Others react to Deal’s budget proposals

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees will be holding joint hearings next week as they go over Gov. Nathan Deal’s proposed $18.5 billion amended state budget for the current fiscal year as well as his $19.2 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2013.

Deal’s budget proposals, as would be expected, were generally well-received by Republican legislators while Democratic lawmakers found several areas of disagreement.

Here are some reactions from various quarters to the budget proposals that Deal released earlier this week.

Alan Essig, director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute:

Governor Deal’s proposed business tax cuts appear more responsible than many of the tax proposals floated earlier by various members of the General Assembly; however, we don’t know how they will be paid for and their value for future economic growth is questionable.

For the first time in many years the proposal fully funds the growth in the K-12 funding formula without any additional cuts in state funding. The proposal does not include funds to replace more than $1 billion in funding cuts over the past several years. In addition, it does not account for $321 million in one-time grant funding provided in 2010 to local school systems in Georgia from the federal Education Jobs Act. Local school systems used these funds to reduce cuts to educational and related services during the FY 2011 and FY 2012 school years. With this grant funding no longer available and no state funds to replace it, a significant gap in K-12 education funding occurs if local schools systems cannot replace these lost funds . . .

The governor’s tax proposals are narrowly focused on businesses. Although the proposal to exempt sales tax on energy for manufacturers has a strong policy argument, it is estimated to cost approximately $140 million. The governor has not laid out a plan as to how that tax break will be paid for. The governor proposed revising the various jobs tax credit programs without having any idea if the current program is effective or not. If we are going to continue the questionable strategy of jobs tax credits as incentives we should at least require annual studies to verify the effectiveness of those incentives.

2020 Georgia advocacy group:

We are encouraged by several elements of Governor Deal’s agenda, specifically his pledge to invest in 10 more days of school per year for children in Pre-K, school nurses, new medical residencies, a cancer center, and new parole officers and accountability courts to help turn around Georgia’s over-reliance on costly prisons.

We are also encouraged that Gov. Deal’s proposals include strategic borrowing and funding for infrastructure such as water, transportation and the Savannah port. Borrowing responsibly for infrastructure investment, especially on the good terms Georgia’s AAA bond rating allows in today’s financial markets, makes sense for our long-term economic health. It helps lay the foundation for economic growth and job creation once the national recovery finally comes.

Mike Berlon, chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia:

Despite the fact that other states are adding jobs and growing their economy, business is not coming here . . . It’s more than tax cuts or savings to the bottom line, Governor, it’s also about the quality of education and quality of life . . . employers don’t come here because we are perceived to have poor education.

(The Governor’s plan) is not realistic . . . it’s like throwing a deck chair off of a Carnival Cruise ship in order to lighten the load.

© 2012 by The Georgia Report