Author Blog Budget and Taxes Wesley Tharpe Billions in Tax Breaks Limit Georgia’s Spending Options January 27, 2015 / January 16, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe Georgia will forego about $8 billion in the upcoming 2016 budget year due to dozens of credits, deductions and other tax breaks enacted over the years by state lawmakers. That’s the big news in our latest analysis of Georgia’s January 2015 tax expenditure report, released along with Gov. Nathan Deal’s proposed budget. As advocates, legislators […] Read more » State Taxes
Blog Melissa Johnson Remembering Broad Vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. January 15, 2015 / January 15, 2020 by Melissa Johnson | 1 Comment on Remembering Broad Vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Watching the critically-acclaimed film, “Selma,” last weekend provided a stark reminder of how much progress this country has made toward fulfilling the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. It was also a reminder of how far we have yet to go, especially in the state of King’s birth. An […] Read more » economic mobility economic opportunity Economic Security Melissa Johnson Safety Net
Alan Essig Author Blog Budget and Taxes Now’s time for strategic fixes January 12, 2015 / January 15, 2020 by Alan Essig | 1 Comment on Now’s time for strategic fixes As published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution For the first time in years, state leaders are sending signals before the January General Assembly that they might raise revenues to fix a challenge Georgia needs to address, in this case its neglected transportation system. A new legislative committee report outlines a menu of options to raise more […] Read more » State Budget State Taxes
Blog John McCosh State Budget, Schools and Health Care Made for Lively GBPI Conference January 9, 2015 / January 15, 2020 by John McCosh State revenues are growing just enough for Georgia to do little more than tread water. Georgia lawmakers need to address hurdles that hinder the state’s schoolchildren, such as lack of funding and early childhood education. And a growing number of states are finding ways to close the health insurance coverage gap through Medicaid expansion. Those […] Read more » Affordable Care Act Alan Essig Education health Legislative Update State Budget
Blog Claire Suggs Georgia Needs More than Just Roads to Prosperity December 19, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Claire Suggs I commute from Athens to Atlanta for work. It is not a pleasant drive, as anyone else who sits in traffic on I-85 or Ga. 316 can tell you. So I am happy legislators are talking about Georgia’s increasingly urgent transportation needs and exploring options to cover the cost of meeting them. A better transportation […] Read more » K-12
Author Blog Budget and Taxes Wesley Tharpe Unaccountable Agriculture Tax Break Hurting Rural Georgia December 4, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe | 1 Comment on Unaccountable Agriculture Tax Break Hurting Rural Georgia A set of sales tax breaks passed by Georgia lawmakers in 2012 is a growing hardship for city and county governments struggling to fund schools, parks, libraries and other essential services. The problem is felt most outside of metro Atlanta, due to the larger than expected local revenue loss from a generous new tax break […] Read more » State Taxes
Author Blog Taifa Smith Butler Reality Check: Thankful We Have More in Common Than Cable News Makes Us Think November 25, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler | 3 Comments on Reality Check: Thankful We Have More in Common Than Cable News Makes Us Think Last week I reminded my tween daughter about the golden rule – Treat others the way you want to be treated. She was telling me making friends hasn’t been easy in her new middle school. We’ve all been there and remember it’s a challenging stage of life for many middle school-aged students. The stress students […] Read more »
Author Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Living the Numbers: Climbing Class Sizes are Hurting Students November 20, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Claire Suggs I traveled to communities around Georgia the past few months to share findings from our recent reports on education funding, The Schoolhouse Squeeze 2014 and Cutting Class to Make Ends Meet 2014. My part is easy. I explain the numbers: how much state funding has been cut, how much local funding has fallen and how […] Read more » K-12
Author Blog Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Raise Georgia’s Minimum Wage to Expand Middle Class, Strengthen Economy November 12, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe | 2 Comments on Raise Georgia’s Minimum Wage to Expand Middle Class, Strengthen Economy Over the last few months I’ve found myself tipping a little extra at my favorite local restaurants and dishing out some extra courtesy when I buy from my favorite neighborhood shops. It’s not because I’m any nicer than the next person or that I recently came into newfound wealth. It’s because since this summer I’ve […] Read more »
Author Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education The New Normal Does Not Work for Georgia’s Students November 5, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Claire Suggs | 1 Comment on The New Normal Does Not Work for Georgia’s Students The responses we got from our annual survey of Georgia educators this summer are troubling, the stress often pouring off the pages. Here is an example from Coffee County Schools: “[The greatest impact of the QBE austerity cuts have been] class size increases, elimination of teachers, para-professionals, secretarial and administration positions, furlough days, classified employees’ […] Read more » K-12
