Georgia State Representative Bill Werkheiser is always welcome at the Glennville Rotary Club meetings, and his visit on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, was informative.
“We have lowered the corporate and individual income tax rates the past four years in Georgia while raising the child tax credit from $3000 to $4000. If approved by the voters in November, the state’s homestead tax exemption will be increased from $2000 to $4000,” said Werkheiser.
He added that another plus for property owners, which failed this year but will be proposed again, is a cap on assessments of no more than three percent to protect property owners from significant increases in a single year.
“Rising home values is not just a state problem but a national issue since housing values have increased tremendously in the last three years. We want to ensure that the government is fair to the taxpayer and that assessments do not outpace inflation. To accomplish this, we are looking at placing a percentage cap next year on property assessments,” he said.
He shared that Evans Memorial Hospital Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bill Lee helped revise hospitals’ Certificate of Need (CON) laws, which had not been updated since the 1970s. This will loosen regulations for new hospital projects. Additionally, the legislators expanded the rural hospital tax credit from $75 to $100 million.
Another bill requires parents to confirm their children’s social media accounts with an age verification, an actual ID, as a way of more parental protection.
“Although we have more conservative district attorneys in the rural part of the state, this is not always true in the upper part of Georgia. For instance, a couple of months ago, there were two murders in the Atlanta area within hours. These two had been arrested a combined 38 times and released; these crimes included burglary and armed robbery. A new law requires a cash bail for 30 new crimes.” explained Werkheiser.
He commented on the Hemp Bill as well as the medical marijuana program. Werkheiser pointed out that only 17,000 in Georgia have applied for and received a medical marijuana card. Each of the Class I growers, such as the one in Glennville, can serve up to half a million patients. The new Hemp bill will require manufacturers to analyze hemp products for THC and other ingredients, with labels on hemp products informing customers of their contents.
“We saw examples during testimony where CBD/Vape/Convenience stores had products that were 15 to 20 times the legal limit, and our goal is to remove these from their shelves, which were easily accessible to children,” said Werkheiser. “This will not affect legal CBD products that are safely sold without having a medical card.”
Two other areas on which he commented was “squatting” and “swatting,”
Squatting refers to invading one’s property, in which people illegally move into vacant property. Under the new law, the person is given seven days to produce a legal lease. If the lease is found to be fraudulent, then that offender would be arrested and required to post a cash bond.
Swatting refers to the practice of someone calling 911 to falsely report a serious law enforcement emergency, such as a murder, hostage situation, bomb threat, medical emergency, etc. Since this is a new crime, no laws were in the books to address situations like this.
Other issues on which he commented are as follows:
*Foster care/adoption, making it easier to adopt and raising the pay for foster parents as well as allowing increased income tax deductions for those who house foster children.
*Tort reform, such as limiting “direct action” lawsuits against a trucking company’s insurance carrier and “premise liability, were addressed, which will help with insurance rates, which should, in turn, be passed on to the consumer.
*Requiring law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration agents.
*Municipalities that claim to be sanctuary cities will be at risk of losing state funds.
*In reference to election integrity, starting in 2026, QR codes will no longer be used on ballots.
Several items that did not pass this past legislative session were sports betting and casinos, which Werkheiser opposed; Mining adjacent to the Okefenokee mining did not pass but will be addressed again next year. Werkheiser supported reigning in the Film Tax Credit that passed the House but not the Senate.
Glennville Rotary Club meetings are held each Wednesday from 12 noon to 1 p.m. at the Glennville Garden Club Center. If you would like to attend a meeting or are interested in joining the club, please call Club Membership Chair Pam Waters at 912-237-0248 or Club President Lisa Barry at 912-505-0063.
