Election 2008: New Laws in Your State

[UGAalum94]

Amendment 1

“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to provide that the General Assembly by general law shall encourage the preservation, conservation, and protection of the state's forests through the special assessment and taxation of certain forest lands and assistance grants to local government?"

The voters said yes.

“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to authorize community redevelopment and authorize counties, municipalities, and local boards of education to use tax funds for redevelopment purposes and programs?"

The voters said yes.

“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to authorize the General Assembly to provide by general law for the creation and comprehensive regulation of infrastructure development districts for the provision of infrastructure as authorized by local governments?"

The voters said no.

I said no to all three because I'm a jerk like that or because I don't really like to see government or government taxing and spending ever expand, you decide. The forest one was the most tempting to me. The second one is going to be really messy. I think it's going to be a way that City of Atlanta Schools (actually Atlanta Public Schools), who don't do a particularly good job with education and schools, will now be able to tax people at some pretty high rates and use the money for things other than education, which I suspect they will also do poorly and probably very self-interestedly if history is any predictor. I'm not 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure they were the only school district interested in this. Most of the discussion focuses on TADs and no shifting of funds from education to redevelopment, but look at that amendment and tell me where that's made clear.