Are You Ready to Pay Higher State Taxes?
On January 7, 2011, the Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness
submitted to the Special Joint Committee on Revenue Structure recommendations that cannot be significantly changed by anyone. Meaning, legislators elected by the people to represent the people’s interests have less influence on changing Georgia’s tax structure than the eleven appointees designated by H.B. 1405.
H.B. 1405 passed the Georgia General Assembly in 2010 to create two new political bodies
(1) an eleven-member 2010 Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians and
(2) a twelve-member Special Joint Committee on Georgia Revenue Structure.
The Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness. When members were appointed in 2010, the only elected official on the Council was Governor Sonny Perdue, who is no longer governor and no longer answers to voters. Therefore, no current Council member is obligated to voters.
Council appointees specified by name in the bill were Governor Sonny Perdue and four economists – Dr. David Sjoquist, Georgia State University; Dr. Jeffrey Humphreys, University of Georgia; Dr. Roger Tutterow, Mercer University; and Dr. Christine Ries, Georgia Tech. The six additional members required by the bill are the chairman of the 2010 Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the chairman of the 2010 Georgia National Federation of Independent Business, plus two citizens appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and two by the Speaker of the House.
The Council was created to examine Georgia’s tax code and by January 10, 2011 recommend a new structure to be “as growth-friendly and as job-friendly” as they could make it. After holding eleven fact-finding sessions around the state last summer, the Council decided to phase out two percent of the six-percent state income tax and install a consumption tax on sales and services, while eliminating or sun-setting practically all of the state’s 110 sales tax exemptions.
The Special Joint Committee on Georgia Revenue Structure is the only group authorized to handle the Council’s recommendations. The Joint Committee consists of the Senate President Pro Tem, House Speaker Pro Tem, majority leaders of the House and Senate, minority leaders of the House and Senate, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, plus additional appointees – two representatives and two senators.
H.B. 1405 requires the Council recommendations to bypass the regular committee process and assigns this legislation directly and only to the Special Joint Committee. Other legislators cannot change or amend the Joint Committee’s proposal and no other committee is authorized to handle it. Legislation passed by the Special Joint Committee goes directly to the House floor for a vote and, if passed by the House, goes to the Senate for an up or down vote.
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