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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2007 > January > 11
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Ethics panel will include Richardson appointees
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
House Speaker Glenn Richardson has reappointed half of the voting members to an ethics panel that could ultimately act on a serious conflict-of-interest complaint against him.
The Republican speaker reappointed two Democrats and two Republicans to the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee this week. The appointments were announced at a news conference today.
House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) warned earlier this week that Richardson should stay out of the process.
“He would have to recuse himself in making the appointments since the allegations are against him,” Porter argued.
Richardson’s aides, however, pointed out that Georgia’s ethics law requires the speaker to appoint four members — two from each political party — to the committee. The General Assembly passed the law in 2005, creating the panel to handle conflict-of-interest complaints against lawmakers.
“The legislation that created this committee is the strongest ethics bill in Georgia’s history, and DuBose Porter supported it,” said Richardson spokeswoman Clelia Davis. “We would hope that Rep. Porter has confidence in the members of his party who were appointed to this committee and in the legislation for which he voted.”
State Democratic Party chairman Bobby Kahn mailed a complaint to the committee last Friday, alleging Richardson had an “inappropriate personal” relationship with an Atlanta Gas Light lobbyist while cosponsoring a bill that would have financed a $300 million pipeline for the utility. Kahn has so far declined to disclose any evidence he might have.
Richardson has denied he had a conflict of interest but has refused to confirm or deny the alleged relationship.
Richardson named Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta) and Reps. Lynn Ratigan Smith (R-Newnan), Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus) and Gerald Greene (D-Cuthbert) to the ethics panel.
Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) appointed the other four voting members: Sens. Seth Harp (R-Midland), Jack Hill (R-Reidsville), Michael S. Meyer Von Bremen (D-Albany) and George Hooks (D-Americus).
Johnson announced the appointments, while outlining how the ethics panel handles complaints. He did not refer directly to Kahn’s allegations and refused to take questions about them.
A three-member panel would first decide if there are “reasonable grounds” for the full ethics committee to investigate a complaint, Johnson said. That review panel would consist of Johnson, another senator and a Republican House member other than Richardson, Johnson said.
“What we have tried to do is design a system (in which) frivolous or political methods were kept off of the front pages,” Johnson said. “If there are reasonable grounds, then hearings and an investigation occur.”
Johnson and Richardson co-chair the ethics committee and vote only in the case of a tie. Under state law, Richardson must step aside when the panel hears the complaint against him. The committee has the power to summon any person to appear and give sworn testimony and produce documents or other evidence.
The committee has power only to refer the matter to law enforcement, in the case of a criminal act, and make recommendations to the full House and Senate, Johnson said.
By holding a press conference today, Johnson — who has clashed with Richardson in the past — kept the ethics complaint in the news. Numerous television, newspaper and political Web site reporters covered Johnson’s event. Asked if any House-Senate rivalry played a role in the news conference, Johnson said no.
“The speaker,” Johnson said, “is a friend.”
Permalink | | Categories: politics
House Speaker proposes overhaul of taxes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson is floating a radical proposal to wipe out property taxes across the state in favor of a 5 percent flat income tax and a 5 percent “consumption” tax.
Declaring the state’s tax system is “broken,” the Republican speaker said the switch to a flat tax could boost spending in the state and result in an overall tax reduction for Georgians.
“It simplifies the tax structure. It is radical, and I think it is 21st century thinking,” Richardson (R-Hiram) said this week in a wide-ranging interview that also touched on a serious ethics complaint he is battling.
Under the proposal, all existing property taxes — including those on real estate — would be eliminated. Georgians would instead pay a 5 percent state income tax, with some exceptions for the poor, and a 5 percent consumption tax on goods and services. Local governments and school boards would not lose any money under the new system, Richardson said.
The idea comes from a former economic policy adviser to President Reagan whom Richardson recently hired to study overhauling Georgia’s tax system. Richardson has started working with Arthur B. Laffer , an economist considered by many as the “father of supply-side economics.” Along with Laffer, the speaker has hired Donna Arduin, a former fiscal advisor to several governors, including Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Jeb Bush of Florida.
“The change in the tax system will generate more economic activity and more jobs in the state and those things generate more taxes,” said Arduin, a partner with Arduin, Laffer & Moore, an economic consulting firm with offices in Florida, California and Washington, D.C. “We will provide our estimates of those numbers and let the speaker and the policy makers decide what to do with them.”
Arduin and Laffer will report back to Richardson by the end of March, Arduin said.
Richardson’s political action committee, MMV Alliance Fund, is paying Laffer and Arduin’s firm the initial $50,000 cost of its study through private donations, a spokeswoman for Richardson said.
The speaker, a presumed candidate for governor in 2010, said he will likely introduce a measure during this year’s legislative session to put the tax cut idea on the table, but he doesn’t expect a vote on it until 2008. He has also asked Laffer and Arduin to study various other tax cut proposals floating around the State Capitol.
House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta), for example, announced Monday that he plans to introduce legislation this month to wipe out or substantially cut the car tag tax. And Rep. Steve Davis (R-McDonough) introduced a bill this week that would wipe out the state income tax but increase the state’s sales and use tax from 4 percent to 8 percent.
During his State of the State address Wednesday, Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue signaled he is open-minded about tax reforms, though he is focusing on a retirement income tax cut for the elderly.
“I think we all agree that we need to take a long, hard, comprehensive look at tax policy,” Perdue said, “and to come up with a fair approach that meets our needs and spurs economic development in Georgia.”
Democrats are urging a cautious approach.
“Let’s walk cautiously,” said Rep. Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus), chairman of the House Minority Caucus. “I don’t want to rush into anything. When it comes to taxation, all things should be put on the table and there should be a lot of discussion across the aisle. It does not need to become a political football.”
For weeks, Richardson has been promoting some type of flat income tax, but he only recently began fleshing out the idea and citing numbers in public. Meanwhile, the speaker is vowing that he won’t let a stinging ethics complaint he is facing distract him from seeking a complete reform of the state’s tax code.
In its complaint, the state Democratic Party is alleging that Richardson had an “inappropriate” and “personal” relationship with a lobbyist for Atlanta Gas Light last year while co-sponsoring a bill that would have financed a $300 million pipeline for the utility. The Democratic Party says the alleged relationship “constituted a clear conflict of interest” for the speaker.
Richardson has denied he had a conflict of interest but has so far refused to confirm or deny the alleged relationship with the AGL lobbyist.
“I don’t remember my enemies very long. It takes twice as much energy to remember who your enemies are than to just go forward with your friends today,” Richardson said. “I am not saying I don’t forget people who have done wrong. But you can’t dwell on that.
“I am going to change the tax structure, or do my dead level best,” he added. “And I’m going to increase Georgia’s education scores. … Those are two big things that I think Georgians want.”
Richardson indicated he would elaborate on his education proposal at a later date.
Permalink | | Categories: politics
Harp files Sunday alcohol sales bill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including several Senate committee chairmen, are pushing legislaton to let voters decide if they want to allow Sunday beer and wine sales at grocery and convenience stores.
The bill, filed Thursday, would give voters in each county the option of approving Sunday sales.
Sen. Seth Harp (R-Midland) said this morning he would sponsor a bill to let local communities decide whether grocery and convenience stores should be able to sell beer and wine on Sundays.
Harp made the announcement in the Senate, saying that allowing communities to vote on the issue would let them have “local control of local issues.”
“I believe strongly that we as senators have a responsibility first to the citizens of our districts,” he said. “The opportunity to let them make that decision is among the most fundamental rights that exist in our form of government.”
Permalink | Comments (24) | Categories: Liquor Laws
Bill targets Internet “phishers”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia General Assembly is going after Internet “phishers.”
Sen. Cecil Staton (R-Macon) introduced Senate Bill 24 today, a bill that criminalizes the practice of sending false e-mails to lure unsuspecting consumers into giving up personal data.
Scam artists send out authentic-looking e-mails, in an attempt to extract confidential information such as bank account and credit card numbers, to Internet users. The e-mails often direct consumers to phony Web sites that claim to represent legitimate businesses. The practice is known as “phishing,” — luring victims into identity theft and fraud.
SB 24 makes such scams a felony, and establishes penalties ranging from prison sentences of one to 20 years to fines of $1,000 to $500,000.
The bill was assigned to a Senate committee today.
Permalink | | Categories: Criminal justice
New Voter ID measure introduced
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The fight over photo voter ID - which has been in a holding pattern in both state and federal court - is ready to resume.
Sen. Cecil Staton (R-Macon) today introduced Senate Resolution 4, a measure to amend the Georgia Constitution to allow the General Assembly to put in place “procedures for voting to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the election process.”
If passed by the Legislature, SR 4 would go before voters in a 2008 referendum. It would then allow the Legislature to enact a law requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls.
Past attempts by the Legislature to pass a photo ID law have been tossed by the courts. A Superior Court judge in Fulton ruled last year the law violates the state Constitution.
In an interview, Staton said that while he does not believe the law is unconstitutional, the amendment to the state Constitution would leave no doubt about the Legislatures’ authority to require photo ID.
“It clarifies what some believe to be vagueness in the Constitution,” he said. “I believe Georgians care about this issue.”
Republicans have said photo voter ID is necessary to prevent voter fraud, but civil rights groups have said it’s a ploy to suppress minority, elderly and poor voters who tend to vote Democrat.
Staton’s resolution was assigned to a Senate committee today.
Permalink | Comments (37) | Categories: Voting
