licThis year he opposed raising taxes and lost his Senate leadership position when he stood on his principles and represented you.

Budget

Balanced Budget
• We began the year with the greatest decline in revenues since the Great Depression with the hopeful projection of seeing slight gains in the beginning months of 2010.
• Unfortunately, revenues continued to decline and the legislature had to come up with over $2 billion in cuts between the remainder of the 2010 budget and the General 2011 budget.
• We cut spending by 12.5 % from Fiscal Year 2009.
• The FY11 revenue estimate reflects an 18 % decline from the original FY09 General budget of $20.1 billion, which is a $3.7 billion shortfall (from 2009-2011).
• Considering that 80 % of the budget that could be reduced is comprised of K-12 education, higher education, corrections and healthcare, choices were not easy.

Zero-Based Budgeting
Senator Hill co-sponsored Senate Bill 1 which provides that beginning January 1, 2011
• Georgia currently prepares its budget on a “continuation” basis, which assumes that all current spending will be carried forward, and legislators only examine proposed increases.
• Over a four-year term, the entire budget will be scrutinized by the General Assembly.
• This is a “common-sense first step” for reducing waste in government.

Safety Net
Senate Bill 421: Increases the state’s revenue shortfall reserves from 10 % to 15 %.
• Currently the state holds only a 10 % reserve fund, which depleted very quickly this year.
• This bill was created to strengthen Georgia’s financial safety net during future economic downturns.
• This will help ensure that we won’t face similar difficult choices of cutting education, public safety or health services for our citizens.

Tax Reform

Property Taxes
Senator Hill co-sponsored Senate Bill 346, which is the most sweeping overhaul of the Georgia property tax system in decades achieved unanimous approval in Senate and overwhelming support in the House.
• The Property Tax Assessment and Appeals reform bill is aimed at ensuring all Georgia properties are properly assessed at Fair Market Value and that property owners have guaranteed rights to appeal.
• A study of five metro-Atlanta counties shows an estimated overpayment of property taxes in excess of $200 million during 2009.

Jobs, Opportunity and Business Success Act of 2010
House Bill 1023: This legislation is designed to stimulate the state’s economy by providing tax credits, cuts and incentives to create, expand and attract new businesses in Georgia.
• Georgia Works Tax Credit: available quarterly for between $25 and $125 per unemployed individual hired as an employee for at least a year.
• The corporate and individual capital gains tax rate will be reduced by 25 % for the first year that the Rainy Day Fund reaches $1 billion; the rate reduction will be 50 % for the next year.
• Angel Investor tax credit will reward those who invest in Georgia start-up companies that create jobs.
• Eliminates the net worth tax on GA corporations after January 1, 2012.
• Coupling this bill with many of the other economic development measures we passed will truly position Georgia to lead the nation in economic recovery.

Health Care

Senate Bill 317/411 prohibits mandatory participation in any health care system and also allows partial refunds of health insurance premiums to incentivize people to choose healthy behaviors. Senator Hill’s Senate Bill 317/411 allows you to lawfully stand up against the federal government’s takeover of healthcare.

The legislation prevents you from being forced to buy health insurance or participate in government healthcare against your will or without being fined. Experts estimate that passage of this legislation will help save many jobs, allow seniors to keep Medicare Advantage plans and annually save taxpayers an additional $500 + million.

In 2008 Senator Hill first passed legislation allowing partial refunds for people participating in low premium health savings account plans, this legislation expands that provision to all types of health insurance.

Under Senator Hill’s leadership and Chairmanship of a Healthcare Transformation Study Committee and numerous free market based health care bills, Georgia has become the nation’s leader advancing common sense healthcare solutions to help make health care more affordable and accessible.

Since 2007 Senator Hill has championed efforts to allow you to buy health insurance from other states so long as the insurance companies are approved in Georgia and shown to be financially strong to insured claims are promptly paid. He has also introduced legislation to strengthen penalties against those who steal one’s medical identity or commit Medicaid fraud.
 

Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness

House Bill 1045: Creates the 2010 Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians. It is vitally important that we work for Georgians to ensure they have a fair tax system.

Banking

We passed House Bill 926 to allow state banks to renew small business loans to businesses in good standing to provide needed capital to grow their businesses.
• The economy, declining property values, and other loan losses have caused locally owned, reliable businesses in good standing with their bank to have trouble renewing their loans.


Ethics

Senate Bill 17: This bill creates the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, which has the powers and duties granted to the State Ethics Commission.
• Requires disclosure of campaign contributions greater than $100 and details the reporting procedure for campaign contribution disclosure reports.
• Abuse of official power, improper conduct, and sexual harassment are defined, and the bill outlines the process for filing a complaint against a member of the General Assembly.


Government Transparency

Transparency in Government Act
Senate Bill 389: The public information website www.open.georgia.gov will be expanded to include all three branches of government, any regional education service agency, all local boards of education, federal pass through dollars and contracts and expenditures made by the General Assembly.
• With this legislation, the General Assembly and the judicial branch will be included in the auditing and tracking functions of www.open.georgia.gov.

Public Safety

Caleb’s Law
Senate Bill 360: Prohibits everyone from text messaging while driving a vehicle.
• A conviction will result in a fine of up to $150 dollars. Likewise, a teenager who is charged twice with a texting while driving will be restricted to driving on a class D license for a period of one year.

House Bill 23: Prohibits all cell phone usage by teenage drivers except in emergencies.

Reform of Gun Carry Laws

Lawful Carry Act
Senator Hill co-sponsored Senate Bill 308 to remove confusing public gathering provisions to clarify areas where people with gun permits may carry firearms.
• Property owner rights are successfully preserved by allowing their discretion as to having weapons on their property (no weapons in churches, jails, prisons, any K-12 school or courtrooms).
• It will be unlawful to carry into a restaurant or bar, UNLESS permission is granted by the property owner
• Citizens with a carry license will be able to leave their weapon in a parked vehicle on college and university campuses. However, it will be a misdemeanor if they have a license and carry onto a college or university campus. It will still be a felony to carry a weapon onto a campus if one does not have a license to carry.

Transportation Funding

House Bill 277: Establishes 12 regions throughout Georgia. A designated group of local officials can then develop a list of transportation projects for the region and present it to the voters via referendum. Voters would then have the chance to approve or reject the list by referendum vote. Additionally, the referendum would ask voters to consider a 1 % sales tax to fund the cost of the projects for a defined time.
• This is a big first step toward reducing the congestion and gridlock that prevents Georgians from easily getting to their jobs and families.
• Promotes economic growth and makes Georgia more attractive to potential businesses and residents. Creating an additional funding source will help develop the state’s transportation infrastructure as well as enhance our freight corridors to move Georgia products and goods and services throughout the state.

Trauma Funding

Senate Resolution 277: Creates the Georgia Trauma Trust Fund “GTTF” if Georgia voters approve the measure this November. The fund would become the state’s first dedicated funding source for the statewide trauma network.
• The fees collected would be placed into the GTTF and be solely dedicated for management and improvements to the state trauma care system.

Immigration

E-Verification
Although my Senate Bill 460 was held up, a version of it passed as Senate Bill 447 to prohibit public an employer, state or local government to enter into a contract for services within Georgia unless the contractor registers and participates in the federal work authorization program to verify that all newly hired employees and subcontractors have legal work permits. The bill that passed failed to include strong penalties for violations of this law.
• This bill helps ensure that we are not taking jobs away from those who have the legal right to work in this state.


Abortion – passed only in the Senate

Senate Bill 529: Criminalizes coerced abortions and abortions performed based on race or gender.
• The bill defines the offenses of a criminal abortion as when a person performs an abortion with the knowledge that a pregnant woman is being coerced, with the intent to have an abortion based on race, color or gender, or with the knowledge that a pregnant woman is seeking an abortion based on race, color or gender.

Education

The Teacher's Bill of Rights
• Senator Hill stood up for our teachers and introduced Senate Bill 320 – The Teacher’s Bill of Rights legislation is intended to keep the best teachers in the classroom. The bill would have helped teachers teach by allowing them to more effectively deal with unruly and disruptive students. SB 320 also gives teachers the right to bring in a representative for annual performance reviews and disciplinary proceedings.

Dual Enrollment
Senate Bill 231: The bill allows for the enrollment of a student in dual enrollment programs to count toward the funding formula for that school.
• Gives schools a little more breathing room by allowing them to count dual enrolled students in their funding formula.
• At a time when schools are shortening their school years and teachers are facing furloughs, we must do everything we can to ensure schools have the resources to fully develop their students.


BRIDGE Act or Building Resourceful Individuals to Develop Georgia’s Economy Act
House Bill 400: Develops programs to improve graduation rates, improve the preparedness of students for post-secondary education through career academies, choice technical high schools through small learning communities and individual graduation plans.
• Mandates the Department of Education to develop focused study programs in high demand, high skill, and high wage fields.
• This program offers flexibility to students to pursue a focused study at their school, a technical school, a college or university or under an apprenticeship cooperative education program. It also allows each student to have an “individualized graduation plan,” rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.