Session Roundup: Cells, Taxes, Teacher Pay Hikes Make Deadline
by
Maggie Lee
Georgia Online News Service
The Georgia legislature's agenda is set for its last 10 working days, with some late-night decisions on what's squeaked in the door for 2009 consideration and for what's been shut out.
A sales tax hike is in the mix, as is another levy on cigarettes and a change for vehicle ad valorem taxes. Legislators who owe income tax might be forced to fess up, but homebuyers could get an income tax credit. The prospect of embryonic stem cell creation might get destroyed.
The House voted to ax annual vehicular ad valorem taxes -- the so-called "birthday tax" -- that counties collect on the value of a car. It would be replaced with a one-time title fee of 7 percent of the sale price, capped at $2,000 and shared between state and local government. That will be a savings for most car buyers, according to the bill's supporters.
"If you hold a car for five to seven years, you will get your money back" on a car at the average price of $8,000, says Rep. Tom Rice (R-Norcross). 7
The bill appears to favor buyers of the most expensive cars. Cars under about $30,000 would cost seven percent in taxes. All other car buyers would pay $2,000, no matter the value of the car.
The House's own estimate says that the measure would result in an overall decrease in revenues after 2011, leaving opponents to ask which programs will get cut if tax collection decreases.
Tobacco buyers may face more taxes: 37 cents on a pack of 20 cigarettes; for cigars, an amount equal to 23 percent of the wholesale price; for smokeless tobacco, 10 percent of the wholesale price. The state will collect the fees from tobacco sellers, who will no doubt pass the cost to the users. The House passed the bill 166 to 2.
In a vote nearly as lopsided, the House agreed to an income tax credit for the purchase of single-family homes. It would come to 1.2 percent of the value of the house, capped at $3,600. It's good whether the house is a residence or an investment. Old and new construction as well as foreclosures are eligible.
"We can't fix this [economic slump] ... unless we take some inventory off the market," said supporter Rep. Virgil Fludd (D-Tyrone).
The biggest tax change still on the agenda is a possible statewide 1-cent sales tax to pay for transport construction and upgrades. That plan, passed by the House last week, is thought to be in competition with another transport plan favored by the governor. The governor's plan would gut the Georgia Department of Transportation and try to improve transport on a similar budget, administered by a new agency. The Senate passed the governor's plan last week. The two sides may come to a compromise in committee, which might include groups of counties levying the tax in order to pay for transport projects.
Perhaps the most embarrassing tax measure would allow the Georgia Department of Revenue to publish the names of legislators who are behind on their taxes. The measure was a last minute addition to a Senate bill on campaign finance. It's in response to a new report that 22 legislators are behind on their state taxes. The vote was unanimous.
"Elected officials should be held to the same standard as every other Georgian in filing and paying their taxes. This is even more critical as legislators themselves craft tax policy on a regular basis," said Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.
Another last-minute Senate measure proclaims that Georgia's physicians and scientists may only create in vitro human embryos for the purpose of treating infertility, not for any scientific research. That would include embryonic stem cell research.
The controversial bill passed only after a late-afternoon rewrite by Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome) on the last day for new legislation.
His last minute amendments narrowed the bill's language to specify that in vitro human embryos may only be created to treat infertility; they may not be created by cloning nor in so-called "chimera" experiments -- mixing human and animal gametes.
Smith called scientific work on human embryos "destructive research" and compared it to the experiments of Nazi doctor Joseph Mengele and the Tuskegee experiments of the 1930s and 40s, during which doctors withheld penicillin from a group of African American men infected with syphilis in order to watch the progression of the disease.
Opponent Sen. David Adelman (D-Atlanta) says it's the ban on research that is actually inhuman.
"It sends a signal to the people of this state who are suffering themselves whether it be Alzheimer's or Parkinson's or spinal cord injuries or cancer ... it's telling them, 'When it comes to your state, you've got no hope. We're going to close the door on science.'"
During the first debate, Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta) suggested the bill was bad for Georgia's bioscience business; several major firms plus the University System of Georgia oppose it.
"I feel this would be terrifically damaging" to Georgia's economy and competitiveness, Orrock said.
The bill could also result in the state of Georgia becoming custodian of frozen embryos. It criminalizes the destruction of human embryos, even extra ones left over after infertile couples succeed in the chancy process of implanting a viable embryo with a surrogate mother.
On the very same day as the Senate debate, the House voted that people should be able to put embryos up for adoption.
"I think that's an option we need to provide to parents," said bill author Rep. James Mills (R-Gainesville).
New elementary and secondary school teachers are on track to receive the 10 percent salary premium that their peers get for holding a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification. The House attempted to kill the extra pay in the name of saving money.
Rep. DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) didn't buy it.
"You know where we rank in education. Always near the bottom," he said, ahead of the 92-79 vote.
Environmentalists won some victories as well. The House voted 109-53 to require that multifamily homes built after 2010 must include separate water meters for each unit. That way, each resident can see their own water use and have an incentive to save, said proponents.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) would rather see local government set building codes.
"I would consider that trumping local control," he said.
The Senate passed a measure that defines the barrier around a tidal creek prevents digging ponds in that fragile area.
The Senate also shot down a measure that would have required administrative judges to defer to the opinion of the state Board of Natural Resources in their decisions. The failure of the bill ensures judicial independence, say environmentalists.
The House and Senate now have 10 working days to decide on bills coming from their opposite numbers. The last day of the legislative session is Apr. 3.
Maggie Lee specializes in quality of life topics, Atlanta's international communities and general reporting. She covers Georgia economic development and the Chinese community as a stringer for China Daily and chronicles life in Georgia's most diverse county for the DeKalb Champion. [full bio]
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