Columbus, Georgia

Georgia's First Consolidated Government

Post Office Box 1340
Columbus, Georgia, 31902-1340
(706) 653-4013
fax (706) 653-4016

Council Members

----- Forwarded by Isaiah Hugley/Columbusga on 03/05/2008 06:25 PM -----



Georgia Budget and Policy Institute

03/05/2008 05:31 PM



Please respond to

parmstrong@gbpi.org





To

ihugley@columbusga.org

cc



Subject

News Release - Defeat of Tax Plan Saves GA from Potential Fiscal Crisis





















Georgia Budget and Policy Institute























For Immediate Release

March 5, 2008

Contact: Alan Essig, Executive Director

404-420-1324, Ext. 101

770-402-4630 (Cell)







Click Here to Support GBPI

DONATE NOW!





Click Here to View

Tax Reform Resources





For More GBPI Reports:

www.gbpi.org







Defeat of Speaker's Tax Plan Saves Georgia from Potential Fiscal Crisis





Click here to view the SR 796 Overview





Click here to view the new SR 796 fact sheet (#1)



Click here to view the new SR 796 fact sheet (#2)











ATLANTA - Speaker Richardson's latest tax reform proposal, SR 796, was defeated

on the floor of the Georgia House today by a vote of 110 to 62. As a

Constitutional Amendment, the measure needed 120 votes to pass.



"A courageous group of legislators recognized the importance of fiscally

responsible tax reform," said Alan Essig, the Executive Director of the Georgia

Budget and Policy Institute. "And, with their "no" votes, averted a potential

financial disaster for the State of Georgia."



Passage of SR 796 by the legislature and then the voters would have created a

$672 million hole in the state budget in FY 2011. That amount is the

equivalent of:

100 percent of the PeachCare budget and 27 percent of the Medicaid budget; or

8 percent of K-12 education; or

29 percent of the Board of Regents budget; or

56 percent of the Department of Corrections budget.

Considering that revenues are expected to slow due to the current economic

slowdown, the budget impact would have been even greater. In that 75 percent

of the state budget pays for education, healthcare, and criminal justice, it

would be impossible to balance the state budget without some combination of

deep cuts to those services.



Analysis of the tax proposal is available on GBPI's website, www.gbpi.org





# # #











The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute is the state's leading independent,

nonprofit, non-partisan organization engaged in research and education on the

fiscal and economic health of the state of Georgia. The Institute provides

reliable and timely analyses of Georgia's budget and tax policies and promotes

greater state government fiscal accountability, improved services and an

enhanced quality of life for all Georgians.









Forward email







This email was sent to ihugley@columbusga.org, by parmstrong@gbpi.org

Update Profile/Email Address ; Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe? ; Privacy

Policy.

Email Marketing by



Georgia Budget and Policy Institute ; 100 Edgewood Avenue ; Suite 950 ; Atlanta

; GA ; 30303

Attachments


No attachments for this document.

Back to List