A number of new Georgia laws that were passed during the 2009 legislative session and signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue took effect Wednesday, July 1.
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There are more than 400,000 Georgians who filed their state tax returns before the April 15 deadline who have yet to receive a refund of the amount they overpaid in state taxes in 2008. The state Department of Revenue admits that it will be as late as November before it works through its backlog and all the refunds are distributed.
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When our state’s legislative leaders decided to slap a utility rate increase on consumers to help Georgia Power with the future financing of a nuclear plant expansion, they rushed to get it done in a couple of weeks’ time.
But when it comes to helping those who fight Atlanta traffic to get to work every day and the communities across the state in need of better roads, a similar sense of legislative urgency was nowhere to be found.
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In the final week of the 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly, lawmakers approved an $18.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2010 and passed a package of tax cuts designed to spur the economy. But for the second year in a row, the Senate and House leadership failed to agree on a solution for Georgia's transportation funding problem.
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As the debate continued this week over the future of transportation funding in Georgia, the Senate held its ground on the position that a regional solution paid for by dollars raised within those regions is the appropriate direction to take.
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On Wednesday, the Senate passed legislation that would make it easier for college students to continue using HOPE Scholarship funds for book purchases and related fees.
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In response to reports this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Senate Intermodal Rail & Transit Subcommittee Chairman Senator Doug Stoner (D-Smyrna) is calling for a subcommittee hearing on MARTA’s dire financial situation.
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More than 5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Another 1.5 million are Parkinson’s disease patients. Hundreds of thousands more are living with the results of spinal cord injury or disease, with that number growing by 30 newly injured people each day.
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The state Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to approve a proposal that would provide a dedicated revenue source for the Georgia Trauma Trust Fund to expand and enhance trauma care in our state.
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By a slim majority Thursday, the state Senate approved legislation that would reorganize the state's transportation agencies and likely weaken the process of representative government.
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Over my objection Wednesday, the Senate Transportation Committee favorably reported legislation that would reorganize the state's transportation agencies and potentially weaken the process of representative government.
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It seems that hardly a day goes by during the current legislative session without a majority of either the Senate or the House of Representatives passing legislation that claims to help Georgia taxpayers but in reality merely passes the buck to the local level of government.
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The Senate voted on a property tax relief measure this week, approving legislation that would hold down increases in valuation assessments by local tax officials.
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On Wednesday, Feb. 11, the Senate unanimously adoped legislation I introduced which urges President Barack Obama and his administration to continue the uninterrupted production of the F-22 Raptor.
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Across the state of Georgia, the lack of adequate funding to improve our transportation system is a problem. But the specific needs and urgency for improvements are different in various regions of the state.
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Over my objection, the Senate Regulated Industries & Utilities Committee has favorably approved legislation that would allow Georgia Power to increase customer rates while restricting the Public Service Commission's decision-making authority on the issue.
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On Wednesday, the Senate began the process of dealing with Georgia's transportation funding crisis when the Transportation Committee favorably approved legislation I co-sponsored.
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According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia's public schools stand to receive more than $1 billion in additional federal money as part of President Barack Obama's stimulus bill, approved Wednesday by the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Last year's failure of the General Assembly to pass legislation I co-sponsored, providing a transportation funding solution through a regional, local option sales tax, has contributed to an increasingly bleak financial picture at the Department of Transportation.
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The President has stated repeatedly that his policy agenda for leading our nation will have little or nothing to do with political views or partisanship. If federal funding requests from Georgia make good sense toward forging a stronger economy, rebuilding our infrastructure, dealing with our health care crisis, and supporting initiatives that create jobs, then there is no reason for our state’s leaders to be so pessimistic.
I look forward to working with the Obama administration on behalf of Cobb County’s and the state of Georgia’s needs these next four years, and letting the new President know our state will be a “team player” as he leads the nation back to a brighter economic future.
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The 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly got under way Jan. 12 as lawmakers returned to Atlanta knowing that our No. 1 challenge is to balance the new state budget in the toughest economic conditions we have faced in any of our lifetimes.
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District 6
P.O. Box 1781
Smyrna, GA 30081
Phone: 770.436.0699
Fax: 770.436.0699
Email: doug.stoner@senate.ga.gov
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