09 LC 18
8088
Senate
Resolution 453
By:
Senator Johnson of the 1st
A
RESOLUTION
Creating
the Georgia Tax Reform Commission of 2009; providing for access by the
commission and its staff to certain otherwise confidential Department of Revenue
information; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS,
the population and economy of the State of Georgia has undergone dynamic growth
during the last several decades and current projections show continued growth
throughout the 21st Century; and
WHEREAS,
changes in Georgia's economy have created the potential for a more diverse
revenue mix for the state and local governments; and
WHEREAS,
the reliance on traditional tax revenue sources, when coupled with the rapid
increase in the demand for governmental services, has yielded a strained revenue
structure unable to respond to current and future fiscal needs in a balanced,
equitable fashion and has increasingly troubled and financially burdened the
individual taxpayers of the state; and
WHEREAS,
the various inequities and imperfections cannot be ignored as the tax burden on
the citizens of our state rises; and
WHEREAS,
the revenue structure of Georgia, like that of other states, has received only
sporadic, piecemeal revision over the years, and these changes too frequently
have been made in an isolated context without due regard for the overall tax
system and the principle of neutrality; and
WHEREAS,
the last comprehensive review of the revenue structure of Georgia was made by
the Joint Study Commission on Revenue Structure created pursuant to Ga. L. 1993,
p. 1965; and
WHEREAS,
the ideal tax structure necessarily varies from state to state depending on the
employment mix, the economic base, and the developmental patterns in the
particular state, and each of these variables has changed significantly in
Georgia in the absence of a current comprehensive and exhaustive review and
study of the consequences and fairness of the resulting system; and
WHEREAS,
the goal of designing a balanced tax system with the fewest inequities will
enable decisions of individuals and businesses with respect to location,
investment, and spending to proceed unclouded by or be minimally influenced by
tax consequences.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
There
is created the Georgia Tax Reform Commission of 2009. The commission shall be
composed of 18 members as follows:
(a)
Six members of the House of Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker of
the House of Representatives, one of whom shall be the chairperson of the House
Committee on Ways and Means;
(b)
Six members of the Senate to be appointed by the President of the Senate, one of
whom shall be the chairperson of the Senate Finance Committee; and
(c)
Six members to be appointed by the Governor.
SECTION
2.
The
commission shall conduct a comprehensive and exhaustive study of the tax laws
and tax policy of this state with a view toward modernizing and revitalizing the
revenue structure so as to create an equitable and flexible tax system which
properly balances the taxes based on fixed wealth, current expenditures, and
current flow of income.
SECTION
3.
The
chairperson of the House Committee on Ways and Means shall serve as the
cochairperson of the commission and the chairperson of the Senate Finance
Committee shall serve as cochairperson of the commission. The commission shall
meet upon the call of the cochairpersons.
SECTION
4.
The
commission may request and, upon such request, shall be afforded the assistance
and cooperation of the State Revenue Department, the Department of Law, the
Institute of Government, and each other agency or institution of the
state.
SECTION
5.
The
commission is encouraged to seek the active cooperation and assistance in its
work of the Georgia Municipal Association, the Association County Commissioners
of Georgia, the Business Council of Georgia, the Georgia Farm Bureau, the
Georgia League of Women Voters, Common Cause, the Georgia Forestry Commission,
the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Georgia School Boards
Association, the Tax Section of the State Bar of Georgia, and other interested
organizations and individuals, and the commission is expressly encouraged to
take advantage of the expertise and experience in matters affecting taxation and
tax policy which is available through institutions of higher learning in this
state.
SECTION
6.
The
commission may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may
deem necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its
powers, perform its duties, and accomplish the objectives and purposes of this
resolution. The legislative members of the committee shall receive the
allowances provided for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated. Citizen members shall receive a daily expense allowance in the amount
specified in subsection (b) of Code Section 45-7-21 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated as well as the mileage or transportation allowance authorized
for state employees. Members of the committee who are state officials, other
than legislative members, and state employees shall receive no compensation for
their services on the commission, but they shall be reimbursed for expenses
incurred by them in the performance of their duties as members of the commission
in the same manner as they are reimbursed for expenses in their capacities as
state officials or employees. The funds necessary for the reimbursement of the
expenses of state officials, other than legislative members, and state employees
shall come from funds appropriated to or otherwise available to their respective
departments. All other funds necessary to carry out the provisions of this
resolution shall come from funds appropriated to the Senate and the House of
Representatives. The expenses and allowances authorized by this resolution
shall not be received by any member of the commission for more than ten days
unless additional days are authorized.
SECTION
7.
(a)
Employees or agents of the commission may inspect, duplicate, take information
from, and disseminate confidential materials, confidential documents, and other
confidential information within the custody of the Department of Revenue or the
state revenue commissioner but may do so only when acting in accordance with the
following limitations:
(1)
No employee or agent of the commission may have such access to confidential
materials, confidential documents, or other confidential information unless he
or she is acting within the reasonable limitations guaranteeing against
unauthorized disclosure of such materials, documents, and information as are
agreed to in writing by the state revenue commissioner and the cochairpersons of
the commission;
(2)
No employee or agent of the commission may have such access unless his or her
name is certified in writing to the state revenue commissioner by the
cochairpersons of the commission; and
(3)
No confidential information or confidential document obtained by, or coming into
the possession of, an employee or agent of the commission as provided in this
section may be disseminated to any other person except an employee or agent of
the commission whose name has been certified to the state revenue commissioner
as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection or to an authorized employee of
the Department of Revenue, except that the employee and the commission may
publish statistical information taken from such materials, documents, and other
information when the publication does not reveal the name or identity of any
particular taxpayers. Any unauthorized disclosure of such confidential
materials, confidential documents, and other confidential information except as
provided in this paragraph shall subject the offending employee or agent to the
same penalties specified by law for unauthorized disclosure of confidential
information by an agent or employee of the Department of Revenue.
(b)
The provisions of this section, to the extent of any conflict, shall supersede
the provisions of any other law to the contrary.
SECTION
8.
The
commission shall make a comprehensive report of its findings, recommendations,
and suggestions of proposed legislation to the 2011 session of the General
Assembly. The commission shall be abolished on January 1, 2011.
SECTION
9.
This
resolution shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its
becoming law without such approval. Appointments to the commission shall be
made as provided in this resolution as soon as practicable after its approval or
otherwise becoming a law.