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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February > 17
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Perdue changes tune on homeowner relief grants
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue reversed course and will fund legislation that will avoid homeowners getting a supplemental $200-$300 tax bill later this year.
However, he also told reporters Tuesday that the continued recession is forcing him to lower the amount of money the state will be able to spend this year by $450 million, forcing a new round of budget cuts.
Perdue was joined by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) when he announced backing for the $428 million needed to pay for the homeowners’ relief grants that were handed out last fall.
Perdue opposes the grant program started by his predecessor Roy Barnes a decade ago. But the influx of billions of dollars expected from the federal stimulus package helped convince him to fund the $200 to $300 grants homeowners received on their tax bills last fall.
County officials have said if the $428 million wasn’t made available, they would have to send out supplemental bills asking for the grant money back.
However, the news on the budget front wasn’t all good. Despite the expected stimulus package, lawmakers will have to cut even more spending.
Lawmakers already face the prospect of slashing $2 billion from this year’s budget. Many state agencies are having to cut spending 10 percent and furlough employees without pay.
They expected further cuts in the revenue estimate - what Perdue expects state government to take in this year - after January tax collections dropped 14 percent, or $262 million.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Taxes
Farmers push peanuts at the Capitol
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Peanut farmer Ken Hardy of Hawkinsville has seen his boiled peanut sales drop 30 percent in the last three weeks. The nationwide salmonella outbreak linked to one Georgia peanut processing plant has sent negative ripples throughout the industry.
“It’s not the peanuts, ” Hardy said. “The peanuts are good. The farmer’s are doing a good job,” he said.
The outbreak, which has sickened hundreds and possibly led to nine deaths, has hurt sales for many farmers and spurred peanut producers to stick up for their products Tuesday at a “Peanut Power Hour” at the Capitol.
On display were peanut butter crackers, boiled peanuts, apples and peanut butter and regular roasted goobers.
Legislators joined the PR effort. Rep. Kevin Levitas (D-Atlanta) held a jar of Smucker’s crunchy peanut butter and ate some in front of the cameras.
Perhaps the most significant person who ate peanut butter was nine-year-old Caleb Godwin, whose mother let him.
“We feel like it’s been taken care of,” his mother Kimberly Godwin said. Peanut butter in jars has not been part of the product recall.
Godwin, a fourth-grader at Calvary Chapel Christian School, ate a small cup and stashed a pack of peanut butter crackers in his coat pocket too.
“It’s one of the few things he will eat,” his mother said.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Legislature
HR 1 just … won’t … die
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The House moments ago voted to reconsider HR 1, the seemingly immortal legislation that would cap county property assessment increases at no more than 3 percent a year.
By a vote of 101-58, House Republicans managed to give one more life to the resolution. Earlier in the session, HR 1 was shuttled back to committee when its backers realized they didn’t have the two-thirds vote necessary to advance a constitutional amendment.
Last week, then, they tried again and, sure enough, they didn’t have the votes, as Democrats largely held together and the resolution failed with a 105-67 vote (yes, a majority, no, not the two-thirds majority needed).
Today’s vote (which only required a majority of those in the chamber) means the resolution goes back to the Rules Committee, which could vote to bring it back to the House pretty much any time. When it does come back, however, it will still need a two-thirds vote to make it out — a dubious proposition.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Legislature
U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson says spend stimulus wisely
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Stimulus money is coming to Georgia, and United States Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) urged the Georgia Senate to spend it wisely on Tuesday.
Isakson made brief remarks to senators Tuesday morning while fellow U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) looked on. Chambliss did not make remarks.
“There will be significant money coming to Georgia,” Isakson said.
“Don’t get used to it, and don’t get dependent on it,” he said. It is a one-time deal.
Isakson said the money would help on the Medicaid front and the transportation front, but that the state still needs to come up with ways to pay for those programs on its own.
“I know you will spend it wisely,” Isakson said.
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UPDATED Georgia’s Big Three plan 1:30 budget announcement
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) will gather together at 1:30 this afternoon for a budget announcement. Could it be “stimulating?”
UPDATE: It’s expected that Perdue will support funding homeowners’ tax relief grants for this year. Without the $428 million in funding, counties would have to send out supplemental tax bills to homeowners in the range of $200 to $300.
Ordinarily, such an appointment would not be that big of a deal. But, three things make this one different.
First, any budget announcement from Perdue right now is a big deal, considering the state’s dire financial straits. He could lower the revenue estimate further, prompting the Legislature to have to make deeper cuts to state programs and services. Second, it’s all three of these men together that raises an eyebrow. Whatever they’re going to announce, apparently all three are in agreement — a rare enough occasion.
But, finally, it very well could be that the trio are going to unveil their plans for the nearly $6 billion in federal money coming to the state via the $787 billion federal economic stimulus bill that President Barack Obama is signing into law today.
Of that money, about $1.5 billion will go directly to the state, through Perdue, and can be used for K-12 spending, public safety and other areas.
Stay tuned for more after the 1:30 announcement.
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