Health Justice Timothy Sweeney Missed Opportunity to Extend Health Care to More Georgians April 2, 2015 / January 15, 2020 by Timothy Sweeney Georgia is home to the fifth most residents without health coverage of any state according to 2013 data, the latest available. Despite this poor ranking, Georgia’s leaders continue to refuse new federal funding to close Georgia’s coverage gap. Accepting this money could extend health coverage to as many as 500,000 uninsured Georgians, while pumping billions of dollars into […] Read more » Affordable Care Act health medicaid Medicaid Expansion Tim Sweeney
Health Justice Timothy Sweeney Lawmakers Can Use Legislative Offseason to Get Serious About Health Care April 1, 2015 / January 15, 2020 by Timothy Sweeney | 2 Comments on Lawmakers Can Use Legislative Offseason to Get Serious About Health Care Education reform? Check. More revenue for transportation maintenance? Check. What’s missing here? Ahhh, Georgia’s ailing health care system didn’t get much attention from state lawmakers as they wound down the 2015 session this week. Kudos to House and Senate leaders who compromised on a transportation plan. We can all agree improving the opportunity for Georgia’s […] Read more » health Tim Sweeney
Author Blog Budget and Taxes Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice State Transportation Repair Plan Veers Off Course March 24, 2015 / January 17, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe | 2 Comments on State Transportation Repair Plan Veers Off Course As published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on March 24, 2015 The bill lawmakers are pushing to answer Gov. Nathan Deal’s call for more money to fix Georgia’s roads and bridges made a sharp turn in the wrong direction last week. State senators put their stamp on a version their House colleagues passed by including a […] Read more » State Taxes Wesley Tharpe
Blog Cash and Safety Net Increasing Access to Child Care Helps Georgia’s Women, State Economy March 23, 2015 / January 17, 2020 by GBPI Admin Guest blogger Kelly Dolan is executive director of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation At the Atlanta Women’s Foundation, we know that advocacy is one of the most effective ways to combat the sort of interrelated root causes of social problems and systemic factors that are detailed in our Breaking the Cycle of Generational Poverty in Metro […] Read more » Economic Security Melissa Johnson Safety Net
Author Cash and Safety Net Featured Library Melissa Johnson Policy Areas Reports Child Care Assistance: Georgia’s Opportunity to Bolster Working Families, Economy March 23, 2015 / January 17, 2020 by Melissa Johnson Georgia is now turning away people who apply for child care financial assistance through a state program designed to help low-income families due to worries the program itself could run short of money. Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning said last Friday budget concerns are causing it to make the child care assistance unavailable […] Read more »
Author Budget and Taxes Reports Wesley Tharpe How to fix flawed “New Markets” Bill March 19, 2015 / January 17, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe The Georgia Senate is now considering House Bill 439, legislation supporters claim will help small businesses in low-income urban and rural areas. But the proposal is poorly designed and is unlikely to help Georgia businesses or the state’s economy. It creates an overly complex investment scheme that delivers tax credits solely to insurance companies, rather […] Read more » State Taxes
Claire Suggs K-12 Education Reports Opportunity School District Needs Transparency, Community Role March 13, 2015 / January 17, 2020 by Claire Suggs | 1 Comment on Opportunity School District Needs Transparency, Community Role A new legislative proposal to create a statewide “Opportunity School District” aims to boost student achievement at Georgia’s most challenged schools. Close scrutiny of the measure is warranted before its proposed drastic and permanent remedies are passed into law. Georgia Senate Bill 133 sets out the parameters of Gov. Nathan Deal’s plan to allow the […] Read more » Education K-12
Budget and Taxes Library Reports Wesley Tharpe House Transportation Package Takes Promising Turn March 13, 2015 / January 17, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe House Bill 170 includes a number of provisions designed to generate additional revenues for improving Georgia’s gridlocked transportation system. The package that passed the Georgia House of Representatives on March 5, 2015 reforms Georgia’s gas tax, alters the way local governments apply sales taxes to motor fuel, creates new fees for alternative vehicles and eliminates […] Read more » State Taxes
Author Blog Budget and Taxes Wesley Tharpe Proposed Insurance Industry Tax Credit a $139 Million Budget Drain March 10, 2015 / January 17, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe A proposed new tax credit program that benefits insurance companies would cost Georgia an estimated $139 million in lost revenue by 2023. The credit is part of a complicated finance program designed to create investment in low-income communities. But the experiences of other states offer cautionary tales that should give Georgia lawmakers pause before they […] Read more » State Taxes
Author Budget and Taxes Library Policy Areas Reports Wesley Tharpe “New Markets” Tax Credit is a Bad Investment March 9, 2015 / January 17, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe Bill Analysis: House Bill 439 (LC 37 1964ERS) House Bill 439 proposes a costly new tax break called the Georgia New Markets credit that would drain state coffers when lawmakers already struggle to find enough revenue for transportation, education and other vital needs. The goal of the credit is to increase private investment in low-income […] Read more » State Taxes
