The old saying “Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees” summed up this year‘s legislative session perfectly. When we adjourned on March 30, in spite of all the political grandstanding, differences in priorities, and tension between the House and the Senate, we managed to get some excellent things accomplished. A lot of those got overlooked along the way, and I’d like to highlight a few of them for you.
Bond rating, budget, and tax cuts
First and foremost, we once again passed a balanced budget that every Georgian benefited from and can be proud of. Combined with the reserves in our “rainy day fund”, our AAA bond ratings, and our low unemployment rate, Georgia is in an excellent financial position. We also passed a tax cut for both individuals and corporations that lowers the tax rate while increasing the personal exemption amount. This is the first individual tax cut that Georgians have seen since 1937 and combined with the new exemption levels, we should all see more money coming to us in our paychecks. In addition, this bill has a mechanism to lower the tax rate even further in 2020.
QBE funding restored
Education was another big winner this session. For the first time in its history, Georgia K-12 schools will be fully funded under our Quality Basic Education funding formula. This will ease the burden of all of our local school systems and help ensure our children and teachers have the classroom resources they need. In addition, funds were appropriated in the budget for greater safety and security in schools, and the House formed a new Study Committee to look at other possible measures which can be taken to keep our children even safer. The Hope Scholarship and Hope Grants are financially strong and every child has the opportunity to further their education after high school if they qualify.
Rural Georgia reigns
Probably the biggest winner this year was rural Georgia. Most of the key recommendations proposed by the House Rural Development Council passed, and they included micro hospitals, tax credits for private donations to rural hospitals, a new grant program to help attract new physicians to rural areas , and other important aspects of healthcare reform we so desperately need.
On the economic side of rural concerns, we passed a tax break for short rail line owners, funded extensions of runways for rural airports, and also created a new economic development resource center which will be called the Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation. Along with a new Deputy Commissioner for Rural Georgia, funded through the Georgia Department of Economic Development, these new resources will help to make certain that our rural lifestyle is preserved while at the same time exploring new opportunities for growth.
We also passed a sweeping broadband bill which lays the framework to help bring internet connectivity to many underserved areas. Unfortunately, in my opinion, a very important component of the Internet package was left out by the Senate when they did not vote to allow EMC’s to have the legal authority to provide broadband service. Hopefully, we will see this come up again next year and be resolved. It could easily be part of a new federal package which former Governor and now USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue is working on to funnel money to cooperatives to help expand broadband to rural areas all across the country.
Hidden Predator Act
Unfortunately, there were also some good bills that got left by the wayside. Probably the biggest disappointment for me was the failure of the Senate to pass the “Hidden Predator Act”, a bill that passed the House unanimously. This bill would have allowed victims of past sexual abuse a greater time frame to report these crimes and to seek justice. It will be introduced again next year, and although we will have to start the process from the beginning, I believe it should be our top priority. Hopefully the House and Senate can work together to pass legislation which will help victims bring some sort of closure to the horrible situations they faced.
Contact me
I’m really glad to be home full-time and look forward to visiting all around the district. As always, you’re my top priority and if I can ever be of any help, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I can be reached by phone at 706-754-0706 or by email at [email protected].
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your Representative!
