WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE REPORT—March 28, 2008

Senate budget includes funding for 8th District

By Sen. Tim Golden

The Senate voted Friday to approve a $21.2 billion annual state budget for fiscal year 2009, which begins July 1. The budget legislation is now in the hands of a conference committee because of several significant differences between the Senate version of HB 990 and the proposal approved earlier by the House of Representatives.

I am pleased that a $4 million appropriation for Nevins Hall on the campus of Valdosta State University is in both the Senate and House versions. Also, as secretary of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I was able to add several other funding items for Senate District 8:

• $1 million in bonds for the St. Augustine Road railroad switching yard expansion project.
• $215,000 to add one benefits counselor for all six Veterans Service offices in Georgia, including the one in Valdosta.
• $150,000 in planning grant funds for the Georgia Wellness Incentive Pilot Program in Valdosta and Dalton. This funding will benefit the Lowndes County Partnership for health, and I want to thank Sen. Don Thomas (R-Dalton) and Sen. Greg Goggans (R-Douglas) for their support in adding these funds.

Like the House version, the Senate budget proposal would provide a 2.5 percent pay raise for educators and other state employees, an increase over the 2 percent raise recommended by Gov. Sonny Perdue. The Senate version also restores $56 million in the governor’s proposed cuts to local school funding and $20 million for the Department of Corrections.

The Senate also voted Friday to approve two proposed tax breaks for Georgians. Under an amended version of HB 1244, the state income tax would be reduced by 10 percent over a five-year period.

Senators also passed an amended HR 1246, retaining a proposed constitutional amendment to freeze property tax assessments at the 2008 level, with yearly increases in assessments on residential and commercial properties limited to the government inflation rate. The measure would also prohibit the General Assembly from increasing state spending by a percentage greater than the annual grown in population and inflation.

Both measures now go back to the House for consideration, and a conference committee will likely be appointed to resolve differences between the two chambers.

This was a very good week for Georgia’s manufacturers in the Senate Finance Committee. On my motion, the committee favorably reported both HB 272 and HB 237, which would provide needed tax relief to the manufacturing industry and, as a result, help the state’s economy and protect Georgia jobs.

HB 237 would expand the sales tax exemption for machinery and parts used in the manufacturing process. This “integrated plant theory” exemption would encourage manufacturers to invest in new facilities and to upgrade existing plants, allowing Georgia factories to remain competitive with those in other states and continue to create jobs.

HB 272 would place a cap on the state sales tax on spiking energy costs for manufacturers. Hopefully in the future, we will be able to eliminate the energy sales tax on manufacturing all together.

The Senate Finance Committee also favorably reported legislation that would give a major boost to Georgia’s trauma care network. An amended version of HB 1158 would raise $74 million per year through a $10 fee on auto license tag renewals, subject to majority approval of voters in the November general election.

HB 1211 and HR 1276 were also reported out of the Senate Finance Committee this week; they encourage the preservation, conservation, and protection of the state’s forests through the special assessment and taxation of certain forest land conservation use property and assistance grants to local government.

This forest land conservation use property only includes forest land tracts exceeding 200 acres owned by a qualified owner, and the local assistance grants are meant to offset revenue loss attributable to the implementation of this new language for counties, municipalities, and county and independent school districts.

The week beginning March 31 is scheduled to be the final one for the 2008 legislative session. Friday, April 4, is scheduled to be the 40th and last official day of the session. The budget, various tax relief proposals and a number of other issues are awaiting final approval.

• Sen. Tim Golden represents the 8th District (Brooks, Cook, Lowndes, and Thomas counties) in the Georgia State Senate.  Contact him at 121-A State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334; by phone at 404-656-7580; or by e-mail at tim.golden@senate.ga.gov.