Removing the Wheels from State Government
How SR 20 Would Immobilize Georgia
By Alan Essig, Executive Director of the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, and Sarah Beth Gehl, GBPI's Deputy Director
Politicians often use car metaphors for government spending: do you want government to buy a new Cadillac or a used Chevy? Meaning, do you want top-of-the-line government services or minimally adequate services. Currently, Georgia leaders will only invest in a Chevy, which partly explains Georgia’s low rankings in education, healthcare, and the status of children, the elderly and the disabled. Senate Resolution (SR) 20, a new proposal moving through the Georgia legislature, would make things worse by offering Georgia residents not simply a Chevy, but one without wheels.
SR 20 is a constitutional amendment that would implement a spending cap, a requirement that current year spending only exceed last year’s spending by the growth in population and government inflation. This concept is popularly known as TABOR, after Colorado’s highly restrictive spending limit. After years of severe budget cuts and a decimated public health and university system, Colorado voters chose to suspend TABOR in 2005. Colorado legislators got the message; but apparently, the Georgia Senate did not. SR 20 passed the Senate and is now under consideration by the House of Representatives.
If the House of Representatives passes SR 20 in the coming weeks, Georgia voters will decide on this ballot question in the November 2008 elections: "Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to provide for limitations on state government taxation and expenditures?" That concept sounds simple enough – who wouldn’t like some sort of limitation on taxes and spending? Of course, there already are limitations in place, such as the balanced budget requirement and a yearly vote by our elected officials to pass the budget. What that one simple ballot question fails to ask is which wheel of state government services do you want to take off the Chevy first– your elementary schools, universities, hospitals, jails, or roads?
Wheel 1: Education. While we spend a majority of our limited state funds on education, our dropout rate is high and test scores are low. Such outcomes highlight the unmet needs and growing demands that go beyond the status quo of pupil growth and inflation. With a cap on state spending how can Georgia recruit and reward the best teachers, lower class sizes, and meet the increased funding demands of state and federal accountability standards? How does a cap on spending improve our educational outcomes?
Wheel 2: Healthcare. Medicaid and PeachCare enrollment continues to swell due to the increased number of working poor who lack access to affordable health insurance. Georgia health outcomes are among the lowest in the nation, while Georgia has the 6th highest number of uninsured children. Looking towards the future, the growing elderly population will result in dramatically increased health care costs. How does a cap on state spending improve the health outcomes and options of Georgia’s children, elderly and disabled?
Wheel 3: Corrections. The prison population has grown at a significantly higher rate than the overall population (152 percent versus 38 percent). As the prison population continues to increase and age, the healthcare costs will skyrocket. How does a cap on state spending allow Georgia to fund a growing and aging prison system without taking funds from education and healthcare?
Wheel 4: Economic Development. The Georgia business community is demanding that the state invest more resources in transportation and communication infrastructure, as well as job training and workforce preparation. How will a cap on state spending allow Georgia to make the vital investments needed to ensure a prosperous economy?
There are choices and priorities in spending, and the state of Georgia has some of the most difficult choices to make. Should new dollars go to education or to children’s healthcare; to reduce traffic congestion or to services for the elderly and disabled? SR 20 makes these already difficult choices impossible. Responsible leaders should commit to providing the quality, affordable services we deserve, because what Georgia family would settle for a Chevy without wheels?
ABOUT GBPI
The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) is the state’s leading independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization engaged in research and education on the fiscal and economic health of the state of Georgia. The Institute provides reliable and timely analysis of Georgia’s budget and tax policies and promotes greater state government fiscal accountability, improved services and enhanced quality of life for all Georgians.