2019 State Legislative Agenda

Transportation

  • We support continued efforts to design, fund, and build a permanent US 84 truck by-pass route to divert truck traffic from Valdosta’s Central Downtown District thus enhancing the district’s vitality as well as the trucking industry’s safety and efficiency. 
  • We support the funding mechanisms in HB 170 that help meet Georgia’s transportation needs, oppose efforts to repeal any of those funding mechanisms, and also support investigating ways to soften the impact of the hotel/motel fee on our hospitality industry.
  • We support additional funding for regional airport and short line rail upgrades.

Healthcare

  • We support initiatives which will improve healthcare and support the provision of healthcare by hospitals in the non-urban areas of our State.  
  • We support all reasonable means of supplementing costs of medical services and support provided by SGMC, a major economic engine in South Georgia.

Local Government

  • We support passage of legislation to remove regulatory burdens on businesses and promote timely review by local governments for processing permits and plans by developers and builders.  ​

Labor, Education & Workforce

  • We support efforts to improve Georgia’s age 0-3 early education services through  expansion of the Quality Rated early learning program.
  • We support funding to ensure high quality universal pre-K services are available to all families in the State of Georgia who choose it.
  • We support continued efforts of delivering quality education services including charter schools, career academies, early college academies, and school choice programs.
  • We support the partnership between families, schools, and the business community to promote and prepare local students and graduates to fill the demand for a highly skilled and competitive workforce.
  • We support a review and update of the QBE funding formula for public education.
  • We support reform of criminal history to remove from records charges that did not result in conviction.

Economic Development and Taxation

  • We support a fully funded INVEST Georgia program at the planned level of $100 million. 
  • We support legislation funding The Arts as an economic development strategy.
  • We support reimplementation of the Sales Tax Holiday. 
  • We support broadband expansion in smaller metropolitan areas, rural areas, and in military active duty zones of the State.
  • We support current and future tax credits to encourage investment in rehabilitation of historic buildings and landmarks.
We support the authority of the Georgia Joint Defense Commission to advocate for these military-friendly initiatives:
 
  • We support facilitating military spouse career transition through licensure portability
  • We support improving the Georgia ranking in overall quality of educational outcomes in public K-12 school systems
  • We support assigning an identifier for military children in education data systems, and ensuring transferability of academic achievements such as AP and honors courses from state to state
 

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