Blogging with Rep. Steve Davis

Celebration of Life Event and Concert

Georgia Right to Life

Join us for a fun evening of prayer and celebration in support of the sanctity of life and the protection of the unborn child.

Tuesday, June 17 from 6pm—9pm

Salem Baptist Church Lake Pavilion and Fields

www.salemchurch.net

Keynote Speakers:

Representative Martin Scott - Author of Georgia’s Human Life Amendment

Representative Steve Davis - Local Henry County Legislator and Co-sponsor of Georgia’s Human Life Amendment

Exit 417—a local Christian band led by Dave Stroup a long time GRTL musician www.exit417.com
Fun for the entire family with music, moonwalks, ice cream and popcorn.

All activities are free. Please bring your chairs or blankets for the concert!

www.grtl.org

www.personhood.net

Press Conference

Representative Steve Davis

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

McDonough Square

Information:

Wachovia Bank pending trial for violating fiduciary responsibility to client. Rep. Steve Davis to speak on behalf of local homeowner and small business owner involved in case. Much like the eminent domain case in Stockbridge Rep. Davis will stand up for citizens when the cause is right, no matter the odds. Rep Davis will give an aggressive press conference defending Mark and Melissa Chambers and call for a formal investigation.

Contact: Brian Byars 770-294-5724

Press Conference to begin at 1 pm with full statement to be handed out immediately upon completion of comments. There will be a question and answer time for Rep. Davis as well Mr. and Mrs. Chambers.

The AJC is reporting about the unbelievable cost of fuel in Europe! I particularly liked the following sentence, “Fuel costs in Europe have long been much higher than in the United States, mostly as a result of fuel taxes that account for at least half the price —- and sometimes more than 70 percent, depending on the country —- that motorists pay.”

With all of the current debate around reinstating a windfall profit tax on big oil companies I hope all of you will read between the lines. Becasue here comes the scary part, apparently Adam McCarthy, the associate director of Energy Policy Consulting in Brussels, Belgium for the EU thinks skyrocketing fuel prices might actually be a good thing in the long run. He said, “It’s changing driving habits and causing car companies to explore newer fuel-efficient technologies,” he said. “These things might have happened anyway, but high fuel prices are causing them to happen more quickly.”

Yeah its just great Mr. McCarthy. Lets get everyone out of their cars and have them stop buying gas because its $10 a gallon. The money we get from the motor fuel taxes, user fees, will then go away. Then lets get everyone to use transit that requires 250 times the government subsidy than a road does which will then increase taxes on everything else we buy and sell as if the cost of fuel isn’t already spiking the cost of goods and services. Many enviromentalists and anti car groups here in the U.S. and even in Georgia agree with these anti American comments.

Last year I sent this letter to both of our Senators regarding SB 6 in the US Senate, the National Energy and Enviromental Security Act of 2007. Basically it is a retread of the Windfall Profit Tax from the 80’s. The Democrats want to put all of these restrictions and regulations on US Corporations putting them at a competitive disadvantage in the global market and it will actaully increase our dependency on Foriegn Oil. In addition the bills stated intention is to reduce energy cost but will drastically do the opposite. As most of you know I am very fiscally conservative and I believe in less governement and less taxes. I do not believe corporations pay taxes, everday citizens like you and me pay taxes. Therefore any taxes placed on a corporation will immediately be reflected in the pricing of their product which WE pay for!

Let me explain the Windfall Profit Tax(WPT) to those of you that might not know about it. It was established in the early 1980’s as a “temporary” excise tax designed to ensure that oil companies did not benefit from unanticipated windfalls caused by fluctating crude oil prices. According to a report by Congressional Research Service(CRS), the WPT reduced the Domestic oil production from 6% to 3%. It also increased oil imports from 8% to 16% making the US much more dependent on foriegn oil. The WPT was repealed in 1988 due to the depressed state of the US oil industry. In spite of this negative impact many members of congress and Presidential candidates are jumping into line to push this bill.

The WPT will impose a 50% excise tax on profits earned on oil above $40 Barrel. By taxing these profits it will drive the price of gas higher than it already is, please see the price of gas in Europe! In addition to the excise tax they want to incorporate the failed McCain-Lieberman bill which would limit emissions from electricity plants. This cap could cost the US as many as 600,000 jobs and could drive our Electric bills up by more than 40%, which on the average home it would be between $1500-$1700 a year! Couple the two together and you have a formula for a disaster.

In my letter to our U.S. Senators I mentioned my legislation reducing the tax of motor fuel here in Georgia. HB 293, which I called GUTS, short for Gas Unification and Tax Simplification Act would have reduced what Georgia taxes on automobile gas while also stabilizing the level of taxation and eliminating any “automatic” increases without the consent of the legislature. The AJC article discussed this issue as Europe also has these “automatic” increases.

Please read the entire story and lets join together to tell our National Republicans that we do not want any new taxes, especially not on gas.

Representative Steve Davis is proud to announce that he has been endorsed by the Georgia Right to Life in his re-election campaign. Representative Davis is the only person receiving this endorsement in District 109. He received this endorsement because he has voted for and passed historic legislation stalled for years by the Democrats including the Women’s Right to Know, the Unborn Victims Act, the Ultrasound Bill and more.

Rep Davis has maintained a 100% rating for four straight years and cast one of the deciding votes in the historic passage of Georgia’s Women’s Right to Know legislation. In addition he is a Co-Author of Georgia’s Human Life Amendment placing the sanctity of life in the Georgia Constitution.

As a proud father and husband which knows and lives by our Christian family values Representative Steve Davis is honored to serve Henry County in the General Assembly.

The GRTL will host a Celebration of Life event at Salem Baptist Church (Large Lake Pavilion) on Tuesday, June 17th at 7pm. Representative Davis will be joined by our Guest Speaker Representative Martin Scott the title author of Georgia’s Human Life Amendment. There will be fun for the family and a concert by the Christian Band from right here in Henry County, Exit 417 lead by Dave Stroup! Please come out and join us.

www.votestevedavis.com

Dear Friends and Educators,

As the end of another school year approaches I wanted to send a warm thank you to all teachers, support staff and administrators that work so hard on behalf of our children. As a parent with two children in Henry County Public Schools and another child that has graduated from these schools, I can absolutely tell you that I am committed to partnering with our local schools to ensure the very best education for all our students. As a legislator I have worked with Chairman Coleman and the Education committee as well as madam Chair Jan Jones of the Education Appropriations committee to bring the necessary legislation and funding for our system. I believe this year was a fantastic educational year under the Gold Dome and Henry County Schools were well represented in the budget. Please have a great summer and I will leave you with this years highlights.

God Bless,

Representative Steve Davis

2008 Education Budget Highlights-
K-12 Education

· Held firm on a 2.5% pay raise for teachers ($160 million). This pay raise is in addition to 3% salary increases awarded to more than half of teachers through normal progression on the teacher salary schedule. Georgia consistently ranks #1 in highest average teacher salary in the Southeast – and this pay raise will ensure that Georgia maintains this ranking. Also note that according to the John Locke Foundation, Georgia ranks #2 nationally in average teacher salary when adjusted for cost of living, pension contribution and teacher experience.

· Added $50 million for austerity restoration. This funding equates to an additional $31 per student. The General Assembly was able to reduce the remaining austerity reduction from $143 million to $93 million. The remaining austerity represents 1% of the total QBE budget. Total spending on education exceeded the inflation rate. Henry County Schools portion amounted to $1.2 Million.
· Fully funded the per student funding formula for 1.23% growth of public school students ($200 million). Note: The per student funding formula (QBE) for new student growth has been and continues to be fully funded (with no austerity reductions).

· Added 2,500 slots in the Georgia Virtual School ($1.8 million). Students will have 6,500 class slots offered through this state program so they can take 75 Advanced Placement and other courses online that are not offered or not convenient at their local school. Public and non-public school students are eligible.

· Fully funded growth in Equalization grants. This grant program serves 134 school systems each year to level out funding for less wealthy systems. The $110 million was split between the FY09 and Amended FY08 budgets. Henry County Schools portion amounted to $12.5 Million.

· Continued to fund $100 classroom cards for teachers to purchase classroom supplies the week of the sales tax holiday. Added classroom cards for new teachers and new media centers. The total cost comes to $11 million.

· Fully funded bonds to pay for school construction and renovation ($300 million). It was split between the Amended FY08 and FY09 budgets. Henry County Schools portion amounted to $17.4 Million.

· Funded a new Mentor Teacher program to provide $500 stipends for those who mentor new teachers ($200,000).

· Created 11 new math mentor positions to work with schools struggling with math. Schools will be selected to receive services based on low math test scores and achievement ($1.3 million).

Pre-K

· Funded a 1% increase for operations for public and private Pre-K providers ($700,000). This is only the third operational funding increase since Pre-K was created 15 years ago. Last year’s 2.35% operations increase was the second.

· Added 1,000 Pre-K slots ($6.4 million). Currently, 56% of all four year olds attend Pre-K, which is funded through the lottery. Total children attending lottery – 79,000.

Lunchroom workers, Bus Drivers and Custodians Retirement

· Increased retirement benefits. Means a $0.50 higher rate raising it from $14.25 to $14.75 per month per year of service ($2.7 million).