GA Income Taxes Would End Under GOP Plan

ATLANTA, GA — Imagine a life without a state income tax on personal funds. Georgia Republicans are seeking to make this a reality against concerns that crucial services will lose $16 billion in funding.

GOP leaders on Tuesday held a committee meeting to share their thoughts on the measure spearheaded by Georgia Sen. Blake Tillery. If the initiative reaches final stages and is approved, the committee must find other ways to replace the lost funds, WSB-TV reported.

Georgia taxes, totaling about $16.2 billion each year, fund education and law enforcement, among other measures, WSB-TV reported.

"Great turnout at our first committee meeting to eliminate Georgia’s personal income tax," Tillery tweeted Tuesday. "Grateful to have @GroverNorquist join us — a national leader in the fight for lower taxes. The goal is clear: we will eliminate the personal income tax in Georgia."

Norquist is a political activist and president of Americans for Tax Reform.

He said states still generate revenue after cutting income taxes. One reason is that when businesses know states are on track to eliminate income taxes, he said, they start investing there, and residents flock to the state as well, per the Associated Press.

Tillery is a GOP lieutenant governor candidate from Vidalia. If successful in his campaign run, he will replace current Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who is eyeing the governor's seat.

“If we want to continue to stay competitive in the state of Georgia and continue to be the No. 1 state to do business, we’ve got to be looking for ways to keep us competitive and make it where we have a competitive advantage over states that we are competing with all the time,” Jones said at the meeting on eliminating state income tax, per the Associated Press.

RELATED: $1B Refund, Tax Cut Passed By GA Assembly

Higher-income taxpayers collect the most benefits from income tax reductions. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found two-thirds of the income tax cut benefits would flow to the highest-earning 20 percent of Georgians. Republicans said that was only natural because most Georgians in the lowest 20 percent of the income distribution are mostly exempt from state income taxes, per the Associated Press.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates haven’t ruled out tax reductions. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has suggested eliminating the state income tax for public schoolteachers, but said eliminating income taxes altogether would hurt funding for schools and increase costs for lower-income families, per the Associated Press.

Georgia Sen. Nan Orrock, in the WSB-TV report, raised the question of how school systems will make payroll should state income taxes be terminated.

The GOP's move comes after the Georgia Assembly approved House Bill 111 in March, which dropped the state income tax rate from 5.39 percent to 5.19 percent.

"Thank you to the State Senate for supporting our effort to bring Georgia’s income tax rate down another 20 basis points. While other states are raising taxes, we’re cutting them and returning billions of dollars back to hardworking Georgians," Gov. Brian Kemp tweeted at the time.

The Associated Press contributed reporting and writing.