Traditional schools have complained that they need flexibility, too. The Charter Systems Act gave them that option last year, and school systems would have the ability to choose from a variety of options to receive flexibility in return for stricter accountability for student achievement.

It's Friday!

Education

• State-chartered schools would receive equitable funding, charter school teachers would finally be allowed to participate in the state's health care plan and charter schools would have the option of funding facilities through a matching grant fund.
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• Individuals and businesses would receive tax credits for contributions to private organizations that offer scholarships for low- and middle-income children to attend a public school in another district or a private school.
• Scholarships to attend a public school in another district or a private school would be made available for children in Clayton County schools if they lose their accreditation and for children attending schools that have been on the failing list for seven years or more.

Health Care

• Georgia's trauma network would be funded and support for health clinics that offer primary care services on a sliding scale would ease pressure on emergency rooms throughout the state.
• Individuals who don't receive health insurance through their employer would receive tax equity with employers by being allowed to deduct their insurance premiums from the state's 6 percent state income tax. Eliminating state and local premium taxes on high-deductible insurance policies should reduce costs even more.
• Regulatory barriers to incentives to encourage wellness and management of chronic disease would be removed and small businesses who cannot afford to offer health insurance would be allowed to donate to tax-free HRA accounts for their employees, who can then use the proceeds for medical care or to purchase insurance.

Fiscal

• Uncompetitive, high tax rates would no longer create disincentives for manufacturing and forestry operations and job creation in Georgia. Sales taxes on the energy used in manufacturing would be capped (hopefully to be eventually eliminated) and timberland taxed based on its current use.
• Nearly all Georgians would receive a property tax break. The state portion of the property tax would be eliminated, as well as the ad valorem tax on personal motor vehicles.
• Caps on the increase in assessed property values would give property owners more predictability in their property tax burden.
• Transparency in government would begin in Georgia with all state expenditures placed on a searchable Web site.
• Public pension funds would be able to diversify their investments into private equity (up to 5 percent) so Georgia will no longer be the last state in the nation barring this prudent practice. Georgia companies would benefit as more venture capital flows into the state.
• In a victory for free markets, Georgians can now order wine from other states.
• Eliminating obfuscation: Legislation that has passed both chambers would mean that special elections such as SPLOST votes could no longer be held on obscure dates that discourage voter turnout.

 Environment

• Water resources will be managed based on scientific assessment of the state's watersheds, now that the Legislature and governor have ratified the Water Council's Comprehensive Statewide Water Management Plan.
• The lengthy permitting process for construction or expansion of reservoirs and expansion would be streamlined and expedited and state financing made available for approved projects.
• Local governments would need the approval of the state Environmental Protection Division before adopting tougher water use restrictions than the state's.

 Transportation

• The state Department of Transportation would remove caps on the streamlining design-build construction method, in which the design builder is responsible for both the design and construction of the project.
• In what could be a mixed blessing, local governments would be able to borrow money for constructing and improving highway and transportation facilities necessary for public purposes, including economic development, from a state Transportation Infrastructure Bank operating within the State Road and Tollway Authority.
• Residents would be able to vote on imposing a special transportation tax to fund projects in their area.
  Legislators would have more information on state Department of Transportation activities.

Good news: Georgia tied for fourth place in the Pew Center on the States' 2008  Government Performance Project, a significant improvement from a tie for 40th place in 1999. Source: Pew Center 

Great news: A key part of Georgia's recent tort reform championed by the Foundation was upheld this week by the Georgia Supreme Court. In a 5-2 decision, the court ruled Georgia's expert witness standard, which mirrors the federal standard, does not violate the state Constitution. Source: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer 

Great leadership: National Journal magazine ranked U.S. Reps. Lynn Westmoreland, Phil Gingrey and John Linder of Georgia in a tie for first place as the "most conservative" member of the House of Representatives based on 2007 voting. Under National Journal's formula, first place went to eight Republican members with a composite conservative score of 93.3 percent. 

Despite the recent trend toward the "offshoring" of production in some industries, manufacturing employment remains significant in Georgia. As of December 2007, the manufacturing sector provided over 431,000 jobs in Georgia - or about 10.3 percent of all non-agricultural employment. Source: Habif, Arogeti & Wynne 

"[I]f industry and labour are left to take their own course, they will generally be directed to those objects which are the most productive, and this in a more certain and direct manner than the wisdom of the most enlightened legislature could point out." - James Madison

The case for off-shoring: The Environmental Protection Agency is tightening the federal air quality standard, estimating the final standards will yield health benefits valued between $2 billion and $19 billion. EPA boasts the new primary eight-hour standard, 0.075 parts per million, is the "most stringent eight-hour standard ever for ozone." Fourteen Georgia counties will be out of attainment. It will cost metro Atlanta $1.3 billion annually to attain the standard, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget "estimates the lower standard will result in at least 833 to 2,933 premature deaths as Americans' incomes are diverted away from expenses that improve their health and welfare-housing, food, education, etc. - in order to comply with the lower standard," the National Center for Policy Analysis reports.

On Monday, New York's Lt. Governor David Paterson will become that state's first African-American governor and the first legally blind governor of any state. He's likely to be even more of a liberal than his disgraced predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, reports John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, but, when it comes to education reform, "Mr. Paterson breaks from liberal orthodoxy. He is passionately in favor of school choice and has even spoken at two conferences held by the Alliance for School Choice. At one, he pulled off the rare feat of quoting both Martin Luther King Jr. and individualistic philosopher Ayn Rand approvingly in the same speech." Source: Wall Street Journal 

Mark your calendar: Go to www.gppf.org to register by Friday, April 11, for "Update from the Secretary of State," a Georgia Public Policy Foundation Policy Briefing Luncheon keynoted by Secretary of State Karen Handel at the Commerce Club on April 15. On May 13, DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham will keynote a Foundation Policy Briefing Luncheon at the Commerce Club. Details to follow. 

Please visit www.gppf.org to read the Foundation's latest commentary, "Positive Lessons from Charter Schools in Georgia," by Andrew Broy.

Have a great weekend.