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Confederate History month to die on "Crossover Day"
Tax break for seniors, faith-based initiatives, among bills to be abandoned
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/26/07
Several of this year's most controversial bills will not make it to the House or Senate floor for debate Tuesday - the legislative deadline for a measure to pass one chamber.
Those proposals include a measure to permanently designate April as Confederate History and Heritage Month in Georgia and two proposals by Gov. Sonny Perdue.
The Senate's Republican leadership said they did not want to force a long debate on bills that likely would not pass.
"If a bill is going to take an hour or two to debate, that's a negative," Senate Rules Chairman Don Balfour (R-Snellville) said. "Obviously, we have controversial bills on the calendar, but why put something on if we know it could not pass?"
Since 2003, Republican leaders have tried to pass a constitutional amendment to allow public funding of faith-based organizations. The proposal is one of Perdue's top priorities, but Democrats have consistently opposed it. This year, though, Senate Republicans decided to skip a long debate and not even bring the bill to the floor.
In the House, Republican leaders announced today they are putting off decisions on several major tax cut proposals until next year, including Perdue's campaign promise to cut taxes on retirement income for the elderly.
They say they want to study those proposals - along with proposals to increase taxes for transportation projects and one to eliminate the car tag tax — over the summer and fall and then consider "major tax reform" legislation during their next 40-day session starting in January.
"The House has invested a tremendous amount of energy and time behind the scenes to come up with comprehensive tax reform," House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island) told reporters this afternoon. "Before we move with any major new tax proposals or credits - anything that is major — we feel like the prudent thing to do is wait."
"When we come back in January," Keen added, "you are going to see for consideration a major tax reform proposition out of the House that will really give you something to talk about."
During his reelection campaign last year, Perdue promised to eliminate the state income tax on retirement income for Georgians older than 65. Seniors who work past 65 would continue to pay state income taxes on the wages they earn. However, any income from investments and 401(k) plans would not be taxed under Perdue's plan.
"There is still plenty of time left and the governor believes this is more than a campaign promise to be kept: it is the right thing for the people of Georgia and we're going to keep working for it," Perdue spokesman Dan McLagan said.
Senate lawmakers also decided to nix a bill that permanently would designate April as Confederate History and Heritage Month - at least for now.
Senate Bill 283 passed a key Senate committee a few days after Republican leaders in the House initially gave a lukewarm response to a request by the state NAACP for the General Assembly and Perdue to apologize for slavery.
State Rep. Al Williams (D-Midway) said he planned to file a resolution calling for recognition and reconciliation of the state's role in slavery, and he gained the support of Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah).
Rep. Al Williams (D-Midway) said Monday he was preparing to meet with Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) Monday evening about the slavery resolutions. Legislation could be introduced as early as Tuesday, Williams said.
"We are moving right along," he said. "I think we are about there. This evening or early in the morning, we could have something pretty well ready."
"I'm a good team player," Mullis said. "I was prepared to ask for SB 283, but I saw that leadership determined it was unavailable." Mullis said he is scheduled to meet with Williams this week, and looks forward to working with him to see if they can work on proposals that recognize slavery and the Confederacy.