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Tag: government reform

Friday Facts: June 28, 2019

posted 3 weeks ago on June 28th, 2019 by Leave a Comment
It’s Friday!  Events November 15:  Early Bird registration is open for the 2019 Georgia Legislative Policy Forum, which takes place Friday, November 15, at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly. The theme is “Wisdom, Justice, Mobility,” a play on Georgia’s motto: “Wisdom, Justice, Moderation.” Click here to register. Click here to view video coverage of previous events.  Quotes of note “Health care is one of the most expensive items we buy each year, and yet most Americans haven’t a clue what all of this costs. For everything else we buy as Americans, we are bargain hunters – for cars, homes and restaurants but not for health and medical services, which are about one-seventh of our entire economy.” – Stephen … View Article

Laws Taking Effect July 1, 2019

posted 3 weeks ago on June 27th, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Summary of laws taking effect July 1, 2019 By Morgan Worthy and Jared Cooper Economic Development H.B. 242 (Effective May 6, 2019) Expands the powers of the Georgia Board of Massage Therapy to regulate the educational programs and practice of massage therapy. H.B. 315 Requires consultants entering into contracts with local governments to disclose any conflict of interest. H.B. 373 (Effective May 6, 2019) Authorizes the Commissioner of Labor to obtain fingerprint-based criminal background checks of employees or applicants with direct access to federal returns and allows the GBI and FBI to retain records of fingerprints and applicants’ backgrounds. ) H.B. 493 Requires local governments to post the fees and requirements for development/ building permits. Stipulates that the applicant can… View Article

Friday Facts: July 7, 2017

posted 2 years ago on July 7th, 2017 by Leave a Comment
It’s Friday!  Quotes of note “There is a place for government in the affairs of men, and our Declaration of Independence tells us precisely what that place is. The role of government is to protect individuals in their God-given individual rights. Freedom is the natural birthright of man, but all that government can do in behalf of freedom is to let the individual alone, and it should secure him in his rights by making others let him alone.” – Rev. Edmund A. Opitz  “Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we … View Article

Friday Facts: April 21, 2017

posted 2 years ago on April 21st, 2017 by Leave a Comment
It’s Friday!  Quotes of note Tax Day: “Countries, therefore, when lawmaking falls exclusively to the lot of the poor cannot hope for much economy in public expenditure; expenses will always be considerable, either because taxes cannot touch those who vote for them or because they are assessed in a way to prevent that.” – Alexis de Tocqueville Election Day: “An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry.” – George Eliot Earth Day: “Expect more craziness this weekend. Earth Day is Saturday. This year’s theme: Government must ‘do more’ about climate change because ‘consequences of inaction are too high to risk.’” – John Stossel… View Article

AJC Publishes Op-Ed on Atlanta, MARTA TSPLOSTs

posted 2 years ago on April 3rd, 2017 by 2 Comments
The Sunday edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on April 2, 2017, published an op-ed by Foundation Vice President Benita Dodd on the new transportation special purpose local option sales taxes for MARTA and Atlanta. Her op-ed is published in its entirety below; the AJC link is here: http://www.myajc.com/news/opinion/opinion-look-future-not-past-gain-most-from-atl-splost/5h0CTF5gG9cK2ppp2ZRL4O/. OPINION: Look to future, not past, to gain most from ATL T-SPLOST By Benita Dodd April marks the full implementation of two transportation special-purpose local option sales taxes (TSPLOSTs) overwhelmingly passed by Atlanta voters in November 2016. A 0.4-cent, five-year Atlanta TSPLOST to raise $300 million has joined the 0.5-cent, 40-year TSPLOST begun in March to raise $2.6 billion for MARTA projects. The massive support is no surprise, given lofty campaign promises… View Article

March 23 Event: “Capitol Insight,” with Lynn Westmoreland

posted 2 years ago on March 23rd, 2017 by Leave a Comment
March 23 Event: “Capitol Insight,” with Lynn Westmoreland Atlanta – You are invited to join the Georgia Public Policy Foundation on Thursday, March 23 for, “Capitol Insight,” an 8 a.m. Leadership Breakfast at Cobb County’s Georgian Club keynoted by six-term Georgia Congressman Lynn Westmoreland. Westmoreland knows what is it is to sign the front of a paycheck: He’s an entrepreneur who ran his own building company, L.A.W. Builders, while serving 12 years in the Georgia House of Representatives. His hard work and dedication as a champion of lower taxes and smaller government is credited as one of the major reasons the Republican Party was able to win the majority in the Georgia State House for the first time.… View Article

How States Can Break the Health Care Logjam

posted 2 years ago on March 17th, 2017 by Leave a Comment
By Kelly McCutchen In the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, January 22 a tornado, one of 40 over two days in Georgia, ripped through the tiny South Georgia town of Adel. Seven people died; the wounded were treated at the local hospital five minutes away. Just three days earlier, that local hospital had announced it would close its emergency room – the only ER in Cook County – at the end of February. Cook Medical Center is hemorrhaging about $2.6 million a year, mostly due to the emergency room. Tift Regional Medical Center plans to offer expanded hours at a non-emergency medical clinic in Adel while shifting emergency services to its hospital in Tifton, 24 miles away. Plans are in the… View Article

Expand Retirement Options, Shrink Teacher Doldrums

posted 2 years ago on February 1st, 2017 by Leave a Comment
This commentary appeared in the February 1, 2017, edition of The Marietta Daily Journal. By Benita M. Dodd PAGE, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, has surveyed its members and the findings, reported in its January/February 2017 newsletter (PAGE One), are depressing. The survey found that nearly half of teachers (45 percent) say they are unlikely to remain in education for the next 10 years. Sadly, a majority – 53 percent – also said they would not recommend a career in education. The report notes, “With the current teacher shortage and continuing teacher pipeline issues, these statistics are of great concern to PAGE.” The survey also found that 59 percent of the respondents oppose converting the Teacher Retirement System from… View Article

New Study Finds Georgia Underreports Public School Spending

posted 2 years ago on January 26th, 2017 by Leave a Comment
GEORGIA PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release January 26, 2017 Contact: Benita Dodd benitadodd@georgiapolicy.org | (404) 256-4050  New Study Finds Georgia Underreports Public School Spending Atlanta – For decades, Georgia’s Department of Education has underreported by billions of dollars what the state spends on public schools, according to an Issue Analysis released today at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s annual National School Choice Week event. The report, “Balancing the Books in Education,” by Foundation Senior Fellow and Kennesaw State University economist Dr. Benjamin Scafidi, notes that official state websites give the impression that taxpayers spend billions of dollars less on K-12 public education than is actually spent. For example, while the Georgia Department of Education website… View Article

Foundation Joins Coalition Asking U.S. Supreme Court to Protect Free Speech

posted 3 years ago on January 11th, 2017 by Leave a Comment
NEWS RELEASE: For Immediate Release January 11, 2017 Contact Benita Dodd at 404-256-4050 or benitadodd@georgiapolicy.org State Think Tanks Ask U.S. Supreme Court to Protect Free Speech Atlanta – The Georgia Public Policy Foundation has joined a coalition of 24 state-based think tanks around the nation to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the names of donors to nonprofit organizations.   The coalition supports an amicus brief filed Tuesday by the Buckeye Institute of Ohio in the case of Independence Institute v. Federal Elections Commission. The coalition believes it is unconstitutional for the federal government to compel the Independence Institute of Colorado to provide its donor list and is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a district court decision supporting… View Article

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