Legislative Update – Week 4

Legislation on Jobs Tax Credits introduced as part of Governor’s Competitive Initiative

Legislation that was a portion of Governor Deal’s “Competitive Initiative” efforts was introduced this week in the House.  HB 868 makes many significant improvements to the qualifying factors and value of jobs tax credits for new and expanded businesses throughout Georgia and should help businesses create more jobs for Georgians.

Over the past year, the RBC has been in informal discussions with the Department of Economic Development to address job growth in metropolitan counties, which are generally Tier 3 and Tier 4 counties and therefore don’t qualify for substantial jobs tax credits under Georgia law.  While the draft legislation strongly encourages growth in Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties, significant unemployment and competitiveness issues continue to be faced by metropolitan cities and counties.  In fact, the unemployment rate in many metropolitan counties exceeds the state’s average unemployment rate.

The draft legislation does not address instances where job losses in metropolitan counties can have an equal or greater negative impact than a plant closing in a Tier 1 or Tier 2 county.  The legislation also does not address the need to match jobs tax credits for new or expanding businesses in metropolitan counties who are in competition for new jobs with other states.  The department has indicated a willingness to discuss amending the legislation in an effort to address these concerns.

Compared to 2011 the 2012 Legislative Session is Getting off to a Quick Start

This year’s 14^th legislative day was February 3^rd.  Because of last year’s snow storm, the 14^th legislative day wasn’t until February 15^th.

So far this session the House has introduced 589 bills and resolutions compared to just 541 last year.  The Senate has introduced 270 measures this year compared to 251 last year.

Very few pieces of legislation have made it to either floor for a vote.  All 2011 legislation is treated like new legislation in the committees and must go through another round of committee hearings prior to being considered in 2012.

Twenty six legislative days remain in the 2012 legislative session.  This week’s legislative days were Monday February 6th (15^th legislative day), Tuesday (16^th), Wednesday (17^th) and Thursday (18^th legislative day).