Standoffs cut down fracking, tax cut bills
The measures can be revived during next year’s session of the Georgia General Assembly.
Standoffs between the Georgia House and Senate led to the failure of bills that would have set stricter regulations for fracking in Northwest Georgia and provide state income tax cuts across the board.
“It’s disappointing. But I’m hopeful we can come to an agreement in the second year of this twoyear session,” said Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, who was on the ground for both fights.
House Bill 329 called for a flat income tax rate of 5.4 percent.
It was amended in the Senate Finance Committee Hufstetler chairs to retain lower rates for low-income residents and drop the top rate of 6 percent to 5.65 percent. It also raised the personal exemption to $7,000 from $6,700.
Neither side would budge during conference committee talks.
“We calculated the House version would have been an increase of 70 percent for people on the lower end,” Hufstetler said Saturday. “We weren’t willing to make a tax increase on the working poor.”
The Senate version included a provision to collect state sales tax from major online retailers that don’t have stores in Georgia. It would have offset the estimated $270 million annual loss to the state treasury and brought in another $200 million or so for local governments and schools.
Hufstetler said that wasn’t a sticking point and he expects to see it pass next year.
“My preference would have been to go ahead and pass the sales tax, but as long as it’s in place next year it will have the same effect,” he said.
Tax breaks did pass for the Georgia music industry, post-production work on movies, car leases and yacht repairs. Other proposals, such as an increase to the cap on write-offs for donations to private school scholarships, failed.
Hufstetler said the House sent over tax break bills totaling $588 million and the Senate approved $199 million worth. A few more were attached to other legislation on the hectic last day.
In response, the Senate set up a Special Tax Exemption Study Committee to look this year at all the breaks on Georgia’s books. They’re adopted in hopes of creating jobs and boosting the economy, Hufstetler said, but it’s unclear if they’re all serving their purpose.
“What we’re trying to do is get a handle on this,” he said. “If we could quit giving out special tax breaks, we could give everyone a tax cut.”
Wins and losses
A conference committee also was unable to resolve differences in HB 205, which would have added fracking regulations to Georgia’s 40-yearold mining law.
Hydraulic fracturing involves injecting liquid at high pressures into underground rocks to force open fissures and extract natural gas or oil. Reserves are only expected to be found in eight counties — including Floyd — where the Conasauga Shale Play extends.
The measure would have required a notice and 30-day public comment period before the Georgia Environmental Protection Division could issue a permit. It also included protections for nearby waterways.
Hufstetler said an unwanted attachment dealing with fees at private landfills effectively killed the bill for this year.
His resolution calling for a constitutional convention to look at term limits for Congress also died, but several of his bills are poised to become law. Both chambers supported his measure to let pharmacists synchronize customers’ prescription refills on medicine for chronic conditions. They also approved his “team doc” bill that officially allows physicians with visiting sports teams to treat their players, even though they don’t have a medical license in the state.
His Senate Resolution 130 also establishes a study committee to integrate data collected by various state agencies. Hufstetler said Forbes magazine reported that Michigan saved about $1 million a year when they put the system in place.
“We have about 20 data silos and they’re not interoperable,” he said. “This would make the state much more efficient.”
A grant is funding a training session by the University of Pennsylvania for delegates from Georgia and four other states this summer.