The House voted Feb. 12 on two pieces of legislation that would take some revenue decisions out of the hands of local government by freezing or limiting annual property assessment valuations.
HR 1 would have placed a cap of 3 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower, on assessment increases for both residential and commercial property. As a proposed constitutional amendment, it needed 120 votes in the House for passage and failed on a vote of 105-67.
HB 233, however, needed only a simple majority to move on to the Senate, and it passed 110-63. This legislation would place an immediate moratorium on assessment increases for two years.
I voted against both proposals. While our property tax system needs some reform, this mandate simply forces local governments to raise millage rates, reduce vital services and lay off employees, including police officers and fire fighters. Our already underfunded public schools would be especially harmed by this restriction on local control.
The annual Lowndes Bird Supper was held on Feb. 11 and was a great success. Local officials and community leaders fromValdosta and Lowndes County had the opportunity to visit with legislators and other state officials to discuss issues and the needs ofSouth Georgia. Many thanks to the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce for organizing this event. Lowndes County was also well represented on Thursday as members of Leadership Lowndes visited the Capitol and had the opportunity to see the General Assembly in action.
State tax collections for January were $262 million below where they were for the same month last year – a 14.3 percent drop-off. That brings the state’s overall deficit for the current fiscal year closer to $3 billion, causing an even greater challenge for lawmakers to balance the budget for the remainder of fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010.
Even before this report from the Department of Revenue, both the House of Representatives and the Senate had voted to slow down the legislative clock on the current session in order to provide more time to work on the budget. Over the next several weeks, lawmakers will be in session only three days per week, Tuesday through Thursday, leaving Mondays and Fridays for committee meetings, constituent work and fine-tuning the budget proposals.
On March 25, the scheduled 35th legislative day, supposedly with a budget finalized, we will go into recess until the final week of June. That would leave five days to make any amendments to the budget that take into account the impact on Georgia from the federal economic stimulus package. Some estimates report that $5 billion or more in additional federal funding for education, Medicaid, infrastructure and other programs would flow to Georgia from the recently approved package.
Other legislation passing the House this week includes:
• HB 71, which would close a loophole in state law prohibiting the manufacture, sale and distribution of false identification documents.
• HB 181, which would extend for four years the state revenue commissioner's authority to distribute unidentifiable sales tax proceeds.
• HB 194, which would require pharmacists to print an explanation on prescription labels when substituting a generic product for a brand-name drug.
• HB 231, which would expand the scope of projects for registered interior designers to include non- load bearing projects in existing structures.
All of these bills now to the Senate for its consideration.
• State Rep. Jay Shaw represents the 176th District (Berrien, Clinch, Lanier and Lowndes counties) in the Georgia House of Representatives. Contact him during the legislative session at 512 Coverdell Office Building, Atlanta, Ga., 30334; by phone at 404-656-7859; or by e-mail at jay.shaw@house.ga.gov.
Legislative News
February 16, 2009
Rep. Jay Shaw's legislative report for Feb. 9-13
House approves property tax reassessment freeze
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- Rep. Jay Shaw weekly legislative report March 30-April 3
- Rep. Ellis Black weekly legislative report March 30-April 3
- Rep. Amy Carter's Weekly Legislative Report, March 17-26
- Rep. Jay Shaw's Weekly Legislative Report, March 9-13
- Senator Tim Golden's Weekly Legislative Report, March 9-13
- Rep. Amy Carter's Weekly Legislative Report, March 9-13
- Rep. Amy Carter's Weekly Legislative Report, March 2-6
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