Monday marks last chance for income tax cut to pass
Local lawmakers head back to Atlanta on Monday for the last — and longest — day in the Georgia General Assembly session.
While many will be shepherding their legislation through the hectic final hours, Rep. Eddie Lumsden, R-armuchee, said his bills passed early. At the request of state tax commissioners, he’s keeping an eye on what happens to an initiative they support but his insurance bills are done deals.
“The governor took most of the public safety measures I backed and folded them into his law enforcement bill. Those are the areas I’m most concerned with: insurance and public safety,” Lumsden said Sunday.
Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-rome, carried a bill for Sen. Blake Tillery, R-vidalia, in the House last week and saw it pass overwhelmingly. Senate Bill 374 makes the new Georgia Data Analytic Center an authorized receiver of government agency information, eliminating the silos that prevent data-sharing that can illuminate trends.
However, the House added a new section dealing with state revenue, which sends the bill back to the Senate. A provision that redirects user fees to the general fund — instead of to offset costs of the agency providing the service — is likely to spark a fight between the chambers.
One of the bigger battles looming Monday is over a major state income tax cut. The Senate passed the bill Friday with significant differences from a bill the state House adopted last month.
Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, is the author of the Senate bill, which would gradually reduce the rate from the current 5.75% to 4.99%.
The lower rate would apply to taxable income up to $20,000 in 2024, the first year the law would take effect. The threshhold would be raised each year, with full implementation taking 8 years, ideally. It includes a trigger requiring state tax revenues to grow by at least 3% each year for the tax reductions to continue.
The House bill would set the tax rate at a flat 5.25% for the vast majority of taxpayers effective in 2024.
Opponents of the House bill cited figures showing 28% of Georgia taxpayers would not see a change in their tax bills, while 10% actually would pay more in taxes. The Senate bill also contains a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit, a benefit for low-income families.
“We don’t want to have a flat tax increase on those who are low income,” Hufstetler said Friday.
Hufstetler’s bill also proposed capping the state’s film tax credit at $900 million a year. However, the Senate Rules Committee removed the provision from the bill before bringing it to a vote.