Recently Rep. Kevin Tanner wrote about how great it is to live in Georgia.
The column praised Gov. Nathan Deal for his recent award from a magazine, which selected Georgia as one of the best places to open a business in America. The award is based on the taxes and tax incentives companies get if they relocate to Georgia.
The article failed to mention what Georgian's get from the bargain. Here is a brief list:
1) Because we have one of the lowest tax revenues per capita in the country (49th) we have cut spending in education by $7.6 billion. This has led to larger class sizes, shorter school years, fewer elective courses, teacher furloughs and cuts in special programs for some children.
2) Because we have such a low revenue source, we are 50th in the nation in the number of low-income people who receive Medicaid. And to make matters worse, Gov. Deal is refusing the $40.5 billion for the upcoming Medicaid expansion which means 600,000 people in Georgia will suffer because they cannot get affordable health care.
3) Children are dying because DFACS has so few case workers they can't keep up with all their clients.
4) Our unemployment rate, at 8.7 percent, is one of the highest in the nation. Yet we cut unemployment benefits, TANF and SNAP.
5) When Gov. Deal came into office he cut 14,000 state government jobs. Rep. Tanner says government doesn't create jobs. Tell that to all the teachers, firefighters, police and DFAC's workers who lost their government jobs.
6) Cuts in the Hope Grant caused a 25 percent decrease in enrollment in our technical colleges.
7) Twenty-five percent of the children in Georgia live at or below the poverty rate.
Clearly Gov. Deal's policies have not helped bring Georgia back from the worst recession since the depression.
I question the validity of any organization that would base a decision on whether a state is a good place to start their company based solely on the tax rate. How about looking into how the people of the state are being treated by their leaders in government. The great people of Georgia deserve better.
Bette Holland
Dawson County