ATLANTA — There is than a week until the opening of the Georgia General Assembly, where lawmakers will debate everything from property tax and income tax to school literacy and safety.
Channel 2’s Richard Elliot spoke with House Speaker Jon Burns about what to expect.
“We’re ready to come back to this house and go to work. We’re ready to come back, do what we’re hired to do, and that’s our jobs,” Burns said.
While the Senate is taking a deep look at evaluating the state income tax, the House seems more interested in property tax reform, though Burns said they’re open to negotiations.
“Property tax valuations have gone up dramatically. And they’ve gone up to a point where I don’t believe you can expect most Georgians to reasonably afford to pay those property taxes on their homes,” Burns said.
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Affordable health care, literacy, and keeping medical students in Georgia after they become doctors are also at the top of the speaker’s agenda, as is school safety, and he wants another crack at passing some kind of school zone safety camera reform after it just missed the finish line last year.
Burns said he wants to keep an eye on insurance rates now that lawmakers passed tort reform last year.
Will there be more fights with the Senate, as there were last year? Burns sounded conciliatory, promising to work with Senators such as on the income tax plan if, he says, the math adds up.
“We need to make sure we can continue to do, provide those services, health care, public safety, education, all the things we’ve talked about, and continue to make Georgia the very best place to live, work,” Burns said.
The new session begins on Monday.
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