Vote NO on All GA Amendments,

by Tea Party of Gilmer County, 10/28/16

I know your time is limited.  If you missed the morning show on FETCHYOURNEWS.com on Thursday, Oct. 27 on FYNTV.com where I went into detail about the problems with the four constitutional amendments, I have gone into detail below about each one. I think the show is also on the FYN website and it was from 10 to 10:45 am.  On the show I broke each amendment down individually in case you have more interest in a specific one. If you get a chance to read them I hope you find the information interesting and informative about how things work down at the Capitol and how we can be duped by the warm and fuzzy ballot language. Joene DePlancke

Amendment No. 1 - Opportunity School Districts

IN A NUTSHELL, this is simply a way to create another agency with a CZAR appointed by the Governor with the power to select up to 20 failing schools per year (100

total) along with taking 3% of the school tax revenue to run this new agency. (This was buried on Page 7 of the amendment.) This new CZAR will have the power to fire the principals but NOT to fire any unqualified teachers and, will NOT have the power to change the evaluation process.  And most importantly, he will not be able to do anything about the extraordinary crime rate in these failing school districts which is the primary reason these districts cannot attract better teachers. So this CZAR will not have the ability to do anything different other than take  away all the control from the local teachers, school board, community and parents along with taking 3% of the money they already have. The state and federal governments already have strings tied to every penny the local jurisdictions receive along with controlling every aspect of the curriculum.  So the State has already failed and this will do nothing but take more of the local money for "administration of another agency," under the guise of doing "something for the children." What would be more beneficial would be for the state to provide an additional 3% for after school tutoring, providing late busses so that students can stay after for homework and additional instruction and have access to tools they may not have at home.   These schools need funds to think outside the box, not a CZAR to take over control.  The teachers and people in these districts care about their schools, their jobs, their children.  But until you do something about the extraordinary crime in these areas, there will be little improvement.  The Governor is putting the emphasis on the wrong problem. However, the State of Georgia has received the third highest amount of funds from the Federal Government since 2009 to fix failing schools and apparently with poor results. I would like to see where and how they spent all this money.  Bet it went into the General Fund..... But I also wonder if the sudden attempt to create Opportunity School Districts isn't somehow related to the receipt of these funds.  Maybe the State has been asked to return them???  You know what they say....Follow the money.  Maybe this is why our State Senators voted against this over and over again until the last vote. Something happened down there.

AMENDMENT NO. 2 - VOTE NO.

Amendment Two would create the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited  Children Fund, to provide rehabilitative and social services to children  who have been sexually exploited. It would draw those funds from  additional fines placed on convicted  sex traffickers and an annual  $5,000 fee on adult entertainment businesses. This sounds really good.  However, the wording in the actual text says the State  "MAY" create this fund and may spend this money to provide assistance to victims of sexual exploitation.  The operative word here is MAY which means that they also "MAY NOT".  So this amendment would give them the right to collect the money and  require these people to pay it, but would NOT require the state to use it for this purpose. And if you look at many, many other laws passed in the state of Georgia that create ways that revenue is collected and MAY BE USED for something, most of the time that money simply goes to the General Fund and never is used for the intended purpose that you were led to believe.  Lawyers spend a great deal of time wording these amendments and if they TRULY WANTED the funds to go to this purpose then it would

have said SHALL be used. The extra money you pay when you buy your tags is a perfect example.  You know the funds, like Save the Wetlands, Spay or Neuter, Save the Hemlocks, etc.  The last time I checked not one penny in all these past years has gone to any of these charities or causes.  All of the money has gone into the General Fund and used however the State saw fit because the wording was "MAY use the funds for ...." and the State chose to not use them for those purposes. BOTTOM LINE:  We should not need a constitutional amendment to appropriate funds to good causes. VOTE NO.

Amendment No. 3 - Vote No.

Amendment Three would allow state lawmakers to abolish the Judicial  Qualifications Commission, the watchdog agency that polices the state's  judges.  It would then

create a commission of legislative appointees.  These appointees would be appointed by the Governor, state legislators, and the Speaker of the House. Is this not like letting the fox into the hen house? It seems to me I learned in 9th grade Civics class (which they don't have any more because our Federally run education system doesn't want educated voters) about the three branches of Government that they were supposed to be separate and have separate powers so that they could police each other. If the person that appoints the judges, i.e. the Governor, now gets to use his power to appoint the people that oversee complaints filed against judges and have the power to remove judges, it seems that the Governor and his appointees will totally control the judicial system. The Judicial Qualifications Commission may need to be overhauled, but we do not need a Constitutional Amendment to abolish it and create a new commission that would take all oversight away from the "people." This is just another way to take away more of our rights and control and give it to the State.  The State of Georgia received a grade of "D" on our ethics in state government.  The only reason we didn't get an "F" is because we have this judicial oversight commission.  Don't let them take that away from us. VOTE NO

Amendment No. 4 - Vote No.

Amendment Four would dedicate funds raised through excise taxes on  fireworks in the state to funding trauma care, equipment and training  for firefighters and local public safety efforts.First, the ballot language seems to be very misleading.  The summary says would take "EXISTING TAXES ON FIREWORKS" yet the bill says it will dedicate funds from 'EXCISE taxes on fireworks which is very different.  The excise taxes are charged to the vendor selling the fireworks when he purchases them.  The vendor then can either pass that EXCISE tax along to the consumer or not.  If he does pass it on, the sales receipt must indicate both the sales tax and the excise tax, but he doesn't have to pass it on. So, not really sure what the pool of funds will be, will it be taking the excise taxes the vendor pays which really doesn't make any sense as he may have paid them to a vendor in China so how would state collect them?  And, if this amendment applies to the EXCISE taxes the vendor collects from the consumer, I wonder how much that will really be since the vendor does not have to pass that tax on? Second, the language on the ballot fails to tell the voter what percentages will be used for each category.  So if you think this is a good idea because Gilmer  County, or your county, may receive funds for local safety efforts, if you knew the real facts that would probably not amount to much as only 5% of the amount collected would be available to the local counties.  And since we have 159 counties in Georgia sharing this 5% (and it will probably be distributed based on population) will not amount to much .. you do the math. Only good part of this amendment is that it actually says "SHALL" create the fund and "SHALL" use the money.  SEE, THEY DO KNOW HOW TO WRITE THE LANGUAGE SO THAT IT IS REQUIRED TO BE USED FOR THE INTENDED PURPOSE! BUT, do we really need a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT to make the legislature fund trauma care and provide training and equipment for firefighters?  Remember, they are already receiving this money, this would just make them use it for something worthwhile. So are they telling us that we can't count on the legislature to do what is right or necessary without a Constitutional Amendment?  If so, we need a new legislature. We do not need to keep modifying the constitution and adding amendments just to appropriate funding.  That is the primary reason they are sent to Atlanta.  We need to STOP adding to the bureaucracy. VOTE NO

As always, if you have any suggestions or ideas for our meetings, you can email Frank at Oglesby@ellijay.com, or Joene at joene@ellijay.com Joene DePlancke, Vice Chairman joene@ellijay.com