Budget and Taxes Daniel Kanso, PhD Reports Gov. Kemp Sets New Precedent: $242 Million in Non-Binding Budget Disregards, $13.1 Million in Line-Item Vetoes June 14, 2023 / June 14, 2023 by Daniel Kanso, PhD With Gov. Brian P. Kemp’s signature, Georgia’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget became law ahead of the state’s next fiscal year, which begins on July 1, 2023. However, Gov. Kemp’s approval of the spending plan was accompanied by a wave of 134 non-binding orders to either fully or partially disregard budget language and appropriations comprising […] Read more » Budget Cuts budget disregards economic impact Education finance georgia-budget government spending healthcare infrastructure policy public funding surplus revenues
Budget and Taxes Daniel Kanso, PhD Reports Overview of Georgia’s 2024 Fiscal Year Budget January 25, 2023 / January 25, 2023 by Daniel Kanso, PhD Introduction After two consecutive years of record budget surpluses—generated in part by persistent austerity—Gov. Brian P. Kemp’s proposed $32.5 billion budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 offers a muted response to deep deficits in the capacity of state government to meet Georgians’ needs. The governor forecasts a sharp drop in tax collections from FY 2022 […] Read more » Budget Budget & Taxes Budget Surplus State Budget
Blog Budget and Taxes Daniel Kanso, PhD With Record Surplus, Georgia Stands at a Crossroads Ahead of Pivotal Budget Session August 2, 2022 / August 1, 2022 by Daniel Kanso, PhD | 1 Comment on With Record Surplus, Georgia Stands at a Crossroads Ahead of Pivotal Budget Session Last month, Georgia’s Department of Revenue released its report of unaudited tax collections for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, which ended on June 30, indicating that the state will once again run a surplus that leaves it with a record level of cash on hand and a full Revenue Shortfall Reserve (RSR) that acts as the […] Read more » Budget Budget & Taxes revenue Revenue Shortfall Reserve surplus
Bill Analysis Budget and Taxes Daniel Kanso, PhD New Tax Plan Risks State’s Long-Term Fiscal Health, Worsens Income and Racial Inequities May 23, 2022 / May 23, 2022 by Daniel Kanso, PhD House Bill 1437, signed into law by Gov. Kemp after a final version emerged during the last hours of Sine Die 2022, sets Georgia on course to make fundamental changes to its income tax that primarily benefit the state’s highest earners at an annual cost greater than $2 billion when fully implemented.[1],[2] Beyond […] Read more » Budget Earned Income Tax Credit flat tax Income Tax
Blog Budget and Taxes Daniel Kanso, PhD People Powered Prosperity General Assembly Considers Rewrite of State Income Tax Code, House-Passed Bill Primarily Benefits Wealthiest April 1, 2022 / April 1, 2022 by Daniel Kanso, PhD Key Takeaways Members of the House and Senate are debating a series of major changes to Georgia’s personal income tax in HB 1437. Proposals to shift Georgia’s current graduated income tax, where rates increase from 1 to 5.75 percent as income increases, to a flat tax carry high costs to the state and would primarily […] Read more » Budget flat tax Income Tax
Blog Budget and Taxes Daniel Kanso, PhD Letter Asking Lawmakers to Reject Risky Flat Tax March 24, 2022 / March 24, 2022 by Daniel Kanso, PhD At a time when leading Georgia lawmakers have the option to better fund core services that promote economic opportunity or enact broadly popular tax cuts for low- and middle-income Georgians, the General Assembly is instead advancing legislation (House Bill 1437) that would primarily cut taxes for the wealthy. We ask lawmakers to reject a flat […] Read more » EITC flat tax tax code
Bill Analysis Budget and Taxes Daniel Kanso, PhD House Proposes Massive Tax Cuts for Wealthiest, Slashing State Revenues | Bill Analysis: House Bill 1437 (LC 43 2318S) March 10, 2022 / March 11, 2022 by Daniel Kanso, PhD Members of the Georgia General Assembly are considering House Bill 1437 (LC 43 2318S), legislation that would fundamentally change the structure of the tax code and result in disproportionately large tax cuts for the wealthiest while hundreds of thousands of families would see tax increases or few benefits. This is due to the […] Read more » Budget Earned Income Tax Credit flat tax Income Tax
Budget and Taxes Daniel Kanso, PhD Fact Sheets Higher Education Jennifer Lee Fact Sheet: Sports Betting January 27, 2022 / January 27, 2022 by Jennifer Lee Co-authored by Danny Kanso, Senior Policy Analyst for Budget & Taxes As of January 2022, 31 states and Washington D.C. authorize and tax sports gambling, with measures in four additional states pending. As more states legalize sports gambling, lawmakers should not overpromise what the revenue will do for state budgets and would be […] Read more » casino gambling Lottery sports betting state revenue
Budget and Taxes Daniel Kanso, PhD Reports Overview of Georgia’s 2023 Fiscal Year Budget January 21, 2022 / January 21, 2022 by Daniel Kanso, PhD Powered by unprecedented federal support to mitigate the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Kemp’s proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget presents a sharp reversal from the deep budget cuts implemented during FY 2021-22. It includes an 11 percent spike in per-capita state spending that will add approximately $3 billion in funding […] Read more » Budget Budget & Taxes Budget Cuts State Budget
Budget and Taxes Daniel Kanso, PhD Reports Reimagining Revenue: How Georgia’s Tax Code Contributes to Racial and Economic Inequality October 6, 2021 / October 8, 2021 by Daniel Kanso, PhD You can download the Reimagining Revenue fact sheet here. Executive Summary From the 18th century to the present day, state taxation policies have regularly contributed to worsening income inequality, with the bulk of tax and revenue measures enacted from the Great Recession of 2009 to the present day (2021) also primarily benefitting wealthy […] Read more » Budget & Taxes racial equity State Taxes wealth gap
