The 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly is nearing its end. As of this writing, there are only three legislative days remaining. Several big issues are still out there, including the 2010 budget and what it will or won’t include. Transportation is another huge issue, and significant bills concerning the reorganization of the DOT and funding for transportation projects are still in play.
Meanwhile, SB 83 has made a return trip to the House floor. You may recall this bill, which passed the Senate earlier in the session and was voted on in the House a few weeks back. Basically, it provides for a statewide increase of $2,000 in the homestead exemption for property taxes. I voted for it both times, but both times it failed to receive the two-thirds supermajority needed to pass. A successful motion to reconsider after the first vote kept it alive so it could be voted on again.
I agree with the critics of the bill that it is really just a thinly veiled attempt by the present leadership of our state to cover for the fact that they have now successfully killed the Homeowner Tax Relief Grant. This means that the check you write to pay the taxes on your home this year will be more than $200 higher than it was last year.
I also agree with them that simply funding the HTRG would be a much better way to provide tax relief to homeowners. That’s why I co-sponsored HR 7, which would put the HTRG in the state constitution and require that it be funded. I have also introduced legislation to remove the revenue growth conditions that must be met before the HTRG can be funded, which would mean that the only thing necessary would be for it to simply be placed in the budget.
However, while I very strongly disagree with our present leadership on their opposition to the HTRG, I don’t see that as a reason to oppose other measures like increasing the homestead exemption and capping assessments. I have voted for measures like these and will continue to do so, as I believe we need to do whatever we can wherever we can to provide relief to taxpayers.
Other bills reaching a vote in the House include SB 13. This bill would allow a sentence of life without parole as a possibility from the beginning of the case instead of requiring a prosecutor to seek the death penalty first as a means of ending up with life without parole. I believe that this bill will ease a lot of strain on our judicial system – and save a lot of taxpayer dollars - because it will result in guilty pleas in cases that are now moving toward trial instead.
The House also passed SB 165, which provides for the Department of Community Health to verify information provided by applicants for MediCaid and PeachCare with information held by the Department of Revenue. This should help be sure that applicants for these programs do not receive benefits based on fraudulent information submitted in their applications.
Finally, let me touch a bit on the streetscape enhancement funds we have secured for Rockmart. I learned of this approval just before writing my last column and did not have time to say much about it.
This project will provide for sidewalk and other enhancements at an estimated cost of $281,000. City officials submitted this project to the state for consideration, and I have been working with DOT officials on securing the funds. I would like to thank the city officials, DOT interim commissioner Gerald Ross and his staff, and DOT board member David Doss for their assistance with this project. The City of Cedartown has submitted a similar request, and we hope to secure funds for that project in the coming weeks.
As always, please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns. I can be reached locally at (770) 748-4090; in Atlanta at (404) 656-0265; or by email at rickcrawford@bellsouth.net. Thank you for the honor of representing you in the Georgia House of Representatives.
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