I want you to understand what happened
in this past legislative session. Gov. Deal advocated to increase taxes on
everyday Georgians for transportation, but pushed to give even more tax breaks
to big corporations. He does whatever big business wants. Legislative leaders
went along with it. This session has been the biggest assault on tax-payers and
liberty since the Republicans took over the Gold Dome. This session we saw Gov.
Deal break his promise about supporting a religious liberty bill and both Speaker
Ralston and Lt. Gov. Cagle refused to stand up for religious liberty and in
fact blocked the RFRA. They threw religious liberty under the bus in order to
get the Democrats vote on the massive transportation tax increase.
We saw Gov. Deal push for an education
plan that would usurp local control and grant even more power to the Executive
branch in regard to schools. We all need to strongly oppose that plan when it
is up for a vote in 2016. Gov. Deal does not deserve more power and I thought
Republicans believed in local control.
We saw Speaker David Ralston and Rep.
Barry Fleming attempt an Obama type assault on the First Amendment rights and
seeking to silence groups from speaking out about issues and pointing out
voting records of elected official 180 days before an election. We watched
Speaker Ralston defend his action even as those sections of SB127 were going
down in flames.
A big thank you to Rep. Pezold for his
reaction to the bill that contained the tax-payer subsidies for big business,
"After it passed in the House, Rep. John Pezold, R-Fortson, mouthed “for
shame.”
Tax breaks approved in General
Assembly’s final hours Updated: 11:48 p.m. Thursday, April 2, 2015 | Posted:
8:42 p.m. Thursday, April 2, 2015 By James Salzer - The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
The General Assembly waited until the
final hours of the 2015 session Thursday to consider the traditional lineup of
special-interest tax break bills, giving final approval to a last-minute deal
for Mercedes-Benz workers with little debate.
Among the proposals approved on the
last day were tax breaks for contractors working on projects in historic
districts, for a private college and for companies that invest in both
low-income neighborhoods and high-tech startups.
The Mercedes-Benz tax break bill was
brought up and rushed through the chambers in the last few minutes of the
session. The Senate sponsor didn’t even mention the tax breaks in his
presentation. It passed the Senate after midnight, the traditional end to the
session.
After it passed in the House, Rep. John
Pezold, R-Fortson, mouthed “for shame.” Such tax breaks are routinely approved
late on the 40th and final day of the session. They typically cost the state
$50 million to $150 million a year in lost revenue.
Gov. Nathan Deal requested a last-minute
add-on to House Bill 202, which deals with property taxes, assessments and
appeals. It would keep the 800 or so Mercedes-Benz headquarters employees from
having to pay taxes on the cars they lease.
Instead, the executives and staffers
would get special license plates at a cost of $62. State officials estimated
the tax break would cost about $1.2 million a year.
House Bill 202 was called this year’s
Christmas Tree for taxes, a term given to legislation that has new provisions
and failed bills attached to it and usually gets approved in the waning hours
of the session.
Lawmakers also tacked on a sales tax
break of up to $350,000 on the purchase of construction materials by
Truett-McConnell College, a private Baptist school in Cleveland, Ga. That tax break
was pushed by Sen. Bruce Thomspon, R-White, who is a trustee of the college. Thompson
presented the bill to the Senate, but he didn’t mention the tax break for his
school.
“The current TATV (tax) regulation
would hurt Mercedes, which has an employee leasing program,” said Deal’s chief
of staff, Chris Riley. “The governor is supporting a solution. However, he will
veto a bill that comes to him resembling a Festivus pole.”
Mercedes-Benz USA confirmed earlier
this year that it would build a new headquarters in Sandy Springs. The company
said it plans a $93 million campus and will relocate or create 800 to 1,000
jobs. The incentive package — such as tax breaks — was valued at about $27,000
per job. State officials said the average pay for headquarters employees is
expected to be more than $78,000.
Other tax bills also won approval
earlier Thursday. House Bill 308, to raise the tax credit available for
rehabilitation projects in historic districts, easily won final approval. The
measure was sponsored by Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, for a local
development. The bill would allow developers to get up to a $10 million
historic preservation tax credit.
The bill was being pushed to support
the conversion of a former Savannah Electric Power Co. generation plant into a
luxury hotel. Other projects will also benefit, preservationists said, noting
that a few are already in the development pipeline.
The House gave final approval Thursday
night to House Bill 339, which would extend the tax credit program for
interactive gaming producers. It would authorize up to $12.5 million a year for
such producers and their affiliates.
In the final hour lawmakers sent Deal
House Bill 439, a measure that would provide $110 million in tax credits in
exchange for investing in low-income communities and small businesses.
The tax credits would be split between
a state version of the controversial “New Markets” federal tax credit program
and Invest Georgia, a venture capital fund that is a top priority for Lt. Gov.
Casey Cagle, the Senate’s president.
Supporters say the tax credit program
would boost small businesses, back high-tech startups, and create jobs. Opponents
say at least the “New Markets” portion of the bill bears too much resemblance
to the old CAPCO investment programs in other states that wound up making huge
profits for a few large capital firms, or CAPCOs, that handled the money.
The tax credits would be given out over
several years. Half of the tax credits would go to Invest Georgia, which was
launched in 2013 with hopes that ponying up state dollars could attract enough
venture capital to help transform Georgia into a tech hub.
Source: Debbie Dooley, Atlanta Tea Party
Leader
https://www.facebook.com/groups/newgagopleaders/permalink/799281773488254/
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