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Town Hall Meetings Rep. Gardner announces candidacy for re-election State Rep. Pat Gardner (D-Atlanta) has announced she will be a candidate for re-election to the House District 57 post in the 2008 Democratic primary. Read more... The good, the bad and the undone of the 2008 legislative session Click here for a comprehensive review of the legislation that passed, failed and was left unresolved during the recent 2008 session of the General Assembly. Please contact me with your views on the issues, or when I can be of service. Leaders’ feud kills tax cut, transportation, trauma care The talk of the 2008 legislative session, from beginning to end, was tax relief. A number of proposals to eliminate automobile tag taxes, reduce income taxes and property taxes were discussed and passed by either the House of Representatives or the Senate. But when all was said and done, much more was said than done. Read more... House approves regional transportation solution The House of Representatives voted Thursday to approve legislation that would allow counties to join together to solve regional transportation issues through a special purpose local option sales tax. Read more... House approves $21 billion state budget for FY 2009 The House of Representatives voted March 20 to approve a $21.2 billion annual state budget for fiscal year 2009, which begins July 1. The total spending plan reflects a reduction of about $245 million from Gov. Sonny Perdue’s original proposal due to lower revenues caused by the state’s recent economic downturn. Read more... Assault on local control dooms Speaker’s tax plan Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson has talked for nearly a year about an ambitious plan to eliminate property taxes in Georgia. When his original proposal was exposed as a tax shift to 175 new sales and use taxes, he trimmed down the legislation to only a removal of ad valorem taxes on vehicles. But in the end, the speaker’s effort failed because of a provision that was a problem throughout the discussion: the plan’s seizure of control from cities, counties and school boards to meet their communities’ needs. Read more... ‘English-only’ fails as constitutional amendment A legislative effort to amend the state Constitution and make English the official language of Georgia failed Tuesday in the House of Representatives. A simple majority of 103-61 voted in favor of HR 413, but 120 votes were needed for passage of the amendment. Read more... Statewide sales tax proposed for transportation The proposal addresses a serious revenue shortfall facing transportation projects across the state and is aimed at generating the funds for major steps to relieve traffic congestion in metro Atlanta. If this new sales tax is implemented, 90% of the funds would be expended in the regional commission area where they are collected. Speaker presents reduced version of tax proposal House Speaker Glenn Richardson unveiled the long-awaited update to his GREAT (Georgia’s Repeal of Every Ad Valorem Tax) plan, which received considerable publicity last fall, on Thursday. In testimony before the House Ways & Means Committee, the speaker acknowledged HR 1246 is a scaled-down version of his original idea. Read more...
House Democrats working to restore school funding Georgia students and property taxpayers could see some much-needed help under a tax relief bill introduced in the House of Representatives last week. Data released this week shows that under HB 1057, DeKalb County schools would recover $15.8 million and Atlanta city schools would receive almost $8 million in state funding, reversing previous cuts that caused the tax burden to shift to local property owners. Read more...
More insight into the governor’s budget proposal In last week’s report, I detailed the shortcomings of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s state budget proposal for fiscal year 2009 in the areas of education and transportation. This week, I would like to share some insight into the human resources portion of the budget, provided to me by Linda Smith Lowe and Mary Frances Williams on behalf of Family & Policy. Read more...
Governor's school cuts hurt students and taxpayers The governor has proposed to cut an additional $141.5 million in state funding to local school systems. Although it is the responsibility of the state government to provide public education, the governor has now cut almost $1.6 billion in local school funding since taking office in 2003, hurting our students and shifting the burden to local school boards and local taxpayers. Read more...
House votes to override 12 of governor’s vetoes On the first day of the 2008 session of the Georgia General Assembly, the House of Representatives made history by voting overwhelmingly to override Gov. Sonny Perdue’s vetoes of 12 bills adopted during the 2007 session. Read more... 2008 legislative session gets under way January 14 On Monday, January 14, members of the Georgia General Assembly will reconvene for our 2008 legislative session, with some very big issues to be addressed. As the session gets under way, I am very concerned about the situation with Grady Memorial Hospital and the commitment by state and local government to adequately fund trauma care in our state. Read more...
Electronic Recycling Day November 10 Pat Gardner sponsors HD 57 Neighborhood Electronic Recycling Day on November 10 from 9-1 at Morningside Baptist Church. Help keep hazardous waste out of our landfills by bringing your electronics for reuse or appropriate disposal. Click here for details... What Are You Doing to Conserve Water?
Join Pat Gardner in her efforts to find ways to conserve. During the past several weeks the issue of healthcare in Georgia has taken center stage. Both Gov. Perdue and Lt. Gov. Cagle have proposed health policy to expand health coverage to small businesses and the working poor. Read more... Georgia's U.S. Senators vote against PeachCare PeachCare is one of the most successful programs our state has. Thousands of children are able to receive quality healthcare at an affordable price thereby improving their quality of life. I am astounded and disheartened that our two United States Senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, decided to vote against legislation to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Hopefully, they will realize any decision made in Washington should be based on what the people of Georgia want, not the rhetoric of D.C. politics. Read more... State to investigate Grady financial crisis In a population just over 9.3 million, one out of nine people must rely on indigent service or pay out of pocket to receive medical treatment. For this reason alone, an institution like Grady Hospital is vital if hardworking Georgians are going to have reliable access to medical service. Read more... 2007 legislative session wrap-up Wiith Governor Perdue reversing his position on the veto of the midyear supplemental budget for 2007, many government agencies will now have the necessary funds to continue operating throughout this fiscal year. The $142 million property tax cut was removed from the spending bill, but our schools, PeachCare, and other important programs can again focus on serving the children of our state. Read more... State action needed after Fulton DFCS audit Along with other members of the Fulton County legislative delegation, I am very concerned about the shocking results of a Georgia Office of the Child Advocate audit of the county’s Department of Family & Children Services (DFCS). Read more... Gardner co-sponsors bill to protect PeachCare The General Assembly is now in recess for two weeks, an attempt to give the federal government more time to fully fund the $131 million shortfall in the PeachCare for Kids Program, which will have a major impact on finalizing the annual state budget. Read more... Gardner appointed chair of Health Policy Committee This week, I was honored by my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus when I was appointed as chair of the caucus’s Health & Human Services Policy Committee for 2007-08. In this leadership position, I will preside over the consideration by our caucus of legislation related to health care delivery issues all over Georgia. Read more...
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