommends a YES vote.

We believe that allowing GDOT to enter into mulit-year contracts will allow the state to more easily pay for large projects over a span of time rather than trying to budget it into a single year.  This amendment will not allow a contract of this type to exceed more that 10 years.  This makes fiscal sense.

Amendment 4: RLC-GA Recommends a YES vote.

We believe that allowing state agencies to enter mulit-year contracts for projects that improve energy efficiency or conservation improvements with guaranteed savings is a fiscally conservative approach.

Amendment 5: RLC-GA Recommends a YES vote.

This will allow property owners to decide whether or not they want to remove their property from an industrial area.  Although this affects only a small portion of the state, we believe that we must allow all private property owners to do with their property as they see fit.

Referendum Question: RLC-GA Recommends a YES vote.

This is the portion of the JOBS Act that removes the property tax on the inventory of businesses.  We believe that businesses in Georgia can use that financial capital paid in taxes more effectively than the state government can.

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.

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

ATLANTA, GA, March 04, 2008 – The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia, a grassroots organization promoting individual freedom, limited government and fiscal responsibility, urges the House Ways & Means Committee to pass Senate Bill 12 – Zero Based Budgeting.

This bill would require during the mid term of a Governor’s term, all departmental spending be assumed to be zero, and that the entire budget must be approved by the General Assembly – not just the increases. This will lead to cutting wasteful or unnecessary line items saving the taxpayers money.

The highlights of the bill:

* SB 12 calls for budgeting accountability for all state agencies on
a regular rotating basis.
* SB12 requires evaluation of each state agency’s core mission to
eliminate agency overlap.
* SB12 requires agencies to provide at least 3 alternative funding
levels and what they could accomplish with each.
* SB12 requires a prioritized budget of each agency.
* SB 12 avoids the appearance of political punishment or favoritism
by establishing a regular schedule of budget analysis.

This year the RLC Legislative Committee took a position on 10 bills.

• Support SB 10 – Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act

This bill provides school choice (vouchers or “scholarships) for parents of children with special needs.  We supported this bill because we believe that choice brings about competition, and competition will improve the schools.  It passed the House and Senate in the final few hours of the session.

• Oppose SB 155 – Mandatory HPV Vaccines for girls entering the 6th grade

The RLC opposed this bill because it was a violation of a family’s privacy, and because the the human papillomarvirus is not airborne or otherwise easily contagious. This bill stalled in the Senate Rules Committee after a public outcry.

• Oppose SB 43 – The “Guns in Parking Lot” bill

The RLC opposed SB 43 on the grounds that is violated an employers right to decide what materials may be brought onto their property. This poorly thought out bill pitted Gun Rights against Property Rights.  We support both, but in this case where they conflict, the Legislative Committee sided with Property Rights. This bill failed to pass in either it original form or as an attachment to House Bill 89.

• Oppose SB 28 – Insuring Georgia’s Families Act

This will was an attempt to address the issues with employer and government provided health care. However it contained an anti-liberty provision that would mandated individuals buy insurance and authorized the state to garnish wages if said individual did not. It is for this reason we opposed SB 28, which died in committee, without a hearing.

• Support HB 107 – Franchise Fee reform

House Bill 107 will impose greater transparency, breaking out the cost of government in the bills consumers receive each month. It will also impose fairness in taxation. Consumers will not be forced to pay the fees and taxes imposed upon a utility by political jurisdictions in which they do not reside and have no vote. This bill passed both houses.

• Support SB 12 – Zero Based Budgeting.

This bill would require that once every four years, each department’s spending be reset to zero, and that the entire budget for that department must be reviewed and approved by the General Assembly – not just the new spending. This will lead to cutting wasteful or unnecessary line items saving the taxpayers money. This bill unanimously passed the Senate but was not addressed by the House

• Support SB 26/137 – Sunday Sales

The RLC feels that the restrictions on the sale of alcohol on Sunday are a violation of an individuals right to transact business as there is no compelling public safety reason to keep this ban in place.  SB 26 had problems in that irrationally distinguished between types of alchols in an apparent effort to benefit certain retailers over others. These defects were largely repaired in SB137, which passed out of committee only to die in the Senate Rules Committee.  Its free market aspects are clear and passage of this measure should be a no-brainer for a party that believes in the free market.

• Support SB 5 – Delay implementation of the REAL ID Act.

This bill would have delayed Georgia’s implementation of the Real ID act until such time as the US Department of Homeland Security addressed several dangerous privacy issues with the bill. SB 5 was attached to a house bill regarding drivers license fees, but that amendment failed to pass the house and the Senate chose to remove the language from the House bill.

• Support HB 269 – Commuter Rail Referendum

This bill would have required a public referendum before a county or municipality could obligate its citizens to subsidize unprofitable commuter rail projects.  We agree, but the House did not act on this bill.

• Support HB 66 – The elimination of the State Income Tax

This bill would elimate the State Income Tax.  We agree. but this bill was not heard in committee

We consider the passage of SB10, and HB107 along with the failure to act on SB43, SB28 and SB155 as RLC successes. In 2008 we plan to make Zero Based Budgeting, Sunday Sales, and SR 20, which in its latest form includes SR 5 and both limits the size of the budget and how the supplemental budget can be spent, as our top three legislative priorities.

I want to thank the RLC Legislative Committee for reviewing these bills and helping us draft our position statements. The 2007 RLC Legislative Committee consisted of Todd Pull, Clint Murphy, Walter White, David Suddoth, Jason Pye, Josh Ondich, Robbie Honerkamp, and myself.

Again, thanks for your support.

Chris Farris
Chairman
Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia

This bill would require female students entering the sixth grade to receive the HPV vaccination. The Republican Liberty Caucus believes that parents know what is best for their children, not government. The human papillomarvirus can only be spread through sexual intercourse and does not present the same threat as smallpox, measles or mumps. There is no public health crisis that demands the mandatory inoculation of twelve year old girls, and if that crisis does exist, then it should be made mandatory for all women capable of sexual intercourse

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia takes positions in support or opposition to legislation under consideration in the Georgia General Assembly. Our criteria are based on the Liberty Compact we ask all candidates to sign. It states that candidates will work to: restore liberty, shrink government, reduce taxes, abolish programs, and promote the freedom and independence of Georgia citizens.

The Republican Liberty Caucus intends to use the recorded committee and floor votes for SB 155 as part of its review process for 2008 endorsements. We encourage all Republicans who believe in liberty to vote in opposition to SB155.

This bill would allow counties and cities to decide if the sale of beer, wine and liquor would be legal on Sunday. Georgia is one of only three states in the union that prohibit sales of all alcohol to be consumed off premises. The Republican Liberty Caucus believes that the prohibition of Sunday sales is an unnecessary intrusion on the rights of individuals and businesses to engage in commerce.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia takes positions in support or opposition to legislation under consideration in the Georgia General Assembly. Our criteria are based on the Liberty Compact we ask all candidates to sign. It states that candidates will work to: restore liberty, shrink government, reduce taxes, abolish programs, and promote the freedom and independence of Georgia citizens.

The Republican Liberty Caucus intends to use the recorded committee and floor votes for SB 137 as part of its review process for 2008 endorsements. We encourage all Republicans who believe in liberty to vote in favor of SB 137.

ATLANTA, GA, January 28, 2007 – The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia, a grassroots organization promoting individual freedom, limited government and fiscal responsibility, has issued a position on Senate Bill 5 – delaying implementation of the Real ID Act.

The Federal Real ID Act was rushed through the United States Congress as part of an emergency spending bill for defense and tsunami relief. It contains no provisions for individual privacy or security against identity theft. While the Department of Homeland Security has yet to promulgate final regulations (after missing three deadlines to do so), the expected cost to the citizens of Georgia $184 million dollars. SB 5 authorized the Governor to delay implementation of the Real ID Act until the Department of Homeland Security, develops safe guards so that the act will not compromise the economic privacy or biological sanctity of any citizen or resident of the State of Georgia.”

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia takes positions in support or opposition to legislation under consideration in the Georgia General Assembly. Our criteria are based on the Liberty Compact we ask all candidates to sign. It states that candidates will work to: restore liberty, shrink government, reduce taxes, abolish programs, and promote the freedom and independence of Georgia citizens.

The Republican Liberty Caucus intends to use the recorded committee and floor votes for SB 5 as part of its review process for 2008 endorsements. We encourage all Republicans who believe in liberty to vote in favor of SB 5.

ABOUT The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia – The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia was chartered to elect and support pro-liberty candidates in Georgia. We endorsed 29 pro-liberty Republicans in 2006, 25 of which now serve in office.

ATLANTA, GA, January 28, 2007 – The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia, a grassroots organization promoting individual freedom, limited government and fiscal responsibility, has issued a position on HB107 – Municipal government; additional requirements; certain franchise fees.

House Bill 107 will impose greater transparency, breaking out the cost of government in the bills consumers receive each month. It will also impose fairness in taxation. Consumers will not be forced to pay the fees and taxes imposed upon a utility by political jurisdictions to which they do not reside and have no vote.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia takes positions in support or opposition to legislation under consideration in the Georgia General Assembly. Our criteria are based on the Liberty Compact we ask all candidates to sign. It states that candidates will work to: restore liberty, shrink government, reduce taxes, abolish programs, and promote the freedom and independence of Georgia citizens.

The Republican Liberty Caucus intends to use the recorded committee and floor votes for HB 107 as part of its review process for 2008 endorsements. We encourage all Republicans who believe in liberty to vote in favor of HB 107.

ABOUT The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia – The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia was chartered to elect and support pro-liberty candidates in Georgia. We endorsed 29 pro-liberty Republicans in 2006, 25 of which now serve in office.

ATLANTA, GA, January 28, 2007 – The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia, a grassroots organization promoting individual freedom, limited government and fiscal responsibility, has issued a position on HB107 – Municipal government; additional requirements; certain franchise fees.

House Bill 107 will impose greater transparency, breaking out the cost of government in the bills consumers receive each month. It will also impose fairness in taxation. Consumers will not be forced to pay the fees and taxes imposed upon a utility by political jurisdictions to which they do not reside and have no vote.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia takes positions in support or opposition to legislation under consideration in the Georgia General Assembly. Our criteria are based on the Liberty Compact we ask all candidates to sign. It states that candidates will work to: restore liberty, shrink government, reduce taxes, abolish programs, and promote the freedom and independence of Georgia citizens.

The Republican Liberty Caucus intends to use the recorded committee and floor votes for HB 107 as part of its review process for 2008 endorsements. We encourage all Republicans who believe in liberty to vote in favor of HB 107.

ABOUT The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia – The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia was chartered to elect and support pro-liberty candidates in Georgia. We endorsed 29 pro-liberty Republicans in 2006, 25 of which now serve in office.