The Atlanta Journal-Constitution exposed several key issues in 2013 that lawmakers are expected to debate in 2014. Here’s a few examples of how that coverage is shedding light on the state’s most important issues:
Our coverage: An investigation by the AJC in August found that Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand has increased his pay over the years by profiting from tax collections. Ferdinand earns a 50-cent fee every time his office sells a tax debt to a private collection firm or a taxpayer settles up on a lien. He has been pocketing roughly $22,000 to $31,000 extra per year, which boosted his 2012 pay to about $383,000. County commissioners were unaware of the arrangement until it was exposed by the newspaper.
This session: A bill pending in the Senate would make the Fulton tax commissioner an appointed position starting in 2017. Another measure being drafted would cancel a law dating to the Great Depression that allows tax commissioners to collect 50 cents each time a tax lien is paid off.
Our coverage: Two highly publicized abuse cases in metro Atlanta and a series of articles in the AJC exposed systemic failures to protect Georgia children from abuse and neglect. Dozens of Georgia children die from maltreatment each year despite intervention by the state's child protection agency, the Division of Family and Children's Services. In 2012, the AJC found that DFCS workers did not detect or did not act on signs that foretold the deaths of at least 25 children.
This session: Gov. Nathan Deal's state budget would increase spending on child protection by $27 million over the next three years. Also, the General Assembly will consider legislation to restructure formal reviews of children's deaths under suspicious or unexplained circumstances. The legislation would also improve transparency.
Our coverage: An AJC investigation found Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard used tens of thousands of dollars of forfeiture funds on things that had little to do with putting criminals behind bars. The money, seized from violators of state law, helped pay for office bashes, a wrought-iron security door for Howard's house, and tickets to charity balls and sporting events. State law is supposed to make the forfeiture process open to public scrutiny. Police and sheriff's departments must compile yearly reports on their forfeitures. But only a fraction of Georgia's 159 counties have posted them, and there's no penalty for those who fail to follow. There's no requirements at all for district attorneys to post their records, the AJC found.
This session: Lawmakers may take another look at state Rep. Wendell Willard's proposal to impose limits on how officials can use funds seized from criminal suspects. Legislation would also force more transparency. Deal has directed his staff to find ways to tighten forfeiture spending controls, and the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council may back a major overhaul of state law on forfeiture.
Our coverage: The AJC focused heavily in the past few years on the role of special interests in state government and problems at the state ethics commission. In September the AJC reported accusations that ethics officials let Deal off easy in a case against him. In October, the paper quantified how quickly candidates turn from hometown support to lobbyist backing once they get elected. And in December, the AJC reported the FBI was investigating the ethics commission.
This session: The General Assembly passed historic ethics legislation last year aimed at addressing some of the issues raised by the AJC. This year there are two bills that would dedicate a source of funding for the historically underfunded ethics commission, and another would allow for the creation of statewide grand juries to investigate corruption.
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