Governor Nathan Deal announced a continuing positive trend in tax collections. August receipts were up 6.8% over August 2015 at $1.69 billion. For FY 2017, which began July 1 receipts totaled $3.3 billion which represented a 4.3% increase over the same period in FY 2016. Each tax revenue category showed an increase which is indicative
This week’s Courier Herald column: We’ve now clocked the fifteenth anniversary of September 11th. As is typical – and well deserved – we couple this remembrance of when terrorists killed over 3,000 on American soil with a recognition of the first responders that ran toward the danger rather than away from it. As a country,
While long term structural fixes to Georgia’s healthcare financing system are debated in preparation for next year’s session of the Georgia General Assembly, state leaders are touting a new program designed to bring additional private sector dollars into the system for rural Georgia hospitals. Representative Geoff Duncan (from non-rural Cumming Georgia) was the chief sponsor
When the U.S. Senate reconvenes after Labor Day, there will be three weeks remaining before the start of the 2017 fiscal year on October 1st. Because Congress has only passed three of the dozen spending bills required to fund the government, Georgia Senator David Perdue, who sits on the Senate Budget Committee, predicts there will
Even though the saying goes that “without Atlanta, we’d be Alabama,” the Peach State still has some major differences with its western neighbor. We have more teeth, we smell better, we wear shoes, etc. Less obvious is that, like most other states, we have a lottery and, despite Gov. Robert Bentley’s best efforts last week,
This weekend is Georgia’s annual Back to School Tax Free Weekend. It’s a tradition in the Peach State, where a wide variety of items, including clothing, computers, and school supplies can be purchased free of sales tax. The governor’s Office of Planning and Budget estimates this year’s event will save consumers $74.5 million in sales
As The New York Times reported earlier this week, perennial negotiations on the thirteen federal appropriations bills have stalled once again. Despite early handshake agreements between congressional leaders, it seems that the upcoming recess in September will come and go with only one of the thirteen bills passed. Per The Times: Democrats have accused the Senate majority
This week, the Congressional Budget Office released its 2016 Long-Term Budget Outlook showing the national debt rising to 141 percent of the U.S.A.’s GDP by the year 2046 as well as Medicare and Social Security facing an increased threat of insolvency. Unsurprisingly, the CBO’s bleak predictions have left many in Congress concerned over the nation’s fiscal
This week, the Senate debated its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which covers spending and policies for the U.S. military. As part of the debate, Georgia Senator David Perdue addressed the Senate about the relationship between the national debt and the ability of the country to defend itself. The House passed its version
It appears that whomever talked Aaron Barlow into returning from Chicago to his Fulton County house to run for Georgia’s State Senate told him there would be no math. Either that, or he hopes that voters in the Cherokee and Fulton County district are uninformed or don’t care that he is playing fast and loose
