by Sen. Mike Dugan (R – Carrollton)

We have just completed day 29 of this year’s legislative session, meaning that Crossover Day is officially behind us. Any Senate Bill wishing to become law by the end of this year must have passed its assigned committee and the Senate Floor by this date in order to be considered by the House and sent to the governor for final approval. Among the many bills that were vetted in the Senate Chamber, one of the most impactful to Georgia’s citizens was House Bill 918.

HB 918 is a collaborative effort between Governor Deal, Lt. Governor Cagle and Speaker Ralston, that passed both the House and Senate Chambers. This bill is in correlation with the federal tax cut and corresponding changes we make at the state level. The changes this year resulted in a historical tax cut for the state of Georgia. This bill reduces the top income tax rate from the current six percent to 5.75 percent by January 1, 2019, and further to 5.5 percent by January 1, 2020. In addition to this tax reduction is the doubling of the standard deduction from $2,300 to $4,600 for individuals and from $3,000 to $6,000 for married couples. These reductions will put your hard-earned taxpayer dollars straight back into your pockets and I look forward to it being put into effect.

Another bill that passed the Senate Floor this week was Senate Bill 463, which I sponsored. This bill would allow car manufacturers that build their cars in Georgia to be able to sell those cars without having to establish a separate dealership chain as is now required. This bill has a two-year life and is intended to serve as an incubator for companies to set up their businesses here in our state. This bill is a great measure for local businesses working to expand their services and contribute to our state’s economic development.

In addition to expanding business, three additional pieces of legislation have passed the Senate Floor in a series of bills that will expand access to high-speed broadband in rural parts of the state. SBs 232, 402 and 426 will address the areas in our state that are not receiving the same high-speed broadband access as metro areas and will begin the process of installing and transmitting the resources needed to expand this service.

The next bill I want to mention is Senate Bill 395. This bill would create the Georgia Joint Defense Commission which will help protect and further develop our military community in the state. There will be another round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) decisions coming and we want to ensure that our state is doing all we can to protect our local communities that support the military installations here in Georgia.

A strong bipartisan bill that we passed this week was SB 401. Since 2010 students in sixth through eighth grade have been getting counseling and advisement to better assist them in their academic skills. SB 401 retains that, but now also includes helping students understand their career aptitudes. By allowing students to learn what careers are available to them post-graduation, they will be well informed of their options. This bill will allow the schools, along with the students and their parents or guardians, to better lay out a way ahead to help them graduate in time and be postured to move into jobs that they find most fulfilling.

The last bill I want to mention is SB 403. This bill would do away with electronic voting systems and call for Georgians to use paper ballots in order to receive the most accurate vote counts in elections.

This week we had several special guests visit the Capitol, including students from West Georgia Tech. I enjoyed seeing them at the Capitol and appreciate them taking the time to stop by. I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to visit to please do so, I’d be more than happy to see you. If you ever have any questions on legislation or any concerns you want to address, please don’t hesitate to contact my office, I am here to serve you.