Georgia Legislative Watch

In a press release issued jointly by House Democratic Leader DuBose Porter and Senate Democratic Leader Robert Brown, attention was brought to House Bill 1057; a bill that would “put a stop to school cuts and take the burden of $1.5 billion in property tax shifts off local government.”

According to the Democratic leaders, HB 1057 would reward city and county school systems that lower their property taxes by increasing their funding for public education. Under the Democratic plan, a total of $600 million over the next two years would be used to fully fund the Quality Basic Education formula that funds public education. For example, under HB1057, if the Atlanta Public School system lowered their property taxes, they would receive a refund from the state for $7,963,680 to be used towards education.

“It’s not too often in politics that you find a win-win scenario, but the Democratic plan is just that,” said House Democratic Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin). “We keep our promise to Georgia’s students to give them a world-class education and schools we can finally be proud of, we put an end to $1.5 billion in education cuts forced on families by the Republicans, and we provide some fiscally sound tax relief for homeownership. This is true property tax relief.”

“This is a win-win situation; we invest in education without burdening the local taxpayer,” said Senate Democratic Leader Robert Brown (D-Macon).