Leaders in the House have introduced a massive tax reform bill mirroring the recommendations of a citizen-led council, but it is unclear what the final bill will look like or when it will come up for a vote.
HB 385, a 127-page bill introduced Thursday, is a virtual reproduction of the recommendations released last month by the Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness to overhaul the state’s tax code.
The bill would raise sales taxes and lower income taxes, shifting the burden of financing state government toward consumers. Council members believe the change makes the state more attractive to business.
In the process, the bill does away with dozens of sales tax exemptions on everything from home repair to haircuts, raises taxes on cigarettes, and changes the way gasoline and telecommunications are taxed.
House Ways and Means Chairman Mickey Channell, R-Greensboro, and House Majority Leader Larry O'Neal, R-Bonaire, are co-sponsors of the bill.
Channell said legislation passed last year required the bill closely reflect the tax council’s plan. Now legislators serving on a special joint committee will try to find something that can pass both chambers, he said.
Channell said every one of the council’s recommendations likely will not be in the final bill. “At the end of the day, we are going to have to have a consensus,” he said.
House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, serves on the committee and said she is ready to discuss the plan in detail. But she said she expects the final bill “will reflect the goals and the opinions of the majority party.”
The tax council’s plan, developed over six months of public hearings and private negotiation, has drawn fire from conservatives and liberals alike. One of the key sticking points is a recommendation to renew the 4 percent state sales tax on groceries.
The grocery tax is a non-starter for Democrats, Abrams said. House Minority Caucus Chairman Brian Thomas, D-Lilburn, called the plan “very regressive.”
“If there aren’t substantial changes, it is going to be difficult, from my perspective, to support it,” he said.
Republicans hold the majority in both the House and Senate, and GOP leaders have been noncommittal on whether the plan will be taken up this year.
If the joint committee agrees, the bill will move directly to the House and Senate for full votes. Channell said he is moving ahead with plans to have that vote this year.
“Certainly that’s the goal,” he said. “I’ll put it that way.”
About the Author
Chris Joyner is the politics editor. He has been with the AJC since 2010 as a member of the investigations and politics team.
