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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February > 11 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USHR 1 to return from exile
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
House Resolution 1, that mythical proposition that would cap increases in property tax assessments, will return from its exile in Rules Committee on Thursday.
That committee voted this morning to send the proposed constitutional amendment back to the floor — but this time with some back-up.
The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Edward Lindsey (R-Atlanta) was originally supposed to have been voted on Day 10 of the session, back in January. But its supporters pulled it when there were doubts they had the necessary two-thirds vote. It was sent back to Rules, and there it has languished.
But Friday, the Rules Committee voted to send it back to the floor. Accompanying it this time will be House Bill 233, also sponsored by Lindsey, which does much the same thing as HR 1. HB 233, according to Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simon) would essentially freeze counties and local governments from increasing assessments at all for the next two years.
Rules chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) said Wednesday that HR 1 will come up for a vote first. If it gets two-thirds of the chamber, great. If it does not, then HB 233 will come up, which only needs a simple majority vote.
Some lawmakers have already begun to question why one measure (HR 1) requires a constitutional amendment and the other (HB 233) does not, yet they both apparently do much the same thing, which is tell local governments what they can and cannot do.
That question, surely, will be a hotly debated one on the floor Thursday, should HR 1 fail.
The question is whether House Resolution 1, sponsored by Rep. Edward Lindsey (R-Atlanta), comes up for a vote in the chamber today. The resolution, you might recall, would cap local governments’ ability to reassess property, thereby ensuring that homeowners don’t face steep tax increases in a down economy.
But the resolution, which requires a two-thirds vote of the House as it is a proposed constitutional amendment, was on the House calendar for this past Friday. But, instead of debating it as expected, the House abruptly adjourned for the weekend.
The word late Friday and over the weekend was that the Republican majority didn’t have the votes to get the bill to the Senate and leadership wanted the weekend to try and change hearts and minds.
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