Legislative Priorities

Elections & Voting

Support legislation which encourages civic participation and voter protection LWVGA will support legislation and activities which protect and extend and do not limit the right to vote to all citizens. More precisely, the League will:

  • Oppose unnecessary and unconstitutional restrictions on voting and voter registration.
  • Support efforts that balance voter confidence in elections with the needs of the state.
  • Educate Georgians about their rights and responsibilities as citizens and voters
  • Support equitable ballot structures and uniformity in election systems and protocol across the state
  • Support the improvement of the election system’s integrity statewide.

 

Healthcare

Support the successful implementation of the Affordable Healthcare Act. Increased coverage, expanded access, affordability standards, and high quality are essential features of what LWVGA assess are important for Georgians. We will proactively support policies that will facilitate Georgians access to healthcare in order to meet our state’s health care challenges and advocate on behalf of Georgia’s health care consumers to implement these ideas.

Openness & Transparency in Georgia Government

Demand transparency and accountability from Georgia government. LWVGA will support legislation and processes that make decisions, activities and priorities of elected officials and other government representatives clear to the public. The League supports transparency in the state budget and actualization process. Open meetings and open records are an important element to a sound democracy and in government accountability. It is important for the enforcement provisions of the laws be strengthened in order to be effective.

  • 2011 Redistricting As required by law, the Georgia General Assembly will redraw election districts statewide based on the 2010 Census. The process of redistricting in Georgia has a history of being troubled. During the last few cycles, federal courts ended up drawing the final district maps in Georgia. The League will act to ensure transparency is a part of Redistricting in 2011.
  • Independent State Election Board Georgia’s State Election Board is charged with the oversight of the election process in our state. The election process is essential to a sound democracy.  We call for reform that would change the way the Georgia State Election Board is constituted, and allow Georgia to be a leader in effective and ethical oversight of elections in our state. 
  • Support stronger ethics legislation that strengthens the laws of distinction between lobbyist and legislators. 

Responsible Tax Policy

The League supports legislation for long-term solutions to Georgia’s fiscal challenges.

  • Advocate for responsible spending and tax policies. The League will continue to analyze the actions of the Joint Committee on Revenue Structure to implement these recommendations

 

Education

The League supports public K-12 schools with adequate state funding, reflecting the actual cost of providing the state defined services, and support equitable distribution of state funding to K-12 schools, currently calculated on property tax wealth in each school system

  • Support efforts to increase the graduation rate in Georgia through mandatory attendance until graduation or age 18, early identification and support for potential dropouts, improved instructional programs for at-risk students, expanded counseling and guidance services, more job placement and work experience programs, and immediate follow-up to determine why individual students drop out.
  • Support public funding for K-12 education in public schools exclusively.
  • Oppose efforts to use public funding for private schools.

Environment

Support environmentally sustainable and responsible decisions for governance of Georgia.

  • Meet Water Needs With Efficiency and Conservation First Georgia faces unprecedented challenges to its clean water supply. More frequent and intense droughts and the recent ruling by a federal judge regarding Lake Lanier continues to strain our communities and our limited water resources. We must act now to ensure enough clean, safe, reliable water for current and future generations.
  • Instead of continuing to waste time and money on litigation we must implement the fastest, least expensive measures to meet our water needs by aggressively managing demand for water by conserving water resources as the top priority.

Secure Stable Funding for Transit in Georgia

In 2010 the General Assembly passed SB277 which will go before citizens for a vote in 2012. Georgia’s transportation issues will require developing mechanisms for expanding the state’s investment in transit in order to offer convenient, safe and cost-conscious alternatives to car travel. Inadequate state investment in transit degrades Georgia’s air quality, lowers our quality of life, contributes to declining health and diminishes our state’s ability to compete for new businesses and jobs. Georgia must make major new investments in transportation in order to attract economic development, sustain a high quality of life, and improve the state’s infrastructure.

We urge the General Assembly to remove limitations on how and where transportation funds can be spent to ensure that existing transportation dollars are used most effectively.

Specifically, we support:

  • Permanently lifting the 50/50 restriction on operations and maintenance versus capital expenditure of tax revenue that limits the ability of Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) to provide quality service and care for infrastructure.
  • Remove restrictions on the General Sales Tax on Motor Fuel so that this revenue may be used for all transportation purposes, not just roads and bridges.
  • Support locally levied Transportation Special Purpose Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) to allow local governments to fund joint transportation projects with Georgia Department of Transportation including operating expenses.

Protect Georgia’s Unemployment Insurance Safety Net

Georgia continues to face record high double digit unemployment rates that have topped national averages for more than three years. With job creation and support for increased economic prosperity as top priorities, it is important that we protect the safety net provided by unemployment insurance for those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. These benefits protect families from falling permanently into poverty, keep them connected to work and help stabilize the economy in communities hardest hit by high unemployment. As a result of tax cutting over the past 12 years that exceeded $2 Billion, Georgia’s unemployment system was unprepared to meet the demands of the present recession. The state has had to borrow $634.5 Million from the federal government to fund the unemployment insurance system – a sum that must be repaid with interest. We will work with the General Assembly to:

  • Address structural issues to provide long term solvency for the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund without reducing eligibility or access to benefits -- insuring that taxes are adequate in times of prosperity to fund unemployment insurance when it is needed, rather than raising taxes when times are bad.
  • Protect Georgia’s ability to receive available federal assistance for workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own.
  • Maintain access to unemployment insurance benefits to prevent families from falling into poverty and stabilize the economy in communities hardest hit by high unemployment.
 

League of Women Voters of Georgia   |   100 Edgewood Ave. NE   Suite 1275   Atlanta, GA 30303
(p) 404.522.4LWV (4598)   lwvga@lwvga.org