by Dave Williams | Aug 1, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Policy wonks on both sides of an upcoming debate in the General Assembly over whether to eliminate Georgia’s income tax are advocating a cautious approach.
“That’s a very lofty goal,” said Danny Kanso, senior fiscal analyst with the progressive-leaning Georgia Budget & Policy Institute. “The income tax represents 56% of general-fund revenues. Nineteen billion dollars would leave a massive hole.”
“You can’t just cut spending,” added Kyle Wingfield, president and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, a think tank that advocates free-market approaches to public-policy issues. “You have to be thoughtful about how to make the math work.”
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who presides over the Georgia Senate, has formed a legislative study committee to consider whether to get rid of the state income tax. Jones, a Republican, has made abolishing the tax a key platform plank as he seeks the GOP nomination for governor next year.
Republican governors and the legislature’s GOP majorities have moved in that direction in recent years, reducing the income tax rate from 6% to 5.75% in 2022, then ratcheting it down further to 5.49%, 5.39% and – this year – to 5.19%.
But Republicans have stopped short of attempting to repeal the tax altogether. State Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, who will chair the study committee, pledged to rectify that during a news conference July 24, vowing to introduce legislation during the 2026 General Assembly session to get rid of the tax.
Tillery said nine states do not impose an income tax, including the neighboring states of Tennessee and Florida as well as the swing states of Nevada and New Hampshire and deep-blue Washington state.
“This is about competitiveness, economic freedom, and letting hardworking Georgians keep their money in their pockets,” he said.
Tillery promised to chart a “realistic and responsible path” toward ending the income tax, acknowledging the difficult task ahead.
Kanso said the incremental reductions in the income tax rate lawmakers have approved thus far were accomplished by cutting spending rather than increasing other taxes. Getting the income tax rate even close to zero would require additional sources of revenue, he said.
“They haven’t replaced income taxes with another tax,” he said.
The next-largest source of state revenue after income taxes – the sales tax – would be a logical place to look. Way back in 2010, a special committee of lawmakers and business leaders formed to overhaul Georgia’s tax system recommended that the state move more toward taxing consumption and away from relying as much on taxing income.
But the group’s report went nowhere amid opposition to politically unpopular proposals like taxing groceries or services.
“What you’re really saying is, ‘We’re going to start paying taxes on things we haven’t paid taxes on before,’ ” Kanso said. “It becomes a much more difficult position to sell.”
Wingfield cited a study the Georgia Public Policy Foundation conducted before the pandemic that concluded the state income tax rate could be lowered to 3% by taxing some services or raising the state sales tax rate from the current 4%.
He said one politically palatable way to begin taxing services would be to limit the tax to goods a business provides but not the service components of its operation, for example an oil-change company that taxes only the oil but not the labor.
Wingfield also cautioned against taxing services in a way that would hurt a business’s ability to compete with busineses in neighboring states.
“The trick with services is they can be pretty mobile,” he said. “You don’t want a tax that would drive business to other states.”
Kanso said it’s poor timing to consider getting rid of Georgia’s income tax when the impact President Donald Trump’s budget bill will have on state budgets remains uncertain.
“New costs are going to be pushed on to the state,” he said. “It is an open question of how can we afford to do this?”
State Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta, a member of the study committee, said the Trump administration’s push to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency is just one example of what could affect state budgets.
“We’re already grievously behind in getting federal money for a once-in-a-generation storm that swept our state,” said Orrock, referring to the devastation Hurricane Helene wreaked on Georgia farmers and businesses last September. “We’re in an era of climate change. … To cavalierly say the states are going to pick up the costs would leave us full of unanswered questions.”
Tillery said it’s premature at this point to determine how the state should replace the lost revenue from repealing the income tax. He said that’s what the study committee is for.
However, the upcoming debate won’t be so much about whether to abolish the tax but on how to accomplish it, Tillery said.
“It may not happen overnight,” he said. “[But] my goal is to move in this direction.”
by Dave Williams | Aug 1, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The son of the owner and president of a financial institution that is the subject of a federal lawsuit and a state investigation has resigned from the Georgia Republican State Committee effective immediately.
Brant Frost V also has informed state GOP Chairman Josh McKoon that he will be resigning as chairman of the Coweta County Republican Party, McKoon said Friday.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued First Liberty Building and Loan last month alleging it had operated as a Ponzi scheme, bilking investors.
The complaint in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia said Edwin Brant Frost IV, used investor funds to make more than $570,000 in political donations. First Liberty raised at least $140 million from about 300 investors, and the lawsuit said Frost also used their money to pay himself and his family at least $5 million.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger launched an investigation this week after calling on politicians to return any political contributions from First Liberty or the Frost family, which has been active in state Republican politics.
In a statement issued Friday, McKoon said the voluntary resignations will allow Brant Frost V to focus on his family and upcoming birth of his first child.
“We in no way consider his resignations as an indication of guilt in the pending legal issues of First Liberty Building and Loan,” McKoon said. “We continue to stand with those who have suffered financial losses and hope for the speedy and full return of their investments.”
An election to choose Frost’s successor with the Coweta County Republican Party will be held within the next 30 days.
by Dave Williams | Jul 31, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Power asked state energy regulators Thursday to certify 9,900 megawatts of new energy resources that would come from a variety of power-generating projects.
In a filing with the Georgia Public Service Commission, the Atlanta-based utility proposed projects the PSC already has approved in Georgia Power’s last two Integrated Resource plans (IRPs), which the company submits every three years outlining the mix of energy sources it intends to rely on for power generation during the coming years.
About 8,000 megawatts would come from bids received from an “all-source” request for proposals the commission approved in the 2022 IRP. The projects include power-purchase agreements (PPAs) from existing resources as well as new company-owned natural gas generation, battery energy storage systems (BESS), and projects that combine BESS and solar.
A second filing requests certification of 1,886 megawatts that would come from projects the PSC approved this month in the utility’s 2025 IRP, including PPAs from existing resources, new battery energy storage construction, and company-owned BESS paired with solar.
“Every day, around the clock, during periods of extreme heat, extreme cold, and everything in between, our teams are working to keep reliable energy flowing for millions of Georgians,” said Rick Anderson, senior vice president and senior production officer for Georgia Power.
“That includes the culmination of years of proactively planning for filings like this that our generation plant teams and many others work diligently on in selecting the right future resources. … The diverse mix of resources we have proposed to the Georgia PSC will help us meet the needs of a growing Georgia with reliable and resilient energy while delivering long-term value for all of our customers.”
The list of projects includes previously approved new gas turbines to be built at Georgia Power’s Plant Yates near Newnan and Plant McIntosh near Savannah as well as a request for five additional turbines – two at Plant Bowen near Cartersville, two at Plant Wansley in Heard County, and one at Plant McIntosh.
Environmental groups have opposed the new gas turbines as a doubling down on Georgia Power’s commitment to continue using fossil fuels for power generation rather than more aggressive investment in renewable energy.
On the other hand, Georgia Power is stepping up its reliance on battery energy storage systems as a way to improve the efficiency of renewable power. Construction is currently underway on new BESS projects in Bibb, Lowndes, Floyd, and Cherokee counties, while the company is seeking certification of 10 new BESS facilities at eight sites across the state.
Georgia Power also is requesting approval of two new state-of-the-art solar systems paired with BESS. Those would be located in Laurens County and at the site of the former Plant Mitchell in Dougherty County.
The PSC will hold hearings on the two certification requests in October and early December, with a vote set for Dec. 19.
by Dave Williams | Jul 30, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Democrats Wednesday criticized federal funding cuts to nursing homes included in President Donald Trump’s budget bill the Republican-controlled Congress passed early this month.
But the head of an organization that represents Georgia nursing homes said the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” won’t affect nursing homes because the final version of the measure exempted them from the cuts.
Democrats have focused on nursing home funding since the Brown University School of Public Health released a study earlier this summer identifying 579 nursing homes across the country at risk of closing because of cuts to Medicaid, including 37 in Georgia.
“To even allow one nursing home to close is unacceptable, but 37 is a moral failure,” state Rep. Bryce Berry, D-Atlanta, said Wednesday during a news conference inside the Georgia Capitol. “This is about our elders being evicted from the place they call home … (and) seniors being separated from their caregivers. This is how people die.”
“These cuts are cruel and heartless,” added U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Stone Mountain. “These cuts will hurt not just poor people in metro areas but MAGA constituents in rural areas.”
But Chris Downing, president and CEO of the Georgia Health Care Association, said the final version of Trump’s budget bill exempts the provider tax that helps fund nursing homes from the Medicaid cuts.
“They were on the menu at the beginning, but at the end, they were not,” he said. “Nursing homes are carved out of this bill. … We’re not going to see any cuts from this legislation.”
Downing said the Brown University study was released before the provision exempting nursing homes from the cuts was inserted into the bill, so its conclusions no longer apply.
“That study was sanctioned by (U.S.) Senate Democrats … to give their senators talking points to go out and say, ‘This bill is going to harm seniors,’ ” he said.
While the legislation lets nursing homes keep the provider tax intact, broader spending reductions in the bill could affect individual nursing home residents’ eligibility for Medicaid benefits.
However, Downing said it’s way too soon to assess the potential impacts of those cuts, which won’t take effect for several years.
by Dave Williams | Jul 29, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Freight railroad companies Union Pacific and Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern announced a merger agreement Tuesday that will create the nation’s first transcontinental railroad.
The merger, subject to the approval of the federal Surface Transportation Board, will connect more than 50,000 route miles across 43 states, linking about 100 ports.
“Railroads have become an integral part of building America since the Industrial Revolution, and this transaction is the next step in advancing the industry,” said Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena, who will become CEO of the combined company Union Pacific Transcontinental Railroad.
“This combination is transformational, enhancing the best freight transportation system in the world. It’s a win for the American economy, it’s a win for our customers, and it’s a win for our people.”
“Norfolk Southern, like Union Pacific, is a railroad integral to the U.S. economy, with a storied 200-year legacy of serving customers across 22 states in the eastern half of the nation,” Norfolk Southern CEO Mark George added. “Our safety, network, and financial performance is among the best we’ve had as a company, as is our customer satisfaction. And it is from this position of strength that we embark on this transformational combination.”
Under the agreement, Union Pacific will acquire Norfolk Southern in a stock-and-cash transaction. The deal will create a combined enterprise worth more than $250 billion. Executives with both railroads promised a job with the combined company for every union employee who wants one.
Originally based in Norfolk, Va., Norfolk Southern moved its headquarters to Atlanta in 2021. While the combined company will be headquartered in Omaha, Neb. – Union Pacific’s home base – Atlanta will remain a core location focusing on technology, operations, and innovation, among other priorities, according to a news release.
The companies expect to apply for the merger with the STB within six months. The two company’s boards already have approved the agreement.
The companies are targeting closing the transaction by early 2027.
