Author Archives: jimgilvin

Get it right or get it done?

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As the Georgia state legislature winds down this year one of the biggest issues yet to be resolved is the proposed revision of our state’s tax code. There are only a few days left for legislators to get the law known as HB 387 passed so some fast and furious horse trading is going on under the gold dome and the final result could affect every tax payer in Georgia.

This article in the AJC provides a good summary of what is happening. Here are a few of the highlights:

A bill that would cut the state income tax rate and shift taxes to some services is headed for a vote in the Georgia House.

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The proposed changes in HB 387 would lower the state income tax rate from 6 percent to 4.5 percent, but limit how much income can be deducted. The bill gives tax breaks to manufacturers and agriculture, creates a 7 percent tax communications services, charges sales tax on private sales of cars, and taxes auto repair and maintenance services.

House Ways and Means Chairman Mickey Channell, R-Greensboro, said most people will not see much change in their overall tax bill as a result of the changes. But he said the lower income tax rate will help attract new businesses by making Georgia competitive with Florida and Tennessee, which do not have an income tax.

House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, said a Georgia State University analysis of the changes show the changes benefit the rich, keep taxes the same on the poor and raise them on the working and middle classes. The increase comes on taxpayers who itemize their taxes, she said.

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GOP politicians are trying to shoehorn the changes  into the final days of a hectic legislative session. The House likely  will take up the legislation Wednesday, setting up a possible Senate  vote as early as Friday — the 38th day of a 40-day session.

Any delays would bump a Senate vote to the last two legislative workdays: April 12 or April 14.

One other key point of the legislation that wasn’t emphasized in the article is that charitable donations to churches would no longer be tax deductible. That means families would no longer be able to deduct the amount they tithe to their church on their income taxes. As a result the new tax law is drawing the ire of the state’s religious organizations. You can read about that angle more here at peachpundit.com.

The AJC columnist Kyle Wingfield also discusses the bill and his perspective is that an imperfect bill is better than no bill at all. Kyle puts it this way:

Raising taxes in a slow-to-recover economy is a bad idea, but cutting taxes meaningfully in a slow-to-recover economy has proved to be more than our legislators can bear. If you want to know what they really mean when they talk about smaller government, take a look around — because it has become quite apparent that this is as far as they intend to go in cutting.

They’re not going to cut any farther than revenues require, and the state Constitution mandates that they balance the budget each year, so reducing revenues even further seems to be out of the question.

So assuming all of the above reports are true this is the way I see it:

1.) Georgia state legislators wants to lower our state income tax rate because it hurts the state when competing for employers against other states that have no income tax.

2.)  The legislature could reduce taxes and reduce spending but they refuse to do that.

3.) Instead of reducing spending the Republican proposal raises taxes that primarily impact middle class taxpayers and churches while lowering taxes on people in lower and higher income tax brackets.

4.) There isn’t much time to get all of this done so the bill is being rushed through the legislative process without much time for the public to inspect the details and determine how it will affect their families.

Based on those points I find it hard to believe HB 387 is better than the status quo. I am glad that the legislature realizes Georgia’s state income tax is a problem and I support their effort to correct the situation. I just don’t see how the reallocation of that burden to middle class tax payers already employed in Georgia is a better situation. I also believe that politically the Republican party of Georgia would be making a huge mistake by playing into the stereotype of “the party of tax cuts for the rich”. Especially when the issue penalizes religious institutions.

When it comes to the tax code it is more important to get it right than get it done. That being the case I hope HB 387 doesn’t get done this year.

Fare Thee Well Chipper

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Fourteen years ago I came home from work and my wife told me she wanted a dog.

At the time Mary Anne and I had been married a little over a year and we lived in a townhouse. We were both about 30 years old. We didn’t have any children and when we weren’t working we travelled so we were rarely home. Weekends were spent out of town visiting friends or family and whenever the opportunity presented itself we would fly off for vacation. Life was good.

So I wasn’t really looking forward to having a dog at that point. I’ve always loved dogs and there was at least one in my family’s home the whole time I was growing up. But I never had a dog after I moved out on my own even though I loved them. Being responsible for another living thing was just too much of a commitment for me when I was single and on my own.

But I wasn’t on my own anymore and Mary Anne wanted a dog. And even though I knew I’d be the one cleaning up after the little critter I gave in without a fight because in the back of my mind I thought, “Well, maybe this will buy me some time before she wants to have kids.”

Mary Anne finally settled on a little cream colored maltee-poo that we named Chipper. Chipper was a little too high strung for my tastes but he latched on to Mary Anne immediately. He followed her everywhere and when she wasn’t around Chipper tolerated other people until his Mama got home. And once she walked in the door he would go nuts. He’d run around in circles and yap until she picked him up. On road trips, as long as Chipper could sit on Mary Anne’s lap he was a happy camper, so he turned out to be a great traveler too.

Then four weeks after we got Chipper I came home from work and Mary Anne told me she was pregnant. Once the shock of the news started to wear off I can remember smiling at Mary Anne and saying, “Can we take the dog back?”

For the next few months Chipper was in heaven. He tolerated me being around and he soaked up all the affection that a pregnant woman could give. And Chipper gave it back just as good as he got.

But once our son Justin was born Chipper had to adjust to not being the complete focus of Mary Anne’s affection anymore and he didn’t like it. As a matter of fact I’m not sure Chipper ever accepted the fact that he wasn’t Mary Anne’s only child. Eventually Chipper did begrudgingly tolerate the little baby much like he did me and we watched together as Justin grew over the years.

Then when Chipper was seven years old we brought home another baby and he was once again quite annoyed. Later we brought another puppy into the family and by then it hardly seemed to faze Chipper at all.

In fact having a new pup around gave Chipper the chance to finally boss someone around and he seemed to relish the opportunity. And it was hilarious to watch a 6 pound maltee-poo intimidate the new kid on the block even after that little pup grew into a 100 pound labradoodle.

Then a few years ago I turned forty and noticed that my eyes weren’t nearly as sharp as they used to be. Aches and pains started to pop up that I had never felt before. I slipped a disc in my back. Age was starting to take its toll and I was no longer invincible.

And it started happening to Chipper too. He started having trouble jumping on to his favorite chair. He too slipped a disc in his back and his eyesight started to go. Age was taking its toll on both of us.

But time was working much more quickly in Chipper’s case and his aging served as a powerful reminder of my own mortality.

Yet even age couldn’t keep Chipper from going crazy every time Mary Anne came home. She could walk into the house after a long day at work and the kids might not take their noses out of video games or television and I might keep typing away on the computer but Chipper always ran to the door to greet Mama. You always knew when Mary Anne came home because he would be running around in circles and yapping his head off.

But no more. Chipper took his last breath today. And for the first time in fourteen years I will lay down in my bed tonight without that ornery little guy acting annoyed at my intrusion and then snuggling into the small of my back.

Fare thee well Chipper. You were like our first child.

P.S. I was just kidding about taking you back.