Last month’s state revenue surge of 13 percent, compared to April of last year, is more a one-time result of federal tax changes implemented as part of the “fiscal cliff” tax and spending deal than a sign of a booming economy for Georgia. With the top federal income tax … [Read more]

The U.S. House’s Agriculture Committee passed a farm bill this week that would cut more than $20 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) and other nutrition services. The cuts pose a threat to thousands of Georgia families struggling to put food on… [Read more]

Tax breaks should be decided on their merits, not based on the pull of powerful lobbyists.
Unfortunately, the governor seems to have taken the opposite course this month in his treatment of two sales tax exemptions.
While he vetoed renewal of a sales tax exemption for food donated to… [Read more]

Categories: Alan Essig, Author, Blog, State Taxes | Comments (1)

Opponents of Medicaid expansion are misrepresenting the findings of a new study to argue that Georgia and other states shouldn’t extend this vital health coverage to more people without health insurance.
Contrary to what some in the anti-expansion camp argue, the study – which updates findings from an earlier… [Read more]

On Wednesday, May 1 GBPI will host its Spring Policy Forum, Protecting Our Investment in Georgia’s Future: Effects of Federal Budget Cuts on Georgia’s Families, Children and Schools.  You will hear from experts from Washington, D.C. and Georgia on the state’s best options to support schools and families and… [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]

It just got tougher for Georgia’s students to afford college. Last week the Board of Regents of the state’s university system raised tuition for fall 2013. The tuition hikes range from a high of 7 percent at Georgia Tech to 2.5 percent at state universities. Students at the state’s… [Read more]

Categories: Author, Blog, Claire Suggs, Education | Comments (1)

Georgia is rolling out ambitious new standards for student performance in K-12, but is skimping on needed comprehensive financial support that would clear a path for success.
The Common Core Georgia Performance Standards are rigorous goals that outline what students should know and be able to do in math… [Read more]

Categories: Author, Blog, Claire Suggs, Education | Comments (1)

To expand Georgia’s economy, the state should reassess the way it allocates resources. For the last few years, Georgia cut state spending on supports for low-income families and increasingly relied on other sources to provide services – which potentially reduced the total services available to these families, as new… [Read more]

Categories: Author, Blog, Economic Security, Melissa Johnson | Comments (1)

Georgia’s schools at all levels will face tough times in the coming academic year.
The 2014 budget beginning July 1 cuts $1 billion from the Quality Basic Education (QBE) program, the primary mechanism for distributing state funds to school districts. This means that most districts will continue to cut… [Read more]