Senator David Perdue is concerned enough about the nation’s growing debt crisis that he refused to endorse a Republican presidential candidate because he hoped to be able to convince each of them to take on the issue. He pointed out that after some ten presidential debates, the national debt, which he feels should be a
All in the name of slightly lower income taxes. On the floor today in your Georgia Senate (which no less an authority than Kirby Smart called the better looking of the two chambers) there will be a vote on Senate Resolution 756. It is a Constitutional Amendment that would cap the state budget at $23.6 billion
This week’s Courier Herald column: One of the more interesting semi-public power plays during this year’s General Assembly has been between legislators and the Board of Regents. Georgia’s Constitution insulates the Board of Regents and thus the University System of Georgia from direct political influence. This is to keep the whims of modern politics from
This is the final and longest segment in our Becoming A Georgia Budget Expert Series from PolicyBEST. It will hopefully help put into perspective how Georgia’s spending in major categories compares to our neighboring states, most of which are not only our closest competitors for attracting new residents and businesses, but also have similar stated
In today’s installment of the Become A Georgia Budget Expert series from PolicyBEST, we’re taking a direct look at how Georgia’s budget has changed over the last decade. Our state budget hit a peak in 2008 and then tax revenues tumbled during the great recession. We emptied the rainy day fund and got a big
At last we leave the safety of the shallow end of the budget knowledge pool, and dive into deeper waters that require a comfortability with the basics to tread. Consider videos four through six of this series from PolicyBEST a bit more advanced and hitting at a deeper level for discussion here at GeorgiaPol. Georgia
In this third installment of Become a Budget Expert from PolicyBEST, we see how the state plans to spends your money this year. The two largest state policy expenditures are education, which is over 50% of the budget, and healthcare, which is 22%. Also, it’s important to keep in mind the planned increase in transportation
In the second installment of Become a Budget Expert, we discuss the three areas that make up state funding: taxes and fees, bonds, and the rainy day fund. Taxes and fees make up the yearly state budget in good economic times and are supported in bad times by reserve revenues, called the rainy day fund.
When I’m not organizing GeorgiaPol most of my time is spent on policy education issues as the Executive Director of PolicyBEST. We focus on issues of Business Climate & Economic Development, Education, Science & Medicine, and Transportation. In the state of Georgia, every one of these issues comes back to the budget. We have to
