Friends:

The New Year marks the beginning of the legislative session of the Georgia General Assembly – and with that another chance to fight together for limited government and tax reforms that will make Georgia the best place in the nation to do business.

As I highlighted in my State of the State address this month, one of the core values of the Republican Party is that government should provide essential services, provide them efficiently, and then proceed to let people live their lives free of interference. Using this as a guiding principle, I was able to form my budget without raising taxes, while keeping a conservative outlook for the future.

It will excite fiscal conservatives that we have applied zero-based budgeting on approximately 10 percent of state programs, which will help ensure that taxpayer dollars continue to be used in the most efficient and effective ways possible. We have continued our push to reduce the size of government, with many departments reducing their spending levels by an additional 2 percent from last year. Perhaps most telling, when adjusted for inflation, per-capita spending in my budget recommendation for next year is 20.5 percent less than 2002 spending levels. We have reduced the state workforce by 7.7 percent since 2001, even as the state population grew by roughly 1.5 million over that period.

Georgians have charged me with the responsibility of setting the course for our state and they have defined the items that make up that course toward better opportunities. Those topping the priority list are jobs, education, and safety and I have highlighted them below.

It is my hope to keep you informed throughout the session on the happenings under the Gold Dome, and my work with legislators to bring new jobs to our state. I encourage all Georgia Republicans to keep up by reading my new blog at ‘REAL Agenda Session Blog’, signing up for my Facebook page and following @GovDeal on Twitter.

Jobs:

The greatest need of our citizens is jobs. Thus, my focus is making Georgia the No. 1 place to do business in the country. Businesses require a talented workforce and strong infrastructure, but they also require a business environment that allows them to compete in today’s global marketplace. With the help of the Georgia Competitiveness Initiative, I have outlined a three-part plan for strategic tax reform that will consist of: elimination of the sales tax on energy used in manufacturing, sales and use tax exemptions for construction material used in projects of regional significance, and restructuring Georgia’s Job Tax Credits and Quality Jobs Tax Credit programs to benefit more small businesses. Georgians cannot compete for jobs that go elsewhere when employers decide that a neighboring state is a better place to do business.

Education:

I have prepared to take advantage of the stabilization in revenues and appropriate an additional $146.6 million to fully fund enrollment growth in our K-12 schools. Likewise, in both the technical college and university systems, I am calling for an additional $113.3 million to fund anticipated enrollment growth. My proposals give local school districts more power over how to spend their money; I believe local leaders can better tailor their spending to the needs of their community. In addition, my proposed budget calls for an additional $55.8 million to fund salary increases for our teachers based on training and experience.

With a focus on practical education, I have announced the formation of the Go Build Georgia initiative. Go Build Georgia is a public-private initiative that will round out our workforce development program by educating young people, and the public at large, about the trades that require certain skills. This is essential in order to meet the present and future demands of companies around the state.

Public Safety:

With 12 out of 16 Georgians in our criminal justice system and ballooning costs, we must establish a smart-on-crime approach. With this is mind, my budget includes $10 million for accountability courts, $35.2 million for additional prison beds, and $5.7 million to convert three pre-release centers to residential substance abuse treatment centers. Unless we provide the appropriate tools of supervision that facilitate a successful re-entry into society, history has shown that offenders simply return to the prison population. While these reforms require an initial investment, they will increase public safety, and ultimately save money by creating a more effective corrections system that rehabilitates people, closing the revolving door.

As you can see in my outline above, it is my goal that the 2012 Legislative Session will take another step in achieving the outcomes that we started last year: Providing the essential services that Georgians ask their government to provide, in a conservative manner, and then adhere to your request of letting you live your lives as you see fit. I look forward to communicating with you in the coming weeks.

Respectfully,

Gov. Nathan Deal