Chatham Dems

Kudos to Savannah Representatives Lester Jackson and Craig Gordon for voting to reject the latest (and hopefully final) iteration of Speaker Glenn Richardson’s strange plan to reform state taxes. Perhaps the legislature will now take a principled look at how to fund trauma centers, rather than just tacking it onto the end of any old bill that happens to be lying around.

As the Savannah Morning News op-ed of March 7 noted, if reform of the state tax system is needed, it should be approached by serious analysis from tax experts and others, followed by public debate: 

The tax reform measure that Mr. Richardson cobbled together and sent to the floor went through more transformations than a pack of werewolves during a full moon. First it eliminated all property taxes. Then it eliminated only school property taxes. Then it killed the property tax on automobiles.    

 There is no evidence that state tax reform is urgently needed. On March 3, the Pew Center on the States issued its Grading the States 2008 Report. Georgia was among only 11 states that received a B+ or better for financial management. (California received a D+ and New York a C+.) The tax system in Georgia is not perfect, but it is a lot better than most.

Tags:   Georgia legislature · Rep. Craig Gordon · Rep. Lester Jackson · Speaker Glenn Richardson · tax reformNo Comments