Well, this nineteenth day of the 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly turned out to be an interesting one, but not because of action within the Senate or House chambers. Much-talked-about and much-anticipated was an early afternoon press conference held by Governor Perdue, who appeared with Lieutenant Governor Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson at his side. At the press conference, Governor Perdue announced that he was pleased to see approximately $465 million in federal funds headed Georgia’s way, funds that would be used to prop up the Medicaid program (and, presumably, free up some state dollars for other uses). At that same press conference, though, he announced that he was lowering the state revenue estimate for this fiscal year by an additional $450 million, monies that simply will not be available due to continually declining state revenues.
A real surprise came when the Governor announced (again, at this same press conference) that he would sign HB143, the bill that had sailed through both the House and the Senate and which promises the payment of the Homeowner’s Tax Relief Grant this year (but, puts its payment in jeopardy in future years). Regular watchers of the political scene are keenly aware that the Governor had proclaimed his disdain for this grant and had blamed local governments for excessive spending related to their having become accustomed to receiving this state money. He had even eliminated the $428 million needed to pay it from this year’s Amended Budget. A convert he must be now, though, as he has taken steps to agree with the House and Senate and see that it is paid for this fiscal year.
As education-watchers listened to the press conference, it became apparent that the numbers needed to accomplish what the Governor was proposing just didn’t seem to add up. It was only after the press conference was over that it was learned that part of the money needed to balance this extra cut to the revenue estimate will come as a result of an additional $98 million cut (in this fiscal year) to K-12 education. No one would talk about it or answer questions (Imagine that!), so just how such a cut will be passed along remains something of a mystery (More austerity cuts? Cuts to the salary schedule? Cuts no one has even dreamed of to this point?). To read the Governor's letter outlining the cuts, click here. And, stay tuned for further details.
The pace of activity picks up on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, as committee and subcommittee meetings in the world of education are scheduled. In the Senate Education and Youth Committee, both the School Board Governance bill (SB 84) and the now-infamous voucher bill (SB 90) will be heard. On the House side, subcommittees are scheduled to hear HB 193 (4-day school week), HB 208 (Bilingual certification on high school diplomas), HB 215 (3 diplomas), and others.
In the world of taxation (particularly tax breaks, as seems to be popular with the General Assembly), bills must be filed by the 20th day of the session to receive consideration during this session. Thus, we have had a virtual avalanche of tax bills dropped. Among those of interest are:
HB 358 -- eliminate sales tax on food for relief efforts
HB 359 -- eliminate sales tax on food for food banks
HB 395 -- sales tax exemption of building symphony halls
HB 399 -- a remedy for owners of "over valued" property
HB 401 -- repeal sales tax on food
HB 407 -- homestead exemption for widows of certain veterans
HB 409 -- freeport exemption
HB 425 -- sales tax on bad debt credit cards
HR 281 -- a limitation (believe it or not) on sales tax exemptions
Of course, other bills have been dropped in recent days, too. Watch this site during upcoming legislative days for summaries of other bills of interest. |