![[Company Logo Image]](_borders/GA.jpg) |
Representative Ron Forster |
|
|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Finished Under the Gold Dome2006 General AssemblyMarch 31, 2006 -- Ringgold, GA – The gavel has fallen on the 2006 session of your Georgia General Assembly. By all accounts, it was a very productive and successful session that saw some extremely important legislation pass. As a member of the House leadership, I am extremely pleased with the way we studied and debated issues like eminent domain, illegal immigration, sexual predators, education reform, and the $18.6 billion budget and quickly found legislative solutions to them. As I have mentioned before, the only item we are required to do in the General Assembly is the annual budget for the upcoming fiscal year. We overwhelmingly passed the Fiscal Year 2006-2007 budget bill as the budget for the next fiscal year is an $18.6 billion dollar budget that will fund all aspects of the state government. Almost 75% of all new state funding is being directed into education programs. Teachers and public school employees received an additional $364 million in benefits and compensation. In trying to fix the inequities of law enforcement, we gave $6.4 million pay increase to the over eleven thousand law enforcement and corrections officers of our state. We have funded dental care for low income persons, pregnant women, and children in Peach Care. The “hot” issue for this session was that of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that certain government entities can seize (steal) your land or property and give it to a private developer who will develop the property for some use that will enhance the tax rolls of that government body. The Georgia General Assembly easily passed House Bill 1313, legislation that does the following: ensures oversight by elected officials of eminent domain; defines “economic development” as increasing the tax base but not providing a public use; defines “public use” as possession of the land by the general public, public utilities, uses for roads, defenses, travel, and trade; “Public use” is further defined as the acquisition of property to cure blight; and narrows the definition of “blight” and provides that it only applies to individual pieces of property rather than large areas of a community. But most importantly, the legislation clarifies that “economic development” does not constitute a “public use.” The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act or as we all know it as “the immigration bill” was easily the most contentious legislation of the session. We passed Senate Bill 529 that provides for the comprehensive regulation of persons in this state who are not lawfully present in the United States. It requires all employers in the state to participate in a federal work authorization program, makes it a crime to traffic a person for purposes of sexual servitude, and requires anyone over the age of 18 to show proof of lawful presence in the U.S. before receiving any state assistance. The bill would also disallow employers from claiming expenses for employing individuals without valid taxpayer identification, as well as, several other measures. This is easily our toughest effort to get the growing problem of illegal aliens from not just working here, but in the era of terrorism, this is now a safety and security issue for all of us. I am proud to say Georgia now has the toughest immigration laws in the entire United States. Another bill that generated much debate is H.B. 1059, the “sexual predators’ bill”. This legislation was overwhelmingly adopted by the House and Senate as it would create tougher sentencing guidelines for the most despicable of our criminals—pedophiles. Those criminals that prey on our children must not be allowed out of jail to attack again, and with some judges willing to be more lenient with pedophiles, we decided that we must take legislative action to toughen the sentencing laws. We also passed a Republican leadership initiative of requiring that all school systems spend, at a minimum, 65 percent of their operating funds on direct classroom expenditures. According to National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the top ten percent of states in terms of academic performance spend at least 65 percent of educating funding in the classroom. The Department of Education estimates that approximately 64 percent of Georgia’s school districts (116 out of 180) fail to meet this criterion. Based on 2003 records, Georgia’s average classroom spending is approximately 63.3 percent. School systems below 65 percent will be expected to increase two percent per year beginning in 2008 until the 65 percent requirement is met. The bill, Senate Bill 390, is based on national research that shows significantly higher test scores in public school systems that spend at least 65 percent of their educational budgets in the classroom. We also passed legislation that reduced the sales tax on natural gas and liquid propane used for the heating of homes. The legislation cut the sales tax on natural gas in half for the peak home heating months of January through April 2006. The sales tax on liquid propane was cut in half from January through March 2006. Many of us were concerned with economic forecasts that predict that the cost of home heating fuels would double during the winter months. I believe that the 2006 General Assembly has successfully carried out the work of the citizens of this great state and it has been a pleasure to serve you again in the General Assembly. I am humbled by your confidence in me and your continued support. I believe we all need to be informed about how our elected officials are representing us. I am getting an inside view that I want to share with everyone. I believe we all need to be informed about how our elected officials are representing us. I am getting an inside view that I want to share with everyone. Representative Ron Forster is serving his third two year term in the Georgia House of Representatives. He Chairs the Interstate Cooperation committee and also serves on the Public Utilities & Telecommunication, Appropriations and Insurance committees. In 2004 the American Legislative Exchange Council named him legislator of the year. His email address is ron.forster@house.ga.gov and he has a website at www.gasrd3.org. #### For More Information Contact:
|
|
Send mail to forster@catt.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
