State Representative
Barry Loudermilk

  March 1, 2009

2009 Session, Legislative  Newsletter Volume 1

In This Issue

·    Capitol Brief – 2009 Session Newsletter

·    Cap on Property Re-Assessments

·    State Budget Cuts

·    Setzler/Loudermilk Sponsor Law to Ban Chip Implants

·    Balancing the Power of Homeowners Associations

·    HB44 Zero Based Budgeting

Web Sites to Visit

Barry Loudermilk
Visit Barry’s Official Web Site for more information and news

Georgia Legislature
Official Site of the Georgia General Assembly

Bartow County GOP
Site of the Bartow County Republican Party

Floyd County GOP
Site of the Floyd County Republican Party

Heritage Foundation
National Conservative Policy Group

Contact Us

Web site

www.barryloudermilk.com

email

barry@barryloudermilk.com

Capitol

Ph: 404-656-0152

District

Ph: 678-721-5612

 

       CAPITOL BRIEF – 2009 Newsletter

This year's legislative session may be one of the most challenging in the history of this state. Not because of the record cuts that we will be making to the state budget, nor for the significant reduction we will be making in the size of our state government. Both of these are issues that conservatives have campaigned on in years past. The challenge will be to resist the temptation to hand over more of your rights and money to the government. 

Throughout history it has been during times of economic crisis that Americans have been the most susceptible to trading in their liberty for security. It is times like this that we must be more vigilant in protecting our liberties and letting the people recover the economy. 

Through this weekly newsletter, I will highlight legislation, events and actions that will have an impact on your life, liberty and prosperity.
I hope you find this newsletter informative and enlightening, and I encourage you to share it with your friends and neighbors. I also welcome any comments you may have about legislation or issues. Feel free to express you thoughts via email to barry@barryloudermilk.com.

Cap on Property Tax Reassesments

property tax you pay to increase, without an official increase in the millage rate. Through this "back-door" tax increase, some counties claim that they are not increasing property tax because they haven't increased the millage rate, yet the property owners are paying more out of pocket.

House Resolution 1, a Constitutional amendment, which failed to get the needed 120 votes, would have put a cap on the rate of increase of property values being reassessed every year.

Fortunately, HB 233 which placed a 2 year freeze on all property tax assessments, passed the House 110 to 63 and passed the Senate 42 to 5.

State Budget Cuts

One of the largest challenges of this year will be where to cut $2.6 billion from our state budget. While many of us have advocated that our government was too big and spent too much money, it is still a daunting task to eliminate programs, projects and jobs during these tough economic times.

To put it into perspective, our legislature has to come up with 2,600 one million dollar cuts. Another way to explain it is that if you started writing $1 million checks every year starting the year Jesus Christ was born, you would still have 590 years to go before spending $2.6 billion.

While these cuts are going to effect every element of our state government, we will be one of the leanest most efficient governments in the nation.

Setzler/Loudermilk Sponsor Chip Implant Ban

State Representative Ed Setzler (R – Kennesaw) and I have, for the second year, introduced legislation (HB38) that would prohibit any business, government, individual or organization in Georgia from requiring the implant of microchips in any human.

There has been a lot of advancement in micro-chip technology in recent years, and many organizations have considered using this technology to track human activity and for identification purposes. In fact, the United States Army is considering implanting chips into all of its soldiers.

Unfortunately, this legislation was held up in the House Rules committee during the 2008 session and never made it to the House Floor for a vote.

It is facing challenges again this year, in that it is being held up the the House Judiciary Sub Committee, and there is no scheduled hearing on this bill. However, the sponsors have not given up on this crucial legislation and have encouraged the Senate to draft and introduce similar legislation.

In recent years, there have been many news reports about homeowners and homeowners associations at odds over the interpretation of covenants. Most prominent were the reports of homeowners who displayed American flags on their property and the associations opposing the displays to the extent of placing leans on the property.

In neighborhoods where there are covenants, the homeowners association wields a lot of power, which is allowed by law. The law allows for the association to place leans on the property when a homeowner violates covenants or fails to pay their dues. But what happens when the association fails to live up to their responsibilities? According to current law, there is no legal recourse, short of hiring an attorney and suing the association in probate court.

To help in this situation, I have introduced House Bill 418, which will give homeowners some added rights. HB418 amends the Georgia Property Owners Association Act by giving homeowners the ability to suspend payment of their dues, or other common expenses, when a homeowner’s association fails to comply with any requirement or responsibility.

The purpose of this bill is not to give homeowners an opportunity to get out of paying their dues and fees, but to balance the power between the parties to ensure that everyone’s rights are protected.

HB44 Creates Zero Based Budgeting for State

Imagine a family or business who doesn't base its budget on how much it needs to get by, but simply on how much more it needs than was spent last year. This is how the state budget is operated in Georgia. While the legislature votes on the annual budget, all the legislators see are the increases, or decreases in this year's budget, from what the departments received last year. In other words, the departments do not have to justify their entire budgets every year, only the increase from last year.

Under HB44, which I have co-sponsored, every department in the state would have their annual budget reset to zero every four years. This would require them to justify every dollar of taxpayer money they spend, and it would bring full transparency to government spending. HB44 is currently in the House Appropriations Committee awaiting a hearing.