A recent analysis conducted by the Georgia State University Fiscal Research Center concluded that Georgia House Bill 170 (The Transportation Funding Act of 2015) would raise taxes by more than a billion dollars annually by 2020. Next year, it would constitute a tax hike of at least $703 million.
According to GeorgiaLink Public Affairs lobbyist Trip Martin and House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge), I should have to wear a lobbyist badge for simply expressing these facts.
I reject this assertion and it should offend the sensibilities of everyone who participates in the political process.
As The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported, a well-connected lobbyist has filed a complaint with the Georgia Ethics Commission against myself and Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform for not registering as lobbyists in Georgia. Before the complaint or our response was made public, the Speaker made the same accusation to the press.
These individuals have engaged in common tactics of the American Left. When their arguments and policy proposals encountered legitimate opposition, they sought to intimidate and silence opponents of their tax-and-spend agenda with threatening emails, faxes, and letters. This is unfortunate. And it will not succeed.
Americans for Tax Reform opposes all net tax hikes. We have sponsored the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a written commitment by a politician to their constituents to oppose tax hikes, for more than 25 years. It should come as no surprise that when proposals like House Bill 170 come up for a vote, we are going to exercise our First Amendment rights to explain our opposition. That is precisely what happened in this case.
This gas tax shift and an additional hybrid car tax hike will unquestionably raise costs on families and small businesses in the state of Georgia unless they are offset by tax cuts elsewhere.
Should I have to register as a lobbyist for expressing this opinion? Under the assertions made by Speaker Ralston and Trip Martin, every editorial writer, newspaper columnist, reporter, blogger, author, and public policy expert who expresses a view regarding legislation must register as a Georgia lobbyist. I reject this broad interpretation of the law.
These tactics are common among people who cannot with merit defend their position to the public. They often use the power of the government bureaucracy to silence opinions with which they disagree.
This happens in Washington, D.C. all the time. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeting of conservative and tea party non-profit organizations was only the most recent example of attempts by the Left to silence organizations with a viewpoint that differed from that of the current White House.
For some, the First Amendment is only relevant when it enables the expression of one set of viewpoints.
Ralston and his ally Martin have sought to use government agencies and vague rules to silence critics of their agenda. Unfortunately for them, not only are they wrong about the application of the law but taxpayers aren’t going to sit idly by as this or any other debate plays out.
As Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and other states throughout the South cut taxes and reform government, we will continue to urge the Georgia legislature to do the same.
