It was a Senate vote at the end of this thirty-fourth day of the 2012 session of the Georgia General Assembly that marked a break in the legislative fight (at least for the time being) over the controversial HR 1162, the proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the re-creation of a state-level commission to approve charter schools in local districts. In the 40-16 vote for passage (38 votes needed), all 36 Republican senators voted in unison and were joined by 4 Democrats: Steve Thompson (Cobb County), George Hooks (Sumter and other SW Georgia counties), Hardie Davis (Richmond County), and Curt Thompson (Dekalb and Gwinnett counties). The final decision in this controversy will now be made by Georgia's electorate, as the question posed in the resolution ("Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow state or local approval of public charter schools upon the request of local communities?") will appear on the November, 2012, ballot.
Also passed in the Senate on this day was HB 39. Regular readers of this site will recognize the very, very low number of this bill, a sure sign that it is left over from very early in the 2011 session. In its original form, this then-simple bill by Rep. Tommy Benton (R-Jefferson) was intended to replace the requirement that schools communicate student attendance problems to parents via certified mail with a requirement that first-class (read: cheaper) mail be used. In this substitute form that passed the Senate today, the first-class requirement was included, but the certified mail mandate was continued in cases where court procedures are contemplated. In addition, the bill was amended to add Senator Barry Loudermilk's changes to home-school reporting requirements, but that language has already been added to another bill and has already passed the Senate. This bill now goes back to the House for agree/disagree before heading to the Governor.
The 800-pound gorilla of tax reform escaped its cage again on this 34th day of the session, as the special committee on tax reform that was established during the 2011 session reconvened to unveil their latest version. Most of the ideas are hardly new, having been rolled out for public consumption during the previous session. This version, however, contained a few "tweaks," and those tweaks affect not only taxpayers, but funding for state and local governmental operations. Here are a few key provisions:
- Perhaps the biggest and potentially most controversial proposal is the on-again, off-again shot at eliminating what legislators call the "birthday tax" on automobiles (the annual ad valorem tax assessed by local governments). This proposal also calls for eliminating the sales tax on the sale of vehicles and replacing both taxes with a one-time title fee (between 6.5 and 7 percent of the sales prices and/or blue book value) each time the vehicle is sold. [Editor's note: It must be noted that this major change in how vehicle fees are assessed and collected includes casual sales between individuals, something long sought by the car dealers in the state. It must be further noted that the public outcry every time this has been attempted has caused a reversal of policy, something that cannot occur if this funding scheme to "make local governments whole" is to succeed.]
- Increasing the income tax exemption for married couples, but also capping the retirement income exclusion for senior at its current level rather than continue the escalating amounts now set in law.
- Elimininating the state sales tax on energy over a three-year phase-in period, but including a provision that certain regionally significant companies could receive a complete state exemption prior to the end of the phase-in period.
- Allowing certain regionally significant projects to be exempt from sales tax on construction materials, and also eliminating the sales tax exemption for film productions.
- Returns the back-to-school and energy efficient product sales tax holidays for the next three years.
- Requires collection of state sales taxes by out-of-state sellers with affiliates in Georgia ("e-fairness").
- Revising the many sales tax exemptions on agriculture to ensure "fairness and consistency."
- Making some changes to the income tax credit program for donation of conservation easements.
- Provide all airlines in Georgia with a 1% jet fuel exemption from state's 4% sales tax rate.
The fiscal plan for making local governments and school systems "whole" over their loss of revenue (particularly the loss of the ad valorem revenue from automobiles) involves a state "guarantee" of a certain level of funding for that purpose. Like it or not, that "guarantee" still involves a "trust us" stance by the legislature, something local school systems in particular will have a hard time accepting. And, it goes without saying that rolling out something of this magnitude this late in the session, while obviously a strategy used to rush the changes through with only limited debate, does not make for the best or most solid decisions. Stay tuned to the action over this critical issue during the next six legislative days.
Finally, and also on this afternoon, a sudden interest in the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunities for Military Children resurfaced. Apparently, Georgia has joined Arkansas as the only states located in what is known as the "Military Industrial Complex" that have not approved and entered into the compact. The latest version is now being pushed by the Governor's office (Wonder if Georgia's recalcitrant stance on this issue might have generated some "pushback" from the military?). And, in order to speed its passage, one of the well-worn parliamentary tricks is being used to hurry the process: stripping language from a Senate bill that had already passed the Senate (SB227 dealing with changes in how home-schooled children would be counted) and inserting into that legislation most of the contents of SB 219. One of the objections that had been voiced about this proposed compact between Georgia and the military is that it ceded authority over state education decisions to an outside group; testimony on this bill on this day by legislative counsel indicated that those concerns had been adequately addressed and no longer were contained in the bill. The bill received the expected "do pass" from the House Education Committee and now moves to the House Rules Committee for probable placement on a House Rules calendar. If it passes the House, it would only need to go back to the Senate for a quick "agree" before heading to the Governor's desk.
Day thirty-five of the session is set for Tuesday, March 20. |