Sen. Golden to co-chair Manufacturing Study Committee

May 30, 2008 – State Sen. Tim Golden (D-Valdosta) has been appointed by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle as co-chair of the newly established Senate Study Committee on the Future of Manufacturing in Georgia.

Along with Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), Golden will chair the committee’s comprehensive evaluation of the condition of manufacturing in Georgia and whether current state laws are helping or hurting that condition. Golden and Rogers co-authored the legislation, SR 1097, which created the study committee.

“Manufacturers have a huge impact on the economy throughout our state, representing 10 percent of the overall workforce and 17 percent in rural areas,” Golden said. “In many communities, that figure exceeds 20 percent, and manufacturing is the very lifeblood for those residents.

“It has never been more vital for state government to be doing all it can to recruit and keep manufacturing jobs here in Georgia,” Golden added. “It is the responsibility of the legislative branch to establish the pro-business policies that will facilitate that effort.”

The focus of the bipartisan committee will range from energy and taxation issues to transportation (including air transit and ports) to plant renovation to workforce education and training to outsourcing prevention to green industry opportunities. Committee members will hear analysis and ideas from experts in industry, government and academia.

At the end of the study, the committee will make recommendations for legislation to be considered during the 2009 session of the General Assembly.

Golden was also appointed by the lieutenant governor to serve on the Senate Local Sales Tax Collection Study Committee created by SR 1167. That panel will study the feasibility of authorizing local governments to collect their own local sales tax revenues as opposed to the current system of collection by the state revenue commissioner.

Golden is running unopposed for his sixth term in the Senate, following eight years in the House of Representatives (1990-98). Golden is secretary of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for the state budget, and is a senior member of the influential Senate Finance Committee, which handles tax-related legislation. He also serves on the Higher Education, Insurance & Labor and Government Oversight committees and is chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.