Adding Up the Fiscal Notes: Closing the Books on 2013
Tax revisions passed by the Georgia Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Nathan Deal this year will cost an estimated  $168 million over five years, draining more scarce resources on top of years of damaging cuts to schools, job… [Read more]

Georgia’s economy is heading in the right direction but still faces an uphill climb to emerge from the wreckage of the Great Recession, as explained in our new Jobs Count fact sheet.
Georgia added more jobs than any state but California and Florida in March, according to the… [Read more]

Georgia’s economy is adding jobs at a strong pace compared to other states, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Only California and Florida added more jobs than Georgia in March and the state’s unemployment rate is now at its lowest point since January… [Read more]

The 2014 budget passed by the General Assembly keeps most of Georgia’s economic development spending unchanged from Gov. Nathan Deal’s recommendation, except for an extra $5 million for business subsidies in rural parts of the state. Georgia is set to spend nearly $104 million in the upcoming budget year… [Read more]

Although reasonable people can disagree about whether supporting private companies is a proper role for the state, a new economic development program called “Invest Georgia”  is an example of how the state policymaking process should work.  The program is designed to assist Georgia-based startup companies gain traction. It will… [Read more]

Crossover Day Report: Tax Revisions Worsen Georgia’s Short-Term Finances
Georgia revenues are expected to drop by about $80 million during the current and upcoming budget years and that number could grow if legislators act on bills that are still pending as the 2013 session of the General Assembly nears an… [Read more]

House Bill 395 (HB 395) would create a complicated new tax break, the Georgia New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC), intended to increase private investment in businesses within low income communities. However, the proposed program’s design is a flawed method for helping low income communities. It would be expensive, overly complex… [Read more]

Two bills under consideration by the General Assembly would create an ambitious new economic development program, “Invest Georgia.” It would direct $100 million in state money over five years to improve Georgia businesses’ access to venture capital – an important form of financing for new companies and entrepreneurs. Senate Bill… [Read more]

Few pieces of state legislation are as obscure and boring, yet important to Georgians’ lives, as the state’s annual alignment with federal tax changes – known as the Internal Revenue Code Update. Yet the annual exercise can add up to real money in the state budget.
Georgia’s revenues are… [Read more]

Contrary to rumors that working families don’t pay their fair share of taxes, Georgia’s state and local taxes actually take a much larger share of income from low- and middle-income families than from the wealthy. That’s among the findings of “Who Pays?” – a new report from the… [Read more]