FW: PRESS RELEASE: House of Representatives Still Believes $142 Million Should Be Returned to the Taxpayers

 

 

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From: Crockett, Misty [mailto:Misty.Crockett@house.ga.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 11:36 AM
To: Crockett, Misty
Subject: FW: PRESS RELEASE: House of Representatives Still Believes $142 Million Should Be Returned to the Taxpayers
Importance: High

 

 

Speaker Glenn Richardson

PRESS RELEASE

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:	Contact: Clelia Davis
Tuesday, May 8, 2007	(404) 656-5020
	clelia.davis@house.ga.gov

 

House of Representatives Still Believes $142 Million Should Be Returned to the Taxpayers

 

ATLANTA - Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that while he will not call the General Assembly back into a special session, he will line-item veto the $142 million tax refund voted on unanimously by the House and Senate.

 

“We are pleased Governor Perdue is not costing the state additional money by calling us back for a special session, but the House has fought very hard for this tax refund and it’s disappointing he has decided to veto it and that the Lieutenant Governor supports that decision,” Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson said.  “Sometimes friends disagree, but the House will not compromise when it comes to defending the taxpayers of Georgia.”

 

Although the $142 million vetoed by the Governor goes into the state’s reserve fund, the government can still spend that money next year.  Any amount of money in the reserves over 4 percent of the state’s annual budget is eligible to be spent by the state at any time. 

 

“The House still believes that if we can’t all agree on how to spend the money, the best thing to do is to return it to the people who sent it to us,” said Richardson. “We would rather have it go back to the taxpayers than be hoarded for the government to spend another day.

 

“As elected representatives of the people of Georgia, the House and the Senate made a unanimous promise on April 13 to return $142 million to our constituents.  The House feels strongly that we ought to honor that promise.” said Majority Leader Jerry Keen

 

The state’s reserve fund currently has $792 million, the highest in Georgia’s history.  Because that amount is at least 4 percent of the state’s budget, the $142 million sent to the reserve fund by Governor Perdue’s veto is simply waiting to spent by state government next year. 

                                                                                                                 

 

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