Georgia Political News for March 22, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

Bliss is a tiny little puppy who is missing a tail and a forever home. The little teddy bear is available for adoption from Angels Rescue. She is part of a litter that will be at the Sarah Smith adoption day Saturday.

Angels Rescue will hold its “Spayghetti & No Meat Balls” fundraiser on Monday, March 26, 2012 from 11:30 AM to 8:30 PM at La Nonna Italian Restaurant at 6135 Peachtree Parkway in Norcross, GA 30092. The Italian buffet will cost $20 for lunch or $25 for dinner and include tea, coffee and soft drinks.

Legislative Day 37

The Senate convenes at 10:00 AM and the Senate Rules Calendar is here.

Senate Meeting Schedule

8:30 AM	RETIREMENT	125 CAP
9:00 AM	BANKING & FINANCIAL INST.	310 CLOB
1:00 PM	EDUCATION & YOUTH-CANCELLED	307 CLOB
1:00 PM	INSURANCE & LABOR	MEZZ 1
2:00 PM	FINANCE	310 CLOB
2:00 PM	STATE INSTITUTIONS & PROP.	125 CAP
3:00 PM	REGULATED INDUSTRIES & UTIL.	MEZZ 1
3:00 PM	TRANSPORTATION	450 CAP
4:00 PM	STATE & LOCAL GOV. OPP.- CANCELLED	MEZZ 1

The House will convene at 10 AM and the House Rules Calendar is available here.

House Meeting Schedule

8:00 AM	PUBLIC SAFETY & HOMELAND SECURITY	506 CLOB
9:00 AM	RULES	341 CAP
1:00 PM	JUDICIARY NON-CIVIL	132 CAP
3:00 PM	EDUCATION	403 CAP
3:00 PM	WAYS & MEANS	606 CLOB

It appears that Senator Ed Harbison’s wife Cecilia died yesterday. Our prayers and sympathy go to Senator Harbison’s family.

The House-passed tax reform measure continues to raise questions. In addition to concerns raised by Tea Party Patriots earlier, Bo Emerson of the AJC writes:

“This is happening so quickly that there’s not really time to look at it and say what is the impact going to be?” said Amy Henderson,  of the Georgia Municipal Association. “Is it going to be good, or bad? Or in the long run is it going to be a wash? There hasn’t been time to consider.”

“The bill is based on the accuracy of their numbers, but we don’t know if their numbers are accurate or not,” said Clint Mueller a lobbyist with the Association County Commissioners of Georgia. “We hope most local governments will be held harmless in this, but there’s no guarantee there.”

That guarantee [of $1 billion in state funding to local governments] is “some solace,” said Angela Palm, of the Georgia School Boards Association. “But it’s disconcerting that they’re trying to move through this so fast.”

In private conversations, issues have been raised about the effect on new car sales that changing from yearly car tag ad valorem taxes to a 6.5 and later 7 percent title fees will have.  A related issue was raised that insurance companies may not include title fees when paying the replacement value of automotive losses.

Maggie Lee of the Macon Telegraph notes that Bibb County officials have raised concerns about the impact of tax reform on their local government.

An official nonpartisan estimate from Georgia State University says the full price of the bill, across all Georgia’s 159 counties plus cities that levy any relevant sales taxes over the next three fiscal years will be $200 million.

The new tax structure may look like a net negative, but state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, one of the sponsors, said it doesn’t take into account his prediction. “By putting more money in individuals’ and families’ pockets by the other tax cuts, it will spur the economy,” he said. “We are confident it will not impact county budgets.”

But, [allowing local government to reinstate the sales tax on energy used in manufacturing] “puts a burden on us,” said [Bibb County Commissioner Elmo] Richardson. “They remove it and we can put it back on? They make us look like the bad guy.”

He’s not too sure either that a tax holiday will in fact bring out so many shoppers that tax revenues will actually be higher than on regular shopping days.

The issue Rep. Peake raises is that of dynamic scoring in the budget process. Earlier this year, I spoke with Gov. Nathan Deal about dynamic versus static scoring.

Senate Bill 448 by Sen. Balfour (R-Rules Committee) would limit the amount of money the buyer of a discounted loan, like a collection agency, can recover from third party guarantors to the amount paid for the loan, not the outstanding loan balance. Predictably, advocates for both sides predict doom and gloom is they don’t prevail in the legislature.

Some bankers believe that it will limit the availability of money to banks with troubled portfolios by decreasing the value to third parties of the troubled loans, which they say could exacerbate Georgia’s banking failure problems. Developers who support the bill argue that it will prevent further problems for the third-party guarantors and may allow some of them to stay solvent.

According to the AJC, Sen. Balfour told the banking panel that “predators” are making “huge profits that hurt community bankers and small businesses around this state.” It’s a good thing that isn’t happening in the student loan, credit card or car loan businesses, which are exempted from the bill’s provisions.

Local government tax collectors might make less money personally if House Bill 715 by Rep. Lynne Riley (R-Johns Creek) passes. Currently county tax collectors may be paid personally by municipalities for collecting taxes. In 2011, Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur personally pocketed $212,000 from Fulton County cities.

In Macon, it’s still news when a local doctor serves as Doctor of the Day at the General Assembly. For those of us who spend a lot of time at the Capitol, it is good to occasionally be reminded how big a deal a visit is to many of our fellow Georgia citizens.

Senate Bill 430 by Sen. Charlie Bethel passed the house and will add a Republican senator to the Augusta area. It will be sent to the Governor for his signature, and then the USDOJ for preclearance.

Rep. Wayne Howard, a Democrat who leads the delegation, argued that the bill is a mistake because it dilutes the voting strength of Richmond County’s black residents, who make up about half the population but would be reduced to one-third of the delegation’s Senate seats.

The Special Joint Committee on Juvenile Justice Reform passed House Bill 1176 by Rep. Rich Golick, a comprehensive overhaul of the state juvenile justice system.

The proposal, trimmed 16 pages, aims to balance public safety with more cost-effective ways to deal with the state’s non-violent offenders. It addresses changes ranging from alternative approaches to offenders with addiction or mental health issues, to new guidelines for crimes including burglary, forgery and shoplifting, as well as mandatory requirements for reporting suspected child abuse and provisions for restrictions of who can access a jobseeker’s criminal record.

Changes to the bill since its introduction earlier this month also address concerns raised by various agencies that would be affected should the measure become law. For example, the threshold for felony shoplifting, currently at $300, was capped at $500 after retailers complained that raising the rate to $1,000 was too high.

Fears that moving towards weight-based prosecutions of drug offenders were calmed with assurances that funding to pay for additional crime lab investigators and prosecutorial staff would be covered in future state budgets. The strategy will also be implemented in phases, with drugs like heroin, ecstasy, cocaine and methamphetamines included starting July 2013 and drugs including some steroids, codeine and morphine phased in starting July 2014.

Executive Branch

Gov. Deal announced that a Starbucks will invest $172 million in a new manufacturing plant expected to bring 140 new jobs to the Augusta area. No word on whether other local employers can expect a productivity boost from the increased availability of Starbucks coffee.

“The fact that Starbucks selected Georgia to locate this first-of-its-kind plant makes a very compelling statement about our state’s competitive business environment,” said Deal. “We are committed to making Georgia the No. 1 state in the nation to do business, and Starbucks will have many growth opportunities here. This news is even more welcome at a time when we are working aggressively to boost our manufacturing sector. These jobs will have a near-immediate impact in Augusta and also statewide as indirect jobs are created in the future.”

The new Augusta plant, Starbucks fifth manufacturing facility in the United States, will be the company’s first owned and operated facility in the world to produce soluble products, such as VIA® Ready Brew, ingredients for Frappuccino® and many of Starbucks ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages. Once fully operational, this manufacturing plant will prepare and package ingredients and finished products for most of the company’s soluble-based beverages for all of North America and parts of Europe. The new, state-of-the-art facility is expected to offer employment opportunities in a range of highly skilled positions.

Gov. Deal spoke to the Richmond, Columbia and Burke county chambers of commerce:

[H]e’s taking credit for $5 billion in new corporate investment since coming into office, including Wednesday’s announcement that Starbucks will bring 140 jobs to Augusta and last week’s groundbreaking of the 1,400-job bulldozer plant in Athens.

His strategy has been to give legislators the type of proposals that are easy to favor.

“Any time that you can cut taxes on families and cut taxes on business, it is a much more inviting place for people to come in live and to work and for people to create jobs,” he said.

There are still goals he wants to accomplish. He highlighted winning voter approval in July for the transportation sales tax and congressional approval for deepening the Savannah River channel.

Attorney General Sam Olens lauded the passage of House Bill 237, by Rep. Rich Golick (R-Cobb), which makes foreclosure fraud a crime in Georgia.

Olens thanked the Senate for their overwhelming bipartisan support of this crucial measure. “Georgia’s current mortgage fraud statute is insufficient and must be revised to criminalize fraud throughout the entire lending process, including foreclosure,” said Olens. “Just last month, 49 state attorneys general reached a $25 billion agreement with the Nation’s five largest mortgage servicers to settle rampant fraud which occurred nationwide during the foreclosure process.”

“I applaud the members of the Senate for recognizing that Georgia urgently needs a law protecting borrowers during every stage of the lending process. I am grateful for the leadership of Senators Bill Hamrick and Jesse Stone for shepherding the bill through the Senate. I look forward to continuing to work with the bill’s sponsor, Representative Rich Golick, on gaining final approval for HB 237 in the House of Representatives, where it already passed last year 168-1.”

Hope springs eternal as Rep. Ron Stephens continues to monkey with his video gambling bill in an effort to win Gov. Deal’s support. Call it 3:1 against the dark horse legislation.

Local items

The Marietta School Board will buy 30 Apple iPads for use by elementary school students using federal funds. GaPundit.com is seeking funds for purchase of one iPad.

Bibb County is asking for $800,000 for additional staff as it prepares to merge with the Macon city government.

The City of Powder Springs will raise stormwater fees after the water and sewer fund lost nearly $300,000 last year.

In Snellville, fees totaling nearly $30,000 to the former city attorney, who came under fire from the city council, were paid, causing further problems between the mayor and council.

Campaigns and Elections

Mike Korom, who is challenging incumbent Mike Beaudreau for Gwinnett County Commission announced his endorsement by Gwinnett Citizens for Responsible Government; former Snellville Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer is also running; all three are running as Republicans.

Billy Hair, who served as Chatham County Commission Chair from 1996 to 2004 will seek a return to that office. Former District 7 Commissioner Eddie DeLoach, who served from 1992 through 2000, is also running for Chair.

Rhonda Wallace will run for Floyd County Commission, as incumbent Chad Whitefield has announced a run for state Senate. Wallace is chair of the Rome-Floyd County Planning Commission and is married to the former mayor of Rome. She will meet Nathan Roberts, a self-employed former planning commission chairman.

Floyd County Commissioner Eddie Lumsden will run for State House District 12, and Jerry Lee, a former credit union CFO, will run for Lumsden’s seat