Sen. Burt Jones: Update from the Capitol

Your Georgia Desk:

By: Sen. Burt Jones (R- Jackson)

The pace is continuing to move quickly as we completed the 38^th day of the legislative session on Thursday, March 13^th. The 40^th day, also referred to as Sine Die, will be on Thursday, March 20^th, until then we will continue to pass legislation and work on the balanced budget late into the night.

Wednesday I had the privilege of carrying House Bill 763 through the Senate. HB 763 will allow Georgia Military College (GMC) the ability to offer students a four-year Bachelor of Applied Science degree. Currently, GMC operates on a two-year system and only offers associates degrees. This is a great bill that will allow students more educational opportunities and will provide companies with a skilled, technical work force. In addition to the GMC bill, I also carried HB 495. This bill will speed up the process of sales of state property valued under $500,000 by removing the Georgia General Assembly from the property title transfer process. This will provide us with more efficiency by allowing for the resale of surplus state property without the General Assembly having to convene.

The House and Senate remain in a conference committee to iron out details of the Fiscal Year ’15 budget. The mandated, balanced budget will be voted on next week before or on Day 40. I will continue to update you on the changes and highlight line items that affect our district.

This week the Georgia General Assembly passed a bill that repeals the Georgia estate tax. HB 658 will end the Georgia estate tax, more commonly known as the “death tax,” and any requirements for related estate tax returns on July 1, 2014. Currently in Georgia, any property or assets transferred to others at the time of death is taxed on the fair market values of the item or property. The bill will not affect tax, penalty, interest liabilities or refund eligibility for taxable years prior to the sunset date. The death tax is one of Georgia’s most despised taxes and places a significant burden on the families of the deceased. The passage of this legislation further reiterates the Georgia General Assembly’s ongoing commitment to the taxpayers of this state.

Other notable bills receiving a Senate vote this week include:

HB 770 establishes the crimes of home invasion in the first and second degree in both the criminal and juvenile code. Under this legislation, both offenses may be designated and punished as felonies.

HB 153 authorizes local governments to propose Special Option Local Option Sales Taxes (SPLOST) of less than one cent. This fractional penny SPLOST will not apply to education local option sales taxes.

HB 777 enacts the Interstate Boating Violator Compact, an agreement between states that allows the home state to treat a boating conviction of one of its residents in another state as if the conviction had occurred in the home state.

HB 958 includes the extension and revision of certain entertainment tax credits, food donation tax exemptions and back to school sales tax holidays.

HB 933 extends the current state sales tax exemption on the sale of equipment used in the maintenance or repair of aircraft not registered in Georgia.

With only six legislative days remaining in the 2014 Legislative Session, the Georgia General Assembly is finally in the homestretch. I will continue spending a lot of time at the Capitol working for you. If there are any issues you wish to have addressed, I would love to hear from you. It remains a pleasure to serve you, the constituents of the 25th Senate District. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 404.656.0082 or via email at burt.jones@senate.ga.gov.