Two Days of Regionalism In the Senate Chamber
Tweet Wednesday a group of Gwinnett County community leaders are gathering at the State Capitol to discuss their role as part of a greater region. The county is Georgia’s second largest and has a population greater than the states of Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont, or Wyoming. While each of those states have two U.S. Senators [...]
Read More →Energy Tax Cut Hitting Local Tax Bases
Tweet As the last session of Georgia’s General Assembly came to a close, state leaders trumpeted their accomplishment of targeted tax cuts aimed at attracting new industry and retaining existing jobs in the state. The centerpiece of the legislation was the elimination of sales taxes on energy used by manufacturers. The state absorbed the phase [...]
Read More →Republican Issues Give Democrats Their Path Forward
Tweet Democrats will not build a new majority in Georgia by themselves. They’re going to need to get some help. The rejection of T-SPLOST across much of Georgia in the July primaries may be an aberration, or it may be a canary in the coal mine indicating growing voter dissatisfaction from Georgians over current leadership, [...]
Read More →Lee’s sign ordinance changed
Tweet Staff Reports Leesburg – It remains to be seen of independent candidate Tim Nelson will defeat republican incumbent Rick Muggridge for his seat on the Lee County Commission in November. That will be for the voters of district four to decide. However, Nelson has already won a victory when the Lee County Commission voted [...]
Read More →Progress, Optimism For Ethics Reform
Tweet Georgia House Speaker David Ralston is now expected to propose an ethics reform package that will include a total ban on gifts and gratuities from lobbyists for lawmakers and other elected officials. This was first reported by the Atlanta Journal Constitution late last week.
Read More →Transportation Cooperation: It Was Fun While It Lasted
Tweet Last Tuesday’s vote on regional transportation will remain the political topic for state politics well into the next session of the General Assembly. Not only does a long standing problem remain unsolved, but the raw politics exposed within the construct of the referendums, the provincial attitudes exerted by voters, and the base fears of [...]
Read More →School Board, T-SPLOST highlight interesting election night
Tweet Written by Tom Knighton People who follow politics in southwest Georgia – particularly in Albany – can become a little jaded. However, Tuesday night’s results have some long time observers scratching their heads as the results ran against conventional wisdom. Some have long argued that Albany is a “black” town, and a white [...]
Read More →‘No’ to more taxation
Tweet As far as taxes go, I’m generally in favor of sales taxes. They have the benefit of being a bit fairer as well as being easier to not have to pay. That makes them more voluntary than other forms of taxation. However, I’m urging voters to vote against the T-SPLOST referendum on our [...]
Read More →Reluctantly, NO on T-SPLOST
Tweet T-SPLOST voters will make up their minds based on what they think is in their best interests. I live in the Atlanta region, in one of the 10 counties that make up the Atlanta Regional Commission. The economic health of Georgia extends far beyond these 10 counties to the entire state. As such, the [...]
Read More →Deal’s Appointment Another Reason To Consider ‘No’ On T-SPLOST
Tweet Governor Nathan Deal has enjoyed a general level of policy success during his first two years in office in a way that would not necessarily have been predicted during a long and often bitter gubernatorial campaign. He has formed coalitions within his own party and across the aisle. He has worked with Democratic Atlanta [...]
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