LAFAYETTE, Ga. -- Local lawmakers were already in Atlanta this week gearing up for the year’s legislative session. Among the rigors of simply getting back into the groove, delegates attended hearings that are aimed at clarifying what promises to be one of the biggest issues that will be tackled by the legislature, tax reform.

The 2008 legislative session officially begins Jan. 14.

Walker County’s legislative delegation to Atlanta consists of Sen. Jeff Mullis of Chickamauga, Rep. Scott Martin of Rossville, and Rep. Jay Neal of Chickamauga.

Tax reform

“Tax reform promises to be the issue that will overshadow everything else,” predicted state Sen. Jeff Mullis of Chickamauga.

Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s plan to reform taxes in Georgia has already received much attention by both media and educational outlets.

The anxiety that surrounds this piece of legislation is attributed to the unknown. This is to say, that because the details of Richardson’s proposal have already morphed from ending all property taxes on personal property into simply ending only the property tax portion attributed to education. Many are apprehensive as to whether the proposal will live through the session.

“The fact of the matter is that not all the details are on the table at this time,” Mullis said at mid-December meeting of local educators and lawmakers. “So we will ultimately have to wait and see what real form the Speaker’s plan takes.”

State Rep. Martin Scott of Rossville told educators that the plan “deserves fairness of consideration. Right now we are looking at ways in which the plan might work.”

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THREE BIG ISSUES

Taxation – Lawmakers will consider a proposal that would eliminate the educational portion of property taxes and instead rely solely on a broadened sales tax.

Education – More than half the state budget goes toward public education. If the sales tax plan passes, schools will be the most affected.

Water – Lawmakers will consider more usage restrictions, developing additional reservoirs, negotiating contracts with neighboring states, and the development of new resources like desalinated water from the ocean.

Other issues that will be considered

Seat belts for pickups – Georgia is the only state that does not require pickup truck drivers to wear seat belts.

Transportation – Legislators will continue to look at ways to relieve traffic congestion between Atlanta and Chattanooga.

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Education

Local educators are concerned that Richardson’s tax proposal will compromise their local ability to adequately fund education within their systems. The reason is that, under the plan, money would no longer be collected by local agencies but by state agencies that will filter the money back to the local systems.

Walker County school board member Phyllis Hunter asked legislators at the mid-December meeting, “What happens to the quality of education when there is no money to support it?”

This attitude is shared by the Georgia School Board Association, which is mobilizing local systems to oppose Richardson’s plan.

Nevertheless, local delegates are raising many questions in regards to the effectiveness of the current state of education.

Mullis has said, “We are spending more on education now than ever before. Of a $20 billion budget, the majority is spent on education. The average taxpayer is expressing more and more concerns in regards to test scores and graduation rates. It’s very obvious something must be done without putting to jeopardy the very futures of our children.”

Interestingly, there is some talk among the delegates of expanding charter schools within the state. This is seen by some as offering school choice to parents whose children may be attending a failing school system. This may not bode well for the Walker system, which is ranked 170th of 177 systems in graduation rates by the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education.

Also, delegates have spoken of instituting educational programs tailored to high school students who will not attend a four-year liberal arts college after graduation.

Water

Of all the issues being considered, the water supply of the state may be the single-most relevant issue felt by the residents of Georgia. The Tennessee Valley area, in which Walker County rests, finished 2007 with a deficit of about 16 inches below average yearly rainfall. Currently, area meteorologists say that the valley is already one inch below rainfall for 2008.

This drought that still grips the state has caused Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle to consider what the legislature can do this year to relieve the thirst of the state.

Last month Cagle spoke of his plans to see the construction of more reservoirs built in the state to capture rainfall.

“Basically science demonstrates that 50 inches of rain annually equals approximately 50 trillion gallons of water available,” Cagle said. “The usage of all municipal, agricultural, and industrial needs across the state results in some 1.2 trillion gallons of water consumed by our state. This speaks to the fact that we must capture more rain.”

Cagle’s proposal will be joined by other initiatives within this session to hopefully ease the water restrictions placed upon the state, still under level four, or exceptional, drought conditions.

Seat belts for pickup drivers

Also expected to be looked will be a bill, from state Sen. Don Thomas of Dalton, that will require drivers of pick-up trucks to wear seat belts while driving on public roads. Currently, Georgia is the only state that doesn’t require pick-up drivers to wear seat belts.

Mullis has said, ““Everybody ought to (wear a seat belt), but the government shouldn’t tell you to do it.”

Transportation

Mullis will continue the fight to see the Atlanta and Chattanooga airports connected via a high-speed railway. This initiative is explained as reliving the congestion experienced by travelers along Georgia’s busy Interstate 75.

“This is a logical relief of that congestion by connecting those two airports with high speed ground transportation,” Mullis has said.

Mullis said that a complete transportation proposal would be unveiled later this month.