Official Press Releases
By: Sen. Ross Tolleson
The papers have all fallen to the ground, the bills have all been sent to the Governor to be signed, and all Atlanta can see of my truck is the tail lights. The first part of the 2009-2010 legislative session has come to an end. As your Senator, this session, I have worked to preserve the environment, make government more transparent, protect the rights of workers, lower taxes, and make government smaller and more efficient.
By: Sen. Ross Tolleson
ATLANTA (March 20, 2009) – With the final days of session counting down, the Senate is focused on passing common sense legislation to create jobs in Georgia and maintain a healthy environment. While the Federal government is working to throw more taxpayer dollars at bad investments, Georgia is creating true stimulus legislation. Government should create the environment for businesses to thrive and create jobs; not take over business to “rescue” a falling economy.
By: Sen. Ross Tolleson
Atlanta (February 13, 2009) – This week the State Senate has been adjusting to a few changes in the schedule. According to Georgia’s Constitution the General Assembly can only convene for a maximum of 40 days a year. This forces the General Assembly to do the people’s work in a timely matter. As I told you last week these are extremely tough budget times for our state, and as a result we are making a few changes to our schedule. In keeping with the laws set forth in the state Constitution, we will still only meet for 40 days. What we are doing though, is only having session on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and leaving Monday and Friday for budget hearings. This allows the Senators the ability to go through the budget and make the tough calls that need to be made. On day 35 the General Assembly will adjourn until June 22. This will allow us five days to make any changes, good or bad, to the budget at the end of June. The economy is so uncertain right now, no one is able to predict what is going to happen between now and June. The main reason for this is if the General Assembly were called into a Special Session it would be a lot more expensive and just plain irresponsible during these tough budget times. Just like your family, Georgia can not spend more money then it takes in.
By: Sen. Ross Tolleson
ATLANTA (February 5, 2009) – With Committee meetings now passing legislation to the floor it is leading to some lively debate between the Senators. This week the State Senate passed Senate Resolution 44. This legislation is going to help provide comprehensive transportation relief from the rural areas all over the state to the metropolitan eight-lane highways of Atlanta. I am proud to have voted in support of this legislation as a member of the Transportation Committee and on the floor of the State Senate. This Constitutional Amendment will provide what is known as a Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, commonly known as T-SPLOST. The amendment allows for a 1 percent regional sales tax which would be voted on by the communities. If the voters approve the increase it would be used for a specified period of time to fund transportation projects in their own communities.