It looks like Georgians will get some tax relief over the next few years. Last week, the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate passed HB 1055, a bill that would impose a new tax on hospitals for three years, zero out the state’s property tax in five years, and reduce most of the state’s income tax on retirees. The bill passed the House by a vote of 107-63 and the Senate with a 39-12 vote. It now goes to Governor Sonny Perdue, who has indicated he will sign it. The bill is the product of a long, turbulent debate marked by rhetoric, deals, and amendments in the Georgia State Capitol. It is a bill like this that gives meaning to the old phrase, “Politics is the art of the possible.”
While NTU does not support the tax hike in HB 1055, we do welcome the property and income tax relief. Georgians have endured nearly two years of high unemployment rates. Many Georgians, including the elderly, are struggling to make ends meet and they are looking to their legislators to help to ease their tax burdens and begin paving the path to economic recovery. The tax reductions in this bill, combined with the relief contained in the recently-passed HB 1023, the Jobs, Opportunities, and Business Success (JOBS) Act, will provide much needed tax relief and clear a path for economic growth well into the future. Let us hope that, as time goes on, the relief in HB 1055 is not watered down through tax increases elsewhere.
Rest assured, NTU will keep its eye on HB 1055 and other legislation to ensure that the temporary tax hikes don’t become permanent and promised tax relief is delivered to overburdened taxpayers.