Rep. Don Parsons 2018 sine die newsletter

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The 2018 regular session of the Georgia General Assembly adjourned just after midnight on Thursday, March 29. It was a fast paced, hard working and productive session. There were major achievements, especially regarding tax reduction and increased funding for education.

The following is a brief wrap-up of highlights of the session, along with other useful pieces of information.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me when I can be of assistance. You can contact me at [email protected] or 404-656-9198

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Major Initiatives

Among the successes of the 2018 General Assembly, one that touches every Georgian is the passage of legislation cutting state personal and corporate income tax rates from 6% to 5.75% in 2019 and 5.5% in 2020. This is a $5 billion tax cut over five years, the first state income tax reduction since it was implemented in 1934.

We gave final passage to the Fiscal Year 2019 (FY 2019) budget. Among many, many important budgetary appropriations, the final FY 2019 budget includes an additional $166.7 million for local school systems and $16 million for school security. These additional education dollars fully fund Georgia’s Quality Basic Education formula (QBE) for the first time ever.

I am very happy to report that we passed SR 426 that places a constitutional amendment on the November ballot to provide victims explicit rights in Georgia’s Constitution. We passed SB 127, enabling legislation for SR 426, that provides a process for victims to be heard by the court when the victim’s constitutional rights to participation and information have been denied. I was the author and sponsor of the "Victims' Bill of Rights" a few years ago, and I look forward to, with the passage of the constitutional amendment in November, enshrining the rights of victims of crime into our state constitution.

A conference committee report on SB 402 was approved. This legislation means to provide more extensive broadband deployment throughout the state. There remains much work to be done on rural broadband. I am happy that it contains two major provisions listed below from legislation I have authored and sponsored:

A comprehensive report on the deployment and availability of broadband throughout the state with recommendations for future legislation will be performed by the Georgia Technology Authority and provided to the Governor and the General Assembly.
It sets in place a mechanism for local governments to attain "Broadband Ready Community" status by removing impediments often put in place by local governments to the provisioning of broadband.

To see more legislation passed in the last week of the session, click here.

Transit

HB 930 , the transit legislation on which Rep. Kevin Tanner worked tirelessly before and throughout the session, gained final passage on Day 40. It is a large piece of legislation that is important for air quality purposes and traffic issues in the Metro Atlanta counties.

Cobb County is addressed in the legislation in four (4) pages, in which a mechanism for the Cobb County Commissioners and the Cobb Legislative Delegation county to draw a special transportation district, and if approved by a majority of both of those bodies, to bring a proposal by referendum to the voters of the proposed special district , is detailed.

I have pulled out the language in the legislation that applies to Cobb County, and it can be read here .

Prescription Drug Removal

Every year the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration coordinates a nation-wide Prescription Drug Take Back Day to address the epidemic of prescription drug abuse. According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.4 million Americans have abused controlled prescription drugs. The study shows that a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet. More information is available here .

Spring Cleaning- Recycling in Cobb

Spring is upon us, and that means it is time to prepare for spring cleaning. There are many resources available in Cobb County to recycle a variety of household items from sensitive paper documents to large appliances. Improper disposal of electronics and appliances can pose a great risk to our environment, and dumping can keep our community from looking its best. Recycling large or small household items is often low-cost or even free, and a comprehensive list of recyclable items and where to bring them in Cobb is available at https://goo.gl/B3Gz8z .

More information is available here.

"To live our lives and miss that great purpose we were designed to accomplish is truly a sin. It is inconceivable that we could be bored in a world with so much wrong to tackle, so much ignorance to reach and so much misery we could alleviate." -William Wilberforce

Legislative Office

401 State Capitol

Atlanta, Georgia 30334

404 656 9198

In the District

3167 Sycamore Lane

Marietta, Georgia 30066

770 977 4426

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