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TODAY'S ISSUE
Georgia can do better if it modernizes its state tax code
By Andy Brack
President, Center for a Better South
Special to GwinnettForum

CHARLESTON, S.C., July 7, 2006 -- The South's economy has changed considerably since the 1930s and 1940s. The days of travel on dusty, bad roads or by train are gone, only to be replaced by Interstate highways and airplanes. Gone are most afternoon newspapers, a lot of mill villages and corner stores. In their place are modern communications networks, factory farms and consumer superstores.

But as the economy has changed and millions of new residents have flocked South, many aspects of Southern tax systems have remained static. Income tax structures in Georgia, for example, haven't changed since 1937 when $7,000 was a good annual income. Likewise, the sales tax has continued to focus on goods purchased from local merchants, even as more and more Southern shoppers are buying services and shopping online.

In other words, today's marketplace is fueled increasingly by services and knowledge rather than the goods-driven economy of the 20st century. Southern state governments, however, haven't adapted. It's time for state lawmakers to wake up and modernize tax structures for the new economy.

A new policy book by the Center for a Better South (www.bettersouth.org) highlights ways legislators across the South and in Georgia can start. The book, Doing Better: Progressive Tax Reform for the American South, urges lawmakers to revisit state tax codes in a holistic manner to bring tax systems into the 21st century. All components---the income tax, sales tax, property tax and others---should be thoroughly examined and modernized to ensure the fairness, adequacy and integrity of tax systems.

In the Center's analysis, Georgia scored among the lowest states in the South for enacting progressive tax reforms. (Click here to open Georgia scorecard.) While the state has partially curbed corporate income tax loopholes and started a comprehensive performance review to save taxpayer money and improve government efficiency, Georgia has a long way to go to create a truly progressive tax structure.

One idea is a refundable earned income tax credit, which the Peach State could implement to make its tax structure more progressive and help bring working families' incomes above poverty. In 2003, some 800,957 Georgia taxpayers claimed a federal earned income tax credit worth $1.57 billion ($1,960 per claimant). If the state enacted a similar tax credit set at 10 percent of the federal level, working Georgia taxpayers at the bottom would get an additional $157 million in credits - - enough money to help lift many out of poverty.

Check out the 11 ideas in this new book. You might come to some conclusions that will surprise you. As highlighted in comments last month by Georgia House Ways and Means Chairman Larry O'Neal of Warner Robins, sales tax exemptions are a potential source of unfairness.

According to the Augusta Chronicle, he said, "The truth of the matter is, tax exemptions are just a redistribution of taxes…." And, like the Center, Mr. O'Neal pointed out that the state hasn't changed its income-tax brackets "in decades."

If we want to maintain our republican system of democratic government, and if we want to ensure all Southerners can pursue the freedoms they're guaranteed, we have to ensure government's framework is strong enough to make those things happen.

Taking a long look at how we raise revenues and trying to make those ways fairer will make the Georgia and the South stronger. The time is now.

To order the book ($10) or download chapters for free, go to: http://www.bettersouth.org/doingbetter.

ELLIOTT BRACK
Getting close to time to determine your vote in the primary
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com

JULY 7, 2006 -- About time to go vote again. If you are to be out of town on July 18, get your absentee ballot and vote. With a few races expected to be close in the Georgia Primary in 2006, your vote could be the decider!

Democratic Nomination for Governor: What some felt started out with Cathy Cox being a favorite, then turned to an advantage for the Big Guy, Mark Taylor. But in the last few weeks we've sensed Cathy Cox coming on strong in a race that appears to be close.

It would appear to us that Cox might have an advantage, if enough women don't desert her cause to vote in the Republican primary. She's articulate, intelligent and has lots of political savvy. Some may paint Taylor as more astute in politics. We'll see. We feel a slight edge now for Cathy Cox, who we think would mount the strongest campaign against a sitting Republican governor.

Republican Nomination for Lieutenant Governor: This has generated a lot of talk, with negative stories about Ralph Reed benefitting Casey Cagle tremendously. The shenanigans that Reed pulled in associating with Jack Abramoff are paramount. (Another recent report documented more than $5.3 million in payments to Reed, the former director of the Christian Coalition and Republican Party strategist, from an influence-peddling operation run by the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff on behalf of Indian tribe casinos.)

Couple that with what many feel is Reed being two-faced about accepting gambling monies when he was working with Christian churches, and Reed appears to be in hot water.

Democratic Nomination for Lieutenant Governor: This is a field of statewide never-beens, and would appear to be on the ballot primarily to have opposition for the Republican in the fall.

They include Greg Hecht of Jonesboro, Griffin Lotson of Darien, Jim Martin of Atlanta, Steen Miles of Decatur and Rufus Terrill of Atlanta. Observers give Hecht and Martin the best chances of winning. Take your pick.

Congress District 4: Will Cynthia McKinney survive a primary against challengers Hank Johnson and John Coyne? Then will Republicans claim this seat, too, in the fall with Catherine Davis as a candidate? The first question will get answered next week, and we suspect Ms. McKinney, in spite of her self, will again be the nominee.

District 96: Hard-working incumbent Pedro Marin has opposition from 22 year old Detective Torry Lewis. We hope and look for Rep. Marin to return to the House, where he has been a champion of diversity and common sense.

District 98: Former Gwinnett Commission Chairman Wayne Hill is seeking to represent the area, running against incumbent Bobby Reese, who has barely made his name known at the Capitol. We urge the election of Mr. Hill, who can bring 12 years in office to the problems of government to the Capitol.

District 102: A retired airline pilot, Woody Woodruff, is challenging Incumbent Clay Cox for a seat in the Legislature. We add that our experience is that Mr. Cox does not return calls or emails, even when we only want his opinion. Therefore we think it's time for a change in this district.

District 104: Incumbent John Heard has shown efforts at innovation and hard work, and is opposed by David Rodriguez. We need more people like Mr. Heard at the statehouse. We urge his re-election.

District 4, County Commission: Incumbent Kevin Kenerly has shown an ability to smear his own name with his antics. However, the caliber of his opponent's supporters make us question their candidacy. We're just happy not to live in this district, but if we did, we would probably hold our nose and vote for Mr. Kenerly.

That's our take on the primary. Now let's all go and vote our convictions.

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today's sponsor is the Gwinnett County Public Library, named Library of the Year 2000. GCPL currently operates 13 branches throughout the county. The Grayson Branch will open later this year. Library hours area: Monday -Thursday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 6 p.m. GCPL offers traditional books, magazines, CD books, and children's DVDs, plus electronic resources such as Million Dollar Database, Mergent Online, Reference USA and Proquest Newspapers. GCPL offers Live Homework Help for students in 4th-12th grade. It is available online 2 p,m. until midnight daily, with homework help available for math, science, language arts and social studies. There is no charge for the service and it is available remotely. Many online resources are available remotely by computer. Most library branches offer wireless Internet, serving as a remote office via your computer. Gwinnett County Public Library is "not your mother's library." To see why not, visit any branch, www.gwinnettpl.org or call 770-978-5154.

Editor, the Forum:

In regard to our illustrious Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff, who does not open his e-mail: Mr. Chertoff even brags about it. How outlandish!

Any government elected or appointed official, who is so out of touch with his constituents and/or the responsibilities of his job, that he does not open his mail and/or e-mail, should be terminated immediately. Local officials cannot survive in office with this flagrant, complacent attitude. So why does Michael Chertoff? The wrong man in the right job !

Editor, the Forum:

You wrote recently about your granddaughter calling you "Pop Pop." That's my name, too! My granddaughters are 4 and 2. They live in the Philadelphia area. I don't know where Katy came up with Pop Pop but that's what she decided to call me and now Darsie calls me that, too. And Barbara, my wife, is Mee Maw.

Homer Simpson loves it. Kelly Ripa and the Sopranos celebrate birthdays with it. And now Carvel ice cream is wowing customers in Duluth. The city's newest Carvel Ice Cream shop will have its grand opening celebration Saturday, July 8, beginning at 2:45 p.m. 2628 Pleasant Hill Road in the shops at Pleasant Hill.

Franchise partners Molly and Mamachan Mathew have lined up Carvel's Fudgie the Whale a, face painter, and a magician to participate. Free face painting is from 3 to 6 pm, and balloon animal and other magic tricks from 5 to 8 pm.

"We've been in business since May, and we're really excited about kicking things off in a grand way," said Molly. A portion of the proceeds from the Carvel Wake Forest grand opening celebration will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The nation's first retail ice cream franchise, Carvel is a 72-year old company and the leading manufacturer of uniquely shaped ice cream cakes. Carvel currently operates more than 550 franchised and food service locations, and sells its famous ice cream cakes in over 8,500 supermarkets outlets. The company is based in Atlanta, with its supermarket headquarters in Rocky Hill, Conn.

Gwinnett Place CID Vice Chairman Scott Rolston has been appointed by County Commissioners to serve on the Gwinnett Planning and Advisory Committee, which will make recommendations for updates to the county's 2030 Comprehensive Plan.

Scott Rolston is the general manager of Gwinnett Place. His professional experience includes almost 20 years in shopping center management in Florida and Georgia.

The Comprehensive Plan guides patterns of future land development and infrastructure improvement throughout Gwinnett. County Commissioners and planning officials will take the committee's recommended changes into consideration before adopting revisions.

Rolston says: "By drawing on the expertise of professionals from a wide variety of
backgrounds, Gwinnett County is improving on its model planning document. I am proud to join in this very important effort, and I will do my best to help produce an even more effective plan."

Meanwhile, leaders of the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District (CID) will soon formally establish district-wide short- and long-term transportation enhancement priorities to guide programs and projects for years to come.

The CID Board of Directors recently received a proposed prioritization list from consultants with Duluth-based Street Smarts. Topics discussed included planning and funding options for comprehensive signage upgrades, sidewalk installations, roadway additions and other projects aimed at increasing mobility, attractiveness and safety.

Board members are expected to address Street Smarts' proposals during a detailed strategic planning session schedule to occur before mid August.

Board Chairman Mark Williams said adopting the enhancement plan will determine spending levels dedicated to pre-construction planning as well as actual project completion.

State constitutions are best understood with reference to their historical roots. A review of the history of Georgia's ten constitutions provides a synopsis of the political, economic, and social history of the state. Georgia's constitutional history also illustrates the various methods by which a constitution may be written or revised. Georgia has used three different methods of constitutional revision: seven were revised by constitutional conventions, two by constitutional commissions, and one by the office of legislative counsel of the Georgia General Assembly.

In 1977, after the ratification of the 1976 Constitution, the General Assembly created the Select Committee on Constitutional Revision. Members included the governor as chair, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house, the attorney general, and representatives from both houses of the legislature and the judicial branch.

Beginning their work in 1977, the committee members agreed to a total revision. Each article would be drafted and approved individually by the Select Committee and the General Assembly. After a series of lengthy and public meetings, agreement on a proposed new constitution was reached in late August 1981, and a document was submitted to the General Assembly in an August/September 1981 special session called to consider both reapportionment and constitutional revision.

On Sept. 25, 1981, the General Assembly approved the new constitution. Amended at the 1982 session of the legislature, the proposed constitution was submitted to the voters for ratification at the 1982 general election. Supported by leadership from all three branches of state government and bolstered by a strong effort to educate the public about its content, the Constitution of 1983 was overwhelmingly approved by voters and became effective on July 1, 1983.

The rallying cry of the Select Committee on Constitutional Revision had been "brevity, clarity, flexibility." The final product reflected this goal. The document as ratified was about half as long as the 1976 Constitution; it was better organized and wherever possible used simple modern English in place of arcane and cumbersome terminology. It gave the General Assembly greater flexibility to deal by statute with many matters that had been covered in the constitution itself. By far the most significant change between the Constitutions of 1976 and 1983 was that the latter document prohibited the inclusion of any further constitutional amendments relating to only a particular city, county, or other local political subdivision.

The 1983 Constitution was the first truly "new" constitution since 1877. It was the culmination of almost 20 years of discussion, debate, and compromise. A mixture of old and new, it contained provisions that first appeared in the Constitution of 1877 and incorporated other provisions that had never existed before, such as an equal protection clause, a division of the courts into seven distinct classes, a requirement for uniform court rules and record-keeping rules by class for all classes of courts, and nonpartisan election of judges. Like the nine constitutions preceding it, the Constitution of 1983 was, and is, a reflection of the state's rich political and social history.

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