Gov. Nathan Deal kept his distance from the General Assembly's failed effort at reforming the state tax system, but lately he has indicated he might become more involved in the coming months.
"Obviously he is very interested in it," Deal spokesman Brian Robinson said Friday. “We will be involved in any discussions."
Robinson said Deal would be interested in seeing more elements of his "Real Prosperity" plan from his election campaign inserted into the tax reform talks. That plan includes a reduction in the corporate income tax rate, tax breaks for new businesses and an elimination of tax liability for people with less than $7,000 taxable income, among other changes.
In public comments this week, Deal said he is willing to add tax reform to the agenda for this summer's redistricting session -- under certain circumstances.
"If the scope of the package is pretty well defined in advance and the leadership in the House and the Senate think they have it within a smaller type package that is more manageable and will not get into a prolonged session based on that, then I think that enhances the ability to be added to the call," he said in remarks before the Atlanta Press Club on Wednesday. "Otherwise, I don’t think we need to take the chance that we’re going to keep people in session all the last part of summer and into fall."
House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, took tax reform off the table after an 11th-hour push by House Republican leaders to wedge a bill into the final days of the regular session.
The bill was plucked from a much broader set of recommendations by a citizen-led special council. The plan would have lowered the state income tax rate, broadened the use of sales tax and included numerous perks designed to attract new business.
Democrats lambasted the idea as a poorly crafted plan that would raise taxes on the middle class, and Republicans developed a deep distrust of the underlying numbers in the plan.
House Majority Leader Larry O'Neal, R-Bonaire, is keen to renew the effort this summer rather than wait until 2012, but others are more cautious. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bill Heath, R-Bremen, said he is reluctant to take up tax reform in the politically charged atmosphere of redistricting -- an opinion also shared by House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta.
"While reforming tax policy is important to me, and vital to Georgians, I'm not sure that it would be beneficial to mix the two important issues," Heath said last week after the tax plan was declared dead for the session.
House Ways and Means Chairman Mickey Channell, R-Greensboro, said nothing has changed since the session was gaveled to a close.
"Quite frankly, since sine die I have not been back to Atlanta or had discussions with the governor or majority leader or anybody else about the matter," he said. "It was a long, hard session, and my guess is most people are similar to me and are trying to decompress. After we have time to catch our breath, we’ll start looking at things going forward.”
Channell said any contribution from the governor "is certainly something we would consider."
Staff writer Aaron Gould Sheinin contributed to this article.
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