BRAC

One issue that caused a great deal of concern in January was the cutback in BRAC funding. The funding issue came embroiled in politics before and after the November, 2006 elections as the power was shifting from the Republicans to the Democrats. As a result we contacted Congressman Sanford Bishop. Congressman Bishop is an influential member of the House Appropriations Committee.

Congressman Bishop promptly responded with a report of the series of events that let to the funding of only $1.5 billion for the first four months of FY2007. The January 31, 2007 Continuing Resolution added another $1.0 billion to this account bring the funding level up to $2.5 billion. Congressman Bishop reports that "Chairman Obey is on record as saying that we will fully fund BRAC 2005 at the $5.6 billion level in the supplemental, which the House intends to vote on in mid-March". He goes on to say that Army Chief of Staff, General Shoomaker, said that if the funding comes in the supplemental in March that the Army "will be fine". This optimistic report from Congressman Bishop, a senior ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee helped alleviate the funding fears. On March 8, Chairman Obey said Democratic party leaders had decided to include $3.1 billion in the supplemental budget to make sure military commanders had the money available this year.

The Chamber will hold briefings for elected officials on the BRAC process and continue to stay engaged in all BRAC activities. We will periodically report to our membership on matters of importance.

STATE AGENDA

• Support $16 Million in funding for Columbus Technical College Health Sciences Building.
• Support enabling legislation to authorize referendums for Tax Allocation Districts (TADs).
• Support funding of transportation and education projects related to BRAC.
• Support funding for the National Infantry Museum
• Support legislation exempting sales tax for construction materials in projects exceeding $10 million.
• Support legislation exempting ad valorum tax on materials used in 'clean room" operations such as computer chips and bio-technical material.
• Oppose changes in Certificate of Need (CON) legislation that would place local hospitals in a non-competitive posture while maintaining the integrity of the process for necessary expansion of services.
• Oppose mandated health care benefits.
• Oppose any legislation that would threaten the quality and quantity of water in the Valley Partnership Region.

LOCAL AGENDA

• Support the implementation of the International Building Code (Smart Code) standards for the restoration and use of historic buildings.
• Support the consideration of implementation of a "City Stat" program to measure the effectiveness of Columbus Consolidated Government services.
• Support the Columbus Consolidated Government initiative on Tax Allocation Districts (TADS).
• Aggressively participate in efforts to avoid air-quality non-attainment.
• Continue to participate in the dialog to assure adequate funding for the Columbus Consolidated Government.

FEDERAL AGENDA

• Support permanent elimination of the death tax.
• Support additional funding for National Infantry Museum.
• Support the elimination of or a significant increase in the income thresholds for the Alternative Minimum Tax.
• Support the continued development of the I-14 project.
• Support the efforts to secure funding for BRAC related educational and transportation funding and the funding for the white water project.
• Support improved signage to and from Fort Benning.

Funding of the Health Science Building at Columbus Technical College-The funding is in the Governor's budget request and does not appear to be in jeopardy. We will continue to monitor the progress on the budget.

Certificate of Need-This legislation is important to the business community. Strong certificate of need legislation needs to be in place to help retard the rapid growth in health care costs. The Chamber opposes legislation that would place hospitals in a non-competitive environment. At the same time the integrity of the CON system must be maintained for justifiable expansion of services.

Consumer Choice for Television Act-This legislation will allow for a statewide franchise for cable TV services. This eliminates the need for a cable company to negotiate with over 690 city and county authorities to provide cable services. It cuts red tape and creates a more competitive market environment.

Tax Allocation District-(TAD)-TADs allows a community to create funding for infrastructure and other improvements in underdeveloped or blighted areas. As the property is improved the city receives additional tax revenues that repay the bonds used in the redevelopment.

Transportation-There are two significant bills in the hopper. One allows contiguous counties to join together for a special local option sales tax to build new roads in their area. The other is an omnibus bill that increases the state sales tax by one cent to use in expediting the expansion of transportation construction.

Funding for the National Infantry Museum-The Georgia House has included $5 million in the supplemental appropriations bill to help build the National Infantry Museum. The appropriations bill still has to be approved by the Senate and signed by the Governor.

We are following several other bills related to business, water, and legal reform. You will receive a final report at the end of the session.

The day began with Senators being presented their baseballs as they entered the Senate ante room. When the Senate convened the players and coaches entered the Senate Chamber to a standing ovation. Chamber Chair Stella Shulman presented the Lt. Governor with his baseball and display stand. The Chamber delegation then moved to the House of Representatives and presented the Speaker of the House his baseball. House members then visited us in a room set aside in the House post office and received their baseballs. Stella Shulman, Sherry Mitchell, Frank Bullard, and Colin Martin were on hand to greet all the Representatives and Senators and personally express our appreciation for their support of Columbus.

Our final stop was the Governor's office. The Governor greeted our delegation and posed for a group picture on the staircase outside of this office. Stella presented him with his baseball.

It was a great day with a wonderful group of kids, parents, and coaches. Our thanks go our to Columbus Day sponsors, AFLAC, Bill Heard Chevrolet, Georgia Power, Atmos Energy, Columbus Productions, Columbus Water Works, TIC Federal Credit Union, and Winship Clinic. Without them this event would not have been possible.

Senators Ed Harbison and Seth Harp introduced the World Champion Northern Little League team at Columbus Day at the State Capitol Jan. 25. Each year the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce presents the governor, senators and representatives with a gift. This year they were presented with autographed baseballs from the World Champion Northern Little League team.

Stella Shulman, chair of the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce, presents Gov. Sonny Perdue with a signed baseball from the World Champion Northern Little League team. The team was part of the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce's Columbus Day at the Capital. The day is spent meeting with state elected officials to build relationships and show off the partnership between the state and the community.

State elected officials including Gov. Sonny Perdue met with leaders from the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce and World Champion Northern Little League team.