UPDATED

Local Officials Flood Capitol To Oppose Speaker's Tax Reform Plan

Update at 4:45 p.m. adds comments from House Majority Leader. New material highlighted.

(2/26/08) Speaker Glenn Richardson’s tax reform plan wasn’t on the floor Tuesday but it was being debated widely in the Capitol corridors, where city, county and local school officials turned out en masse to lobby against the measure.

Democratic leaders, meanwhile, said they could count on one hand the members of their caucus who would vote for the measure once it reaches a floor vote, a chilling appraisal of the measure’s chances since the Speaker will need Democratic support to reach the 120-vote super majority necessary to pass it. .

It was unclear when the measure would reach a vote. House leaders said they are considering setting aside one entire day for tax issues, perhaps next week.

In the corridors, hundreds of local officials bearing stickers which read “Elected, Accountable,” lined up to send pages for House members and bring them off the floor.

The literature they were circulating took particular aim at the caps on local spending that are part of the Speaker’s comprehensive tax reform plan. One piece read: “It is not right for legislators to take credit for constraining local revenues while forcing local elected officials to make the politically unpopular cuts to local services.”

Another piece of literature argued that if the tax reform plan passes, and residential property taxes for schools are replaced by an expanded sales tax on services, "Georgia will charge sales tax on more services than any other state in the United States.”

Richardson, meanwhile, continued working to cement and try to expand support for his initiative, taking it to an early-morning House GOP caucus and responding to questions.

House Majority Leader Jerry Keen said later, "The Speaker made a compelling argument at the caucus meeting. The chairman of Ways & Means followed him. They outlined a lot of information and a lot of disinformation out there about this bill."

He continued: "I know I get e-mails from people and they're saying, 'You know, this bill does this and this." And it's not in the bill ... I think if you read the bill you'll see that a lot of things people are up in arms about simply are not in the bill."

As for whether it can get the 120 votes to pass, Keen said, "It's always a challenge. I don't care what the bill is. If it's a major policy issue or shift, 120 votes is tough. A two-thirds majority is tough in church on Sunday. It's even harder on the floor of the House of Representatives."