People-Powered Prosperity

People-Powered Prosperity

It is clearer than ever before that our state’s economy is not inclusive of every Georgian–and our entire state suffers as a result. People-Powered Prosperity details a vision for how state lawmakers can pursue strategies to help Georgians recover and thrive, as well as how the state can responsibly pay for the services our families rely on. Our state boasts a successful business community and an attractive place to work, but problems and barriers across Georgia persist, including poverty, sky-high costs for college and child care, the maternal mortality crisis and inequities among women and people of color. These problems existed before COVID-19, but the pandemic has underscored them. Recovery is only possible if we invest in every Georgian and ensure no one is left out. This campaign, led by GBPI, 9to5 Georgia, Faith in Public Life and Small Business Majority, offers policy solutions to these issues and explains how Georgia can fund statewide prosperity. During the 2023 Legislative Session, several PPP priorities advanced through the Legislature, and though this campaign will end in 2023, the work towards advancing a proactive revenue agenda and policies that strengthen economic security for Georgians continues. Read our latest progress report here.

The Roadmap to People-Powered Prosperity Runs Through Four Key Pillars

Georgia Can Afford an Ambitious Investment in its People

Fully funding our state’s shared priorities requires balancing Georgia’s state budget with sustainable revenue sources that fairly tax residents across the state. It is also important to reverse tax policies that cause the lowest-income families to pay the highest percentage of their earnings in state and local taxes and to make certain that the state avoids costly and inefficient loopholes or unnecessary tax breaks.

By modernizing the state’s tax code and implementing common-sense policies with demonstrated success in other states across the nation, Georgia’s leaders can both increase the state’s ability to fund its priorities and more equitably tax households. In order to achieve this goal, state leaders can:

  • Preserve and strengthen the income tax for households and corporations by defending against cuts that largely benefit top earners and scaling back the double deduction to stabilize revenues and recover quickly during times of economic downtown
  • Evaluate tax breaks for big business in order to trim back those that do not deliver enough benefit to offset the state’s lost revenue
  • Increase the cigarette tax to the national average in order to raise over $500 million in annual revenues while discouraging tobacco use
  • Extend the sales tax to cover all online purchases and some services

Recent Work

web-capitol Blog

2021 Policy Priorities

The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute’s goal is to shine a light on people-first policies that help all ...
SAL cover Higher Education

Scholarships are a Better Way to Use Lottery Dollars Than Student Loans

    As the country finds itself in another historic recession, Georgia faces an opportunity to focus state ...
kidscount Blog

Georgia Can Create a State-Level EITC to Improve Infant Health

Georgia has the potential to be a great place to live and raise a family, but right now ...
PPP poll results cover Blog

New Poll Shows Georgians Support People-First Policies

GBPI launched People-Powered Prosperity (PPP) in 2018 with a foundational research report that laid out policies Georgia lawmakers ...
webheader Alex Camardelle

Cash Matters: Reimagining Anti-Racist TANF Policies in Georgia

    This report was written in partnership with Ray Khalfani, Research Associate This report contains research and ...
ECE cover Fact Sheets

Fact Sheet: Supporting Early Childhood Education Programs for Health and Well-Being of Georgia Children and Families

    Early care and education (ECE) centers play an integral role in the health and well-being for ...

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