Blog Melissa Johnson Georgia Misses Opportunity to Improve Child Care November 6, 2015 / January 15, 2020 by Melissa Johnson | 1 Comment on Georgia Misses Opportunity to Improve Child Care Georgia is one of 16 states where families are worse off because of its child care policies, according to a new report by the National Women’s Law Center. Families fare worse in Georgia because the state turns away parents who apply for child care financial assistance due to worries the program could run short of […] Read more » Melissa Johnson
Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Education Reform Commission Threatens to Cement in $421 Million Cut November 4, 2015 / January 15, 2020 by Claire Suggs | 5 Comments on Education Reform Commission Threatens to Cement in $421 Million Cut Hover your mouse over the map to view information for each school district. See how we calculated these numbers by downloading this spreadsheet. Gov. Nathan Deal’s Education Reform Commission is poised to recommend a new school funding formula that threatens to make permanent deep cuts to the existing funding formula and grant programs. The General Assembly […] Read more » Claire Suggs education budget cuts K-12
Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Georgia Shifts Cost to Bus Schoolchildren to Local Districts October 27, 2015 / January 15, 2020 by Claire Suggs | 1 Comment on Georgia Shifts Cost to Bus Schoolchildren to Local Districts Every day across Georgia school buses carry students safely to and from school. This is an essential service, which the state requires school districts to provide. Transporting students also comes with a hefty price tag yet the state contributes little to its cost. The General Assembly has cut school transportation funding for more than a […] Read more » Claire Suggs Education K-12
Blog Budget and Taxes Taifa Smith Butler Healthier State Revenues Provide Opportunities October 16, 2015 / January 17, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler | 1 Comment on Healthier State Revenues Provide Opportunities The welcome news is state tax revenues are up about 9.4 percent during the first three months of the 2016 fiscal year that started July 1. Georgia’s year-to-date collections total $5.13 billion, up $438.7 million, compared to $4.69 billion last year. When Gov. Nathan Deal unveils his new state budget plan in January, he might […] Read more » revenue State Taxes
Blog Cash and Safety Net Taifa Smith Butler So Many Georgians Struggle, but it Doesn’t Have to be That Way October 9, 2015 / March 5, 2021 by Taifa Smith Butler | 2 Comments on So Many Georgians Struggle, but it Doesn’t Have to be That Way For the last 15 years or so, I’ve peered out across many crowded rooms filled to capacity with bright-eyed, on occasion teary-eyed, Georgians. So many are desperate for solutions to help improve their communities, especially the families struggling to get by. And I’ve looked into the faces of leaders of elected, community, faith and business […] Read more » Economic Security EITC Medicaid Expansion Safety Net Taifa Smith Butler
Blog Budget and Taxes Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Pro-Worker Credits in Jeopardy this Labor Day September 3, 2015 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe | 2 Comments on Pro-Worker Credits in Jeopardy this Labor Day The U.S. Congress made Labor Day a federal holiday in 1894 to honor the contributions workers make every day to our nation’s strength, prosperity and well-being. But in 2015, on a day when we will celebrate the value of work, it’s distressing that Read more » EITC State Taxes Wesley Tharpe
Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Pending TANF Changes Could Send Georgia Budget Writers Scrambling August 21, 2015 / January 17, 2020 by Melissa Johnson Pending changes to a federal work-development and safety-net program that relies on state contributions could create a shortfall of tens of millions of dollars Georgia budget writers will need to fill somehow. Congress returns to Washington in a few weeks following its August recess and one of the laws on its to-do list is a […] Read more » Blog Melissa Johnson TANF
Blog Wesley Tharpe A Time-Tested Tax Tool to Grow Georgia’s Middle Class August 12, 2015 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe Too many Georgians today work hard and play by the rules but fail to get ahead. Incomes are down, wages are flat and expenses are rising for low- and moderate-income families statewide. For them, state and local taxes are more than just the nuisance payment they represent to higher earners. The yearly tax bill for […] Read more » EITC State Taxes Wesley Tharpe
Blog Cash and Safety Net K-12 Education Melissa Johnson Worker Justice Educating Adults Critical to Georgia’s Success August 6, 2015 / March 12, 2021 by Melissa Johnson | 1 Comment on Educating Adults Critical to Georgia’s Success School is starting this week for many Georgia children but education ended much too soon for many of the state’s adults. Nearly 866,000 Georgians from 18 to 64 are without a high school diploma or GED. Georgia is home to the ninth highest share of adults in this age range in the country without a […] Read more » Economic Security Education Melissa Johnson Report Safety Net
Blog Wesley Tharpe Time to Retire Georgia’s Sales Tax Holidays July 30, 2015 / January 16, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe | 1 Comment on Time to Retire Georgia’s Sales Tax Holidays This weekend marks the return of that semi-annual Georgia tradition, the two-day sales tax holiday, this one for back-to-school supplies. But when state legislators return to work in January 2016, they can seize the chance to bring the misguided tradition to an end. Experts from across the ideological spectrum agree that sales tax holidays provide […] Read more » sales tax holiday State Budget State Taxes Wesley Tharpe
