The natives were getting restless, so the Fayette Republican Party has scheduled some face-time with four GOP lawmakers for Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Fayetteville party headquarters.
The party Thursday morning emailed a detailed account of some of the legislation to be discussed at the town hall gathering. There are several hot-button issues in the batch.
Scheduled to appear to do some ’splaining to intensely interested voters and local government officials scared of losing local funding to state coffers are state representatives Matt Ramsey, David Stover and John Yates and newly elected state Senator Marty Harbin.
Along with the invitation from the Fayette GOP was a primer about some controversial legislation being considered in Atlanta.
At the top of the list is House Bill 170 on funding transportation needs in the state. Rep. Stover, whose district includes east and central Coweta County and a part of west Peachtree City, said he had to back away from the bill he initially supported.
“… [I]t is out of control,” Stover is quoted in the email. “As it currently stands, it would be a $500 million tax increase and I can not and will not support any such increase on the backs of our citizens. 6.1 billion gallons of gas and diesel are sold in Georgia each and every year. The increase would first, wipe out the state sales tax portion on fuel purchases, this is an offset. Second, it will move the total tax to $.292 per gallon on gasoline and $.33 per gallon on diesel fuel. This is only $.0108 per gallon more than what we are all paying right now at the pump. The problem is that the local portion of the gasoline tax will remain. This amounts to $.0728 per gallon and that is the increase per gallon that each and every Georgian would be facing if this bill passes.”
Other flashpoint bills include a federal funding review that would give the General Assembly control over every federal dollar sent to Georgia (HB 14), a Democrat bill (SB 49) that would repeal the current “stand your ground law involving use of deadly force in self-defense situations, and the “American laws for American Courts” bill (HB 171) that would bar enforcement of foreign laws in a Georgia legal proceeding if constitutional rights may be violated.
Here’s the list of controversial bills that are likely to be discussed at the town hall meeting by one or all of the four legislators:
• HB 170, Transportation Funding — seeks to spend fuel taxes on projects unrelated to highways and bridges.
• HB 218, Religious Freedom.
• HB 6, Stop Issuance of Georgia Driver’s Licenses to Illegal Aliens
• HB 8, Raise the Ga. State Minimum Wage by 20 percent.
• HB 208, Replace Ga. state income tax with a consumption tax.
• HB 243, Education Savings Account.
• HB 171, American Laws for American Courts.
• HB 46, Election Reform.
• HB 129, Fluoride In Public Water Systems.
• HB233, Civil Forfeiture Procedures.
“Attending these local meetings is the first step in reestablishing a government of ‘we the people,’” the Fayette GOP email said.
“Please bring your specific questions for a specific bill and ask your elected representative the status and where they stand on the bill,” the GOP email said.
The town hall meeting was first announced last week for the GOP headquarters office at 174 North Glynn St., Fayetteville, in the shopping strip behind Arby’s and Captain D’s restaurants.
