State Senate
Summary
CHUCK HUFSTETLER Finance Chair
The Georgia Legislature is currently out of session though many committees continue to meet. The year of the pandemic presented a difficult needle to thread. Governor Kemp worked to mend the problems caused during the awful months of the pandemic. For the first time in the state’s history, the legislature granted a governor public health state of emergency power and control, which lasted until July 1st. Now we are charged with moving on. The Georgia economy remains robust. The number one issue we have, in my opinion, is finding qualified workers for all the job openings we have. At an unemployment rate close to 4%, we are well below the national average and look forward to a solid summer and fall. Through the work of prior legislation, our state reserves are at their highest level. Nationwide, we have 9.3 million job openings posted, with potentially 10 million workers still unemployed. Women in the workplace remain at the lowest level since 1987, including during the pandemic shut down. The burden fell heavily for many women workers who sacrificed working outside of the home to care for children and family during those difficult times. With the incredible revenue the state is seeing, I expect Governor Kemp will be able to fulfill the last of his promised teacher pay raises as well as a potential cut in the state tax rate. Since I was the senate sponsor of the only tax rate cut since 1937 when the income tax was implemented (we dropped the rate from 6% to 5.75% three years ago), I am particularly excited at the possibility of another tax cut! 24
District 52
We also passed a new law, S.B. 6, that allows the finance chair authorization to scrutinize up to ten tax credits per year. Georgia has handed out 9.5 billion in tax credits and sales tax exemptions through many years of special interests and some legitimate tax breaks. We bring in 14 billion in income tax revenue. Do the math, and you will see the potential tax cuts for everyone, not just special interests. We should eliminate tax credits that don’t make economic sense but have just been “on the books” for many years. Tentatively slated for November, the Georgia Legislature will hold a special session to redraw the Georgia House, Senate, and U.S. Congressional Districts--which happens every ten years, running with new population counts. Unfortunately, the federal government has not yet released the final census data, and we are urging them to do so as quickly as possible. No doubt, you can expect lawsuits and outcries. Fortunately, I am not on that committee. To all my constituents, I want to thank you again for providing me with the honor of representing you and our four-county senate district. I will continue to do the best I can at this “parttime” job and hope I will meet your expectations in representing this great area of Georgia.
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