England responds to critics of watering bill

First let me say, I appreciate our local water utility folks and the job they do and in no way has this ever been aimed at the job they have done during this drought. They have managed our water resources tremendously well; unfortunately that is not the case across the State. We have had some very bad actors in parts of the State during the drought that have failed to plan ahead. There have been those that for no reason have enacted complete outdoor watering bans because they did not want to answer customer calls asking about restrictions any more. One metro area city water utility management personnel asked their city council to go to a complete outdoor watering ban and when asked what the justification was, the reply was, “it just seems like a good idea” they had no reason to do so. Things like this have cost 35,000 Georgians there jobs in the Green Industry since last August.

I have been working closely with the Georgia Municipal Association to make changes to the Bill as we get it ready for its journey through the Senate. The other parts of the Bill that they are excited about deals with the ability to ask to come out from under the State imposed reduction mandates and drought level imposed restrictions in communities that may be a part of the drought area but have plenty of water to use. Currently and during the last 9 months, there have been many communities asking to come out from under these restrictions but under current law they cannot. This has had a major impact on their budgets as they count on water sales for large portions of their operating revenues. There are also emergency measures that I have added to the Bill also to alleviate many concerns I have heard. I would be more than happy to discuss this or any Bill you may have questions about.

House Resolution 1246, a different measure than we considered last week, was amended to reflect changes in the original proposal that failed last week. The new tax cut bill allows Georgians to vote to eliminate the ‘birthday tax’ on personal vehicles over a two year period, eliminate the state’s portion of the ad valorem taxes on personal vehicles and property, and cap assessments on personal property at 2% per year and commercial property at 3% per year. This version of the bill does not include any new taxes and does not include a cap on the growth of local governments. When this measure is fully implemented, it will save Georgians more than $750 million making it the largest tax cut in Georgia’s history. Again, this Resolution that you will have the opportunity to vote on WILL NOT increase ANY taxes. There will be no additional sales taxes on services of groceries as some sources and organizations have been reporting.

This bill isn’t just good news because it will save taxpayers millions of dollars, but also because it represents the purest form of local control – the power of the voter in the voting booth. Georgians will decide how much in taxes they pay and I am confident ultimately how much they don’t pay in taxes on their birthday each year!

If Georgians vote in November to eliminate the car tax, a separate measure passed this week would apply a $10 fee on every vehicle registered in Georgia so that we can fund a state-wide trauma care network. Rather than paying two or three hundred dollars, Georgians would pay the current $20 registration fee plus $10 toward trauma care. Trauma hospitals are those like Augusta Medical Center that treat the most seriously injured and indigent patients in our state. Unfortunately, there are large areas of our state that are hours from a trauma center. In a life-threatening accident, every minute is a lifetime. It is imperative that we support the trauma hospitals we do have and provide for new ones as they are vital lifelines for so many of our citizens.

Many folks (including the Governor) have been saying that we cannot afford to do these tax cuts due to the economy. The truth is, the first break would start occurring July 1, 2009 if approved by you, the voters of this State, and that would be a one-half reduction in your tag tax and then the full measure would begin July 1, 2010. Since we are talking about the breaks coming in the 2010 and 2011 budget years, we will have plenty of time to plan for that. Even in these lean times, the State revenues continue to grow because our State continues to grow. This Resolution and the enabling Bill will secure a dollar for dollar reimbursement to local counties, cities and school systems. We have heard you loud and clear, you want us to tighten our belts and get control of State spending, we will be doing that too.

We continued this week to make great strides and reforms in education with adoption of the ‘BRIDGE' bill. It is time address our high drop-out rate by giving students options other than attending a 4-year college. House Bill 905 allows schools to partner with the Department of Technical and Adult Education to offer students a chance to take traditional classroom courses while at the same time getting on-the-job training for real world, high demand jobs. School systems can choose to offer such programs to students but would not be required to do so. The legislation makes available grants to schools that do offer such career training programs. Because 30 to 40 percent of our 9th grade students never graduate from high school, I support this bill and look forward to to providing a pathway for our students to become responsible and contributing members of our society.

You may have heard this week that Governor Perdue has lowered the revenue projections for this state. For us in the legislature, this means that we must revise the budgets we have been working on and make spending cuts in some areas. While this does mean we have less money to fund our priorities, I again reiterate that the House remains committed to funding our education needs and we are working diligently to get those funds to our schools. As a member of the Appropriations Sub Committee on Education, I can tell you that we are working hard to get you your money’s worth.

God Bless you and your family.

Representative Terry England represents parts of Barrow county in the House of Representatives. During the Session he may be contacted at:

501 Coverdell Legislative Office Building
Atlanta, GA 30334
Office: 404-656-0183
Email: terry.england@house.ga.gov