LETTER: New Speaker brings needed changes to House

Speaker Ralston was elected with broad bipartisan support because many House members believe he will place public policy ahead of partisan politics, as opposed to the tyrannical rule the people of Georgia had suffered for the past five years under the previous House leadership, controlled by four individuals who were promoting their own agenda rather than that of the people.

The actions taken by Speaker Ralston during his first week as presiding officer of the House have been encouraging. He has already made good on his pledge to change House rules in such a way that will foster more debate and dialogue among members – regardless of political party – so that we can more effectively deal with the state budget and other important issues.

Significantly, Speaker Ralston has done away with the previous regime’s infamous “hawk” system, under which certain House members were authorized to go into any committee meeting and vote to help pass or defeat a bill at the whim of the majority leadership – a slap in the face of representative government.

Speaker Ralston is also committed to passing stronger ethics rules for the legislative branch of government in the wake of the Richardson scandal. Proposed legislation would restrict lobbyists’ gifts to lawmakers in an effort to reduce the influence of special interests and give more power to the State Ethics Commission to investigate conflict-of-interest cases against legislators.

•State of the State: Governor Perdue’s eighth and final “State of the State” address to a joint session of the House and Senate on Jan. 13 was long on historical quotations, nostalgia and sentimentality but, unfortunately, completely devoid of any plans for dealing with some of Georgia’s biggest problems. I am disappointed the governor chose not to address the state’s record-high unemployment rolls, the continued closing of businesses across Georgia, the unfair property tax system that continues to plague our citizens or – especially – the irresponsible budget practices of the last eight years that have been a major factor in creating the current fiscal crisis in state government.

•Budget Hearings: I will be joining my colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee for the first round of budget hearings Jan. 19-21 to begin the process of drafting the budgets for the remainder of the current fiscal year as well as fiscal year 2011. Over the past two years, the state has lost approximately $4 billion in tax revenues, yet our governor and legislative leaders have chosen to continue spending more money than is available. This has led to monumental tax shifts from the state level to the local property owner, furloughs of public school teachers and other state workers and the elimination of Homeowner Tax Relief Grants, to name a few of the most drastic consequences. Our leaders chose to balance this year’s budget with federal stimulus/bailout money rather than addressing systemic problems in our budget process. Those funds are not available this year. The governor’s new budget plan reportedly includes a 1.6 percent tax increase on health care providers that would be passed on to patients and an optimistic revenue projection that would not be realized until after this governor leaves office. Hopefully, the new House leadership will be open to enhanced debate and consideration by all members, regardless of party, to address our budget problems in a more deliberative and effective manner.

•Transportation funding: For the past two years, the House and Senate have failed to agree on legislation that would provide a sufficient funding source for badly needed transportation upgrades across the state. The lieutenant governor and House leaders said last week they have abandoned plans for a constitutional amendment for a statewide sales tax for transportation, which the House passed last year. The Senate’s proposed solution is a regional sales tax plan under which counties could band together to fund transportation improvements, if the voters in those counties approved the tax by referendum. The governor, meanwhile, said he would set aside $300 million in bond funds to pay for major transportation projects. He also said he wants to see a series of regional sales taxes for road projects placed on the ballot in 2012, which will be after he has left office, instead of the 2010 general election.

•Water issues: The governor reported “a renewed spirit of cooperation” among Georgia, Florida and Alabama in the three states’ ongoing water rights dispute. There has been a greater sense of urgency for Georgia since a federal judge’s ruling last July restricting metro Atlanta’s rights to use Lake Lanier as its main source of drinking water. Gov. Perdue said he is willing to call a special legislative session later in the year if an agreement cannot be reached during the regular session. The governor has apparently shelved his water policy task force’s recommendation for inter-basin transfers for now. For Northeast Georgia and communities around the state, the ban on inter-basin transfers needs to continue to stand with no changes. I will continue to watch this issue closely should the proposal arise again.

Rep. Alan Powell (D-Hartwell) represents the 29th District (Franklin, Hart and Madison counties) in the Georgia House of Representatives. Contact him at 507 Coverdell Office Building, Atlanta, GA 30334; by phone at 404-656-0202 or by e-mail at alanpowell23@hotmail.com. For more information, visit www.alanpowell.net.