The Ashe Advocate – February 1, 2008

House Democrats offer school tax relief solutions

By Rep. Kathy Ashe

This week, Georgia House Democrats announced two legislative proposals that would put a stop to school funding cuts and relieve the burden of nearly $1.6 billion in tax shifts from local property owners. The plans provide fiscally sound property tax relief by fully funding the Quality Basic Education (QBE) Act.

I introduced one of the proposals, HB 1050, which would require the state to fully fund the QBE Act for the first time in more than 20 years. I co-sponsored the other measure, HB 1057, which would allow counties that lower property taxes can tap into $300 million this year in state education funding. This will ensure that K-12 public education is adequately funded and no longer shifts the burden to taxpayers.

These bills provide immediate, effective tax relief without creating any new taxes. The funding would come from the state’s reserve fund for the next two years, $300 million each year, and would be dedicated to the QBE formula for local schools.

We cannot demand increased student achievement while the state is starving public education. Under the Republicans, public education has been cut by nearly $1.6 billion, and more than 100 local school systems have been forced to raise property taxes as a result. It’s time we do the right thing and make the state government meet its obligation to public schools.

I call on our House leadership to support and enact these proposals to help our students and Georgia taxpayers.

On Jan. 29, House members adopted legislation that would modify the state’s sex offender laws with regard to residency restrictions. HB 908 would address the law’s provisions that were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Georgia.

The current law requires registered sex offenders to move from their residence if a school or day care center opened within 1,000 feet of their home. The court ruled that provision amounted to an unconstitutional taking of property.

HB 908, which now goes to the Senate for its consideration, provides that if a registered sex offender has purchased a home and is in compliance with the law at the time of purchase, he or she can continue to reside there if a school, church or day care center later opens within the 1,000 foot radius.

Legislation that would impose tougher criminal punishments for dog fighting in Georgia was adopted by the House on Jan. 28. HB 301 would make it a felony offense to own, transport, train or sell a dog for the purposes of fighting, or to advertise, host or bet on a dog fighting event. Attendance at a dog fight would be a misdemeanor for the first offense.

Awareness about cracking down on dog fighting in Georgia was raised during the case of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who is serving time in federal prison after pleading guilty to dog fighting offenses in Virginia. HB 301 moves to the Senate for its consideration.

Georgia consumers wanting to stop identity theft would be able to freeze their credit reports under legislation that passed the House on Jan. 30. HB 130 gives consumers control of their credit reports for the first time by allowing them to pay a fee of up to $3 to each of the three credit rating agencies, totaling $9, to stop the buying and selling of their credit information. The Senate will now consider the measure.

The joint House-Senate Transportation Funding Study Committee has issued its recommendations for addressing a serious shortfall in state funding for much-needed improvements to the state’s highway system and other projects.

In addition to calling for greater efficiency in state Department of Transportation operations and an expanded use of public/private partnerships, the committee is recommending two potential methods of raising revenues for road building:

• A statewide, 1 percent transportation sales tax that would replace the current 7.5 cents per gallon motor fuel tax. This proposal would require a constitutional amendment, which must be approved by two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate and by a majority of voters in the next statewide general election.
• A regional SPLOST, under which counties could join together and implement a special one-cent local option sales tax to fund regional transportation needs if a majority of voters in those counties approve.

Both of these recommendations will be introduced in the form of legislation to be considered during the current session and are certain to generate much debate as a solution to traffic congestion in the metropolitan Atlanta area and the need for better highways throughout the state.

• Rep. Kathy Ashe (D-Atlanta) represents the 56th District (Fulton County) in the Georgia House of Representatives. Contact her at 409 Coverdell Office Building, Atlanta, GA  30334; by phone at 404-656-0116 or by e-mail at kathyashe56@mindspring.com.