Morning, y’all! It is Wednesday.
Let’s get to it.
What? Sometimes brevity is a virtue.
WHAT WOULD NO INCOME TAX IN GEORGIA ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE?
State lawmakers are seriously considering eliminating Georgia’s personal income tax. However, supporters and critics paint very different pictures of how that would play out.
Who’s for it, and why:
- Proponents say Georgia should eliminate income tax to stay competitive with other states that have already done so, like Florida, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Texas.
- They also say it will put more money in Georgians’ pockets. “Families in Georgia are having a hard time paying for gas, groceries and child care,” Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, said at a Money committee meeting. “Why would we not be trying to give them a 5% raise overnight?”
- Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has led the charge for income tax elimination. In August, the state Senate formed a committee to investigate the possibility. Tillery leads that committee and is also in favor.
🔎 READ MORE: Georgia’s top Republicans make their case
Who’s against it, and why:
- Critics say eliminating income tax will create a huge hole in Georgia’s revenue stream, likely requiring the state to raise sales taxes and other fees. It could also require cuts to public services.
- The state expects to collect $15.7 billion in income taxes this fiscal year, plus another $3.3 billion in corporate taxes.
- In general, Democratic lawmakers are against it. In a joint statement this week, two senators said Republican supporters “want to jack up taxes on the middle class to give rich people a massive handout.”
Many economists have urged caution. Writing for the AJC, David L. Sjoquist says Georgia should first see how other states fared after eliminating income tax. Some of those states are heavily funded by the federal government, while others have much higher or broader sales and property taxes than Georgia.
🔎 READ MORE: If GA wants to cut income tax, this is one economist’s recommendation
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ONE BIG DONATION, AND WORRIES FOR OTHERS
WABE received a historic $3 million donation from an Atlanta resident upon his death. That’s a massive lifeline for the nonprofit media operation, which is dealing with the loss of $1.9 million in annual funding after Congress defunded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
🔎 READ MORE: How WABE intends to use the gift
Speaking of Atlantans taking care of their own, there’s some concern among charitable circles about Norfolk Southern’s merger with Union Pacific. Norfolk Southern is a major corporate benefactor to Atlanta area charities. Since the combined company will be headquartered in Nebraska, Atlantans wonder if the railroad’s generosity will also shift elsewhere.
🔎 READ MORE: When Norfolk Southern left Virginia for Georgia years ago, similar questions came up
TEACHING KIDS THE WAY OF THE TRASH
Do you compost? We do, kinda, in that we toss scraps of vegetable waste in the back woods for the deer and squirrels. (Sometimes, surprise, a new plant will appear!)
- In five metro Atlanta public school systems, students are getting a much more promising introduction to food waste.
- The Compost Connectors program, formed in partnership with Food Well Alliance, creates school gardens to teach kids about the circle of food life. That includes collecting food scraps, monitoring temperatures and creating nutrient-rich, healthy soil. Plus, they get to play in the dirt!
- The operation just got a $300,000 donation from the Atlanta Falcons Youth Fund, led by the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, to expand its green mission even further.
🍏 READ MORE: How students learn healthy lessons through composting
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
✍🏻 A bill to release files from the Epstein sex trafficking case will head to President Donald Trump’s desk after zooming through the House and Senate yesterday. The House vote was almost unanimous, including Georgia’s entire delegation.
💰 Atlanta City Council approved an oversight commission for Mayor Andre Dickens’ $5 billion plan to boost development in disadvantaged parts of the city. It’s set to meet in January, with findings coming later in 2026.
🚗 Georgia is making tracks in the auto technology field, says the CEO of automaker Rivian. The head of the electric vehicle startup said tech innovation is key in the EV race.
JUST CALL HIM COACH FREEZE
What’s cooler than being The Freeze, the Atlanta Braves’ one and only sprinting mascot? Nigel Talton can tell you.
Talton was the original guy to don the ice blue track suit and blow past unsuspecting fans in the viral in-game “Beat the Freeze” segment. His reign began in 2017, and he hung up his spikes in 2021.
- The AJC caught up with (ha) Talton, and if you can believe it, he’s even more iconic now.
- Talton is in his second year as a paraprofessional for special education students at Cobb County’s McEachern High School, where he also coaches flag football and track.
- He says working with kids with different abilities is his calling. “God made us different, but I feel like they can learn the same way,” Talton said. “I love them, and I love working with them.”
And no, he won’t race you. It’s for your own good.
🧊 READ MORE: Talton’s superhero career arc
Hey, PS: Did you know I write a weekend newsletter completely dedicated to refreshing, positive stories like this from around the South? It’s called Sweet Tea. You should totally subscribe.
NEWS BITES
Falcons-Saints matchup has lost its luster as both languish below .500
So, we fight at the bottom of the barrel. We still wanna fight!
Google wants to use its AI Gemini to turn the search engine into an ‘AI thought partner’
No normal noncorporate person has ever uttered the phrase “AI thought partner.”
Your Atlanta holiday concert guide
A performance of Duke Ellington’s sparkling, genius take on “The Nutcracker Suite”? I am simply too seated.
A solid gold toilet is up for auction
Did you know toilets are made of porcelain because porcelain is durable, easy to clean, non-porous and discourages bacterial growth? Just something to keep in mind.
ON THIS DATE
Nov. 19, 1919
Georgia hog sold for sum of $16,500. Peacock & Hodge … have sold “Orion Cherry King, Jr.,” Duroc-Jersey boar, to the Eastern Arkansas demonstration farm for the sum of $16,500. This is the third largest price ever paid for any one hog in the world, according to available records.
Nope, don’t worry, I’ve already looked it up: Looks like a hog was sold at this year’s Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for more than $500,000. There’s a whole rabbit hole to jump down about livestock sales and hog husbandry, but I, for one, am not brave enough to go any further right now. (Also, Orion Cherry King, Jr. is an incredible name for a hog.)
ONE MORE THING
I also tried to look up “How many gold toilets are there in the world,” but the FBI agent who tracks my Google searches begged me to stop.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
AJ Willingham is an National Emmy, NABJ and Webby award-winning journalist who loves talking culture, religion, sports, social justice, infrastructure and the arts. She lives in beautiful Smyrna-Mableton and went to Syracuse University.
