New Budget, Funding, Rock Eagle, and Public Health

It’s crunch time under the Gold Dome with only three legislative days left in the 2011 legislative session. We’ve been busy this week as the Senate passed the FY 2012 budget. We are passing legislation at a quicker rate, ensuring bills that are good for Georgia are not held up until next year.

I’d like to update you on some of the key legislation currently moving through the process.

The FY 2012 budget totals $18.2 billion. To increase revenues and improve state services, the Senate decided to focus resources on recovering tax dollars due to the state and improve frontline services to citizens and businesses.

The budget adds approximately $23.5 million to increase compliance and recover uncollected taxes. The Department of Revenue estimates that this investment can generate $120 million in FY12 and $230 million in FY13.

The Senate also dedicated funds to improve operations in state departments that provide services to citizens and businesses, such as license plates, business licenses and safety inspections. The Senate and House will now work together to reach a compromise on the final budget.

I’m proud to announce that the 25th Senate District received $2.5 million for the Rock Eagle 4-H center in Putnam County. This historical facility is the largest of five centers operated by the University of Georgia to support the state’s 4-H Program.

We are committed to these facilities where kids learn about the environment and grow to be a responsible adult. We are also allotting $4.6 million for building restoration on the Georgia College and State University campus and funding for several Federal Qualified Health Centers in Baldwin and Putnam Counties.

In other news, I was the Senate sponsor for the Non-covered Dental Services Act, which aims to prohibit any contract between a dental insurer and a dentist that would require the dentist to provide a discount for dental care services not covered under a patient’s dental benefit plan. We are protecting our small businesses from mandates that some simply can’t afford.

I proudly supported legislation to create a new Department of Public Health, which passed the Senate this week. The division is currently housed within the Department of Community Health, and is scheduled to transfer all functions to the new department on June 30 of this year.

The department will be entrusted with the responsibility for the health of communities across the state and the entire population. A nine-member Board of Public Health, appointed by the governor, will establish the general policy to be followed by the department, and a commissioner of Public Health, also appointed by the governor, will serve as the department’s chief administrative officer.

All employees of DCH in the Division of Public Health will become employees of the department, and the department will receive custody of all state-owned real property owned by DCH that pertains to the functions being transferred. I offer my congratulations to the author of the bill, Rep. Mickey Channell of Greensboro who put in hours of work to perfect this legislation.

Rep. Channell has also done a great deal of work on the renovation of the Georgia tax code, which is currently being crafted. The revenue-neutral legislation will begin to shift our current tax code from income based to more consumption based by working to flatten the income tax rate by 20 to 25 percent. Citizens across the state raised concerns about some of these changes.

We took your comments to heart, changing some of the most worrisome provisions. This bill will not eliminate the Senior Income Tax exemption. Rather, the proposal will maintain the current $35,000 ($70,000 for a married couple) exemption.

Additionally, this bill will not tax groceries, prescription medicines, Girl Scout cookies, veterinary services, haircuts, AAA memberships or dry cleaning. Likewise, there will be no increase in cigarette taxes.

The new consumption taxes will include taxes on automobile repair services and casual sales of motor vehicles. It is important to note that Georgia currently taxes parts used in auto repair and at least 21 other states tax the labor, including Florida and Tennessee. Georgia will join 44 other states that already tax casual sales of motor vehicles.

The elimination of the sales tax on energy is also being discussed. Georgia is one of only 14 states in the nation that imposes a sales tax on energy used by manufacturing companies. The details are still being worked out but we hope to see legislation achieve final passage this year.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about my legislation, the budget or changes to the tax structure. Thank you for electing me to represent you, the 25th Senate District.
Sen. Johnny Grant serves as Chairman of the Public Safety Committee. He represents the 25th Senate District and may be reached by phone at 404.656.0082 or by e-mail at johnny.grant@senate.ga.gov.