Author Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Georgia’s Disinvestment in Higher Education is at Expense of State’s Economic Future April 17, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Claire Suggs | 1 Comment on Georgia’s Disinvestment in Higher Education is at Expense of State’s Economic Future The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia raised next year’s tuition at Georgia Tech 9 percent on Tuesday, the same day that Home Depot’s director of talent acquisition told members of the governor’s High Demand Career Initiative the company cannot find enough software developers here. So Home Depot opened new technology centers […] Read more »
Author Blog Health Justice Timothy Sweeney Newspaper Series Shines Light on What Georgia Loses Without Medicaid Expansion April 17, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Timothy Sweeney The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Misty Williams just got a well-deserved laurel from the Columbia Journalism Review for her exemplary two-part series that clearly explains the tremendous downside to Georgia’s choice not to expand Medicaid. The second installment of the series last Sunday took a detailed look at the policy choice Georgia is making by not taking […] Read more »
Author Blog Budget and Taxes Wesley Tharpe Income Tax Cap Resolution a Low Point for 2014 Legislature April 11, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe A reckless constitutional amendment designed to tie the hands of future lawmakers and hamstring the state’s ability to meet its growing needs over time stands out as the worst tax legislation passed by the 2014 Georgia General Assembly. Senate Resolution 415 places a constitutional amendment on this November’s ballot asking whether Georgia’s income tax should […] Read more » State Taxes
Author Budget and Taxes Library Policy Areas Reports Wesley Tharpe Adding Up the Fiscal Notes: 2014 Session Recap April 11, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe Tax Measures Further Whittle Away Revenues A collection of tax measures that could drain up to $286 million from Georgia’s state treasury and $207 million from its local governments over the next five years gained the approval of the General Assembly this year. Although not as large as some past tax packages, the foregone revenue […] Read more » State Taxes
Author Blog Health Justice Timothy Sweeney Legacy of 2014 Legislature was to Make Georgia’s Faulty Health Care Policy Worse April 4, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Timothy Sweeney | 1 Comment on Legacy of 2014 Legislature was to Make Georgia’s Faulty Health Care Policy Worse Georgia is home to more residents without health insurance coverage than all but four states. Still, state lawmakers used the 2014 to focus on ways to make it more difficult for Georgians to access benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Georgia is left with its most pressing health care priorities unaddressed. Those priorities include […] Read more »
Author Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Legislature’s Education Spending Plan Better, but Still Earns a “Needs Improvement” April 3, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Claire Suggs | 2 Comments on Legislature’s Education Spending Plan Better, but Still Earns a “Needs Improvement” The governor and state legislators made education funding a major talking point during the 2014 legislative session. Lawmakers made a less severe cut to public school funding than in recent years. The recurring $1 billion annual shortfall Georgia’s public schools suffered through since the recession is trimmed to about $750 million next year. Still, districts […] Read more » K-12
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Georgia Legislature Moves to Keep Poor People Poor March 26, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Melissa Johnson | 2 Comments on Georgia Legislature Moves to Keep Poor People Poor Almost 2 million low-income Georgians will find it harder to get ahead in the future, thanks to counterproductive policies adopted by state lawmakers in the just-concluded legislative session. Lawmakers took potshots at the poor from a variety of directions, ranging from erecting new barriers to food to limiting access to health care coverage. I’ll focus […] Read more »
Alan Essig Author Blog Scorched Earth Politics of 2014 Will Hurt Georgia Families for Years March 21, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Alan Essig | 7 Comments on Scorched Earth Politics of 2014 Will Hurt Georgia Families for Years The 2014 Georgia General Assembly is mercifully over now, but its legacy of lost opportunity will haunt Georgia families for a long time to come. Politics repeatedly trumped sound policy decisions this legislative session, as the governor and other state leaders blew an opportunity to put Georgia on a better path. Let me start my […] Read more »
Author Budget and Taxes Library Policy Areas Reports Wesley Tharpe Adding Up the Fiscal Notes: Crossover Day 2014 March 12, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe Grab-bag of Tax Measures on the Table A slew of bills with revenue implications for Georgia’s state and local governments are in the hands of state senators, after House members passed them before Crossover Day, March 3, 2014. The House passed nine relevant tax bills before the day when legislation must move from one chamber […] Read more » State Taxes
Blog Budget and Taxes Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Tax Resolution is Troubling and Unnecessary March 10, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe The tax committee in Georgia’s House of Representatives is set to consider a recommendation to change the state’s constitution to permanently cap Georgia’s top income tax rate. This is a bad idea. Whatever you think about income taxes, putting a tax cap in the state constitution could deliver several unintended consequences and would help push […] Read more » State Taxes
