ATLANTA – (January 28, 2010) State Senator Bill Heath (R-Bremen) has Co-Sponsored Senate Resolution 20 – “Taxpayer Protection Act of 2011”. The proposed Constitutional Amendment would limit how many tax dollars the state of Georgia can spend in any given year.

“We have cut the state budget by billions of dollars over the last three years. We need to make sure it never again grows excessively. We need to replenish the rainy day fund and most importantly we need to ultimately cut the income tax rate. This is why I am proud to co-sponsor the Taxpayer Protection Act,” said Senator Bill Heath.

“Senator Heath is a champion for protecting the taxpayer of Georgia. I appreciate his support on this important issue. The Taxpayer Protection Act will protect future generations of Georgians from government growing too large.”, said Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, the sponsor of the Resolution.

Senate Resolution 20 would restrict the state from spending any money in excess of the previous year budget adjusted for inflation and population. Any additional revenue beyond the spending limitations would be required to go into the Rainy Day fund until it reaches a point of 10% of the previous year spending. Once the rainy day fund is at 10% additional revenue would be used to slowly phase-out the state income tax.

The Amendment was approved Wednesday by the Senate Finance Committee in a unanimous bi-partisan vote.

Sen. Bill Heath represents the 31st Senate District which includes portions of Paulding, Bartow, Haralson, and Polk counties. 

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
January 28, 2011
For Information Contact:
Natalie Strong, Director
Natalie.Strong@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028

ATLANTA (March 26, 2010) – Today, a majority of the Georgia Senate Democrats voted against allowing the people to vote on having a say in their property taxes by voting against Senate Resolution 1287.  However, Republicans recovered for the people of Georgia by prevailing with Senate Bill 517, which will remove the quarter mil state ad valorem tax. (more…)

ATLANTA (March 18, 2010) – Georgia citizens continue to contact their legislators asking about tax relief, particularly property owners.  Recently the Georgia Senate passed property tax assessment and appeal reform, but State Sen. Bill Heath (R-Bremen) has gone one step further. 

(more…)

By Sen. Bill Heath

What if we could improve education in Georgia by tracking each child’s education success from kindergarten all the way through graduation?  What if each child received the extra help or the individual challenges they need to achieve that success?  And what if teachers were also rewarded for their contributions to each child’s success even long after the student has left their class?  After all, many educators have had a positive influence on the educational attainment of a student at the early stages of learning.  Right now we have an exciting opportunity to make a paradigm shift to improve education by measuring the positive impact on individual students.  Incentivizing teachers through enhanced compensation for their contribution in each child’s academic success is a win-win for everyone. (more…)

Sen. Bill Heath

Today, the Georgia Senate passed the first bill of the 2010 legislative session. Sen. Bill Heath’s (R-Bremen) legislation, allowing the use of hands-free communication devices while driving a vehicle (SB 306), passed without opposition. The legislation corrects current law which currently prohibits the use of headphones.

(more…)