This is curtourtesyurtourtesy of public broadcasting. Lt. Governor cagle, speaker ralston, president pro tem shafer, speaker pro tem jones, members of the General Assembly, constitutional officers, members of the judiciary, members of the consular corps, my fellow georgians today marks the fifth year that i have reported to you, the peoples representatives, on the state of our state. This is our annual checkup exam on the body politic, where we measure our vitals, celebrate areas of great health and seek cures for what ails us. In each succeeding year, weve seen the green shoots of our economy grow a little taller. Each year, weve seen more georgians return to work or get their first job. Each year, weve seen hundreds of more businesses open or relocate here. Each year, steady Revenue Growth has allowed us to slowly mend the ravages wrought by the great recession. Now, our economy is seeing positive growth with thousands of new jobs added every month. Were seeing the telltale signs of
Revenue. Last year we based our budget on an anticipated Revenue Growth of 3. 4 percent. That was in keeping with our pattern of conservative budgeting. So when fiscal year 2014 ended, our actual revenue was 4. 8 percent. That differential between what we spent and what we collected is deposited into our Rainy Day Fund. Every budget cycle since i have been governor we have added to that fund so that it has increased by 643 percent since i took office. [applause] annual Revenue Growth, coupled with conservative spending and a growing Rainy Day Fund are positive evidence that georgia is better today than it was last year. Since i took office, over 319,000 new private sector jobs have been created in georgia with nearly 93,000 of those coming in the past twelve months. The announcement last week that mercedesbenz usa is moving its north american headquarters to georgia is further evidence that our state will continue to be a leader in job creation. [applause] with job growth comes populat
We still have very substantial infrastructure revenue needs that have to be addressed. We have studied every option. Some have advocated raising the state gas tax. Yes, we do have the third lowest gas tax in america. Gas prices are now down to their lowest level since 2009. NonSouth Carolinans who visit our state would pay a portion of the tax and we would boost the are revenue stream thats dedicated to improving our roads and highways. But there are also major problems with it. We have not gotten to where we are as a state with our strengthening and growing economy by raising taxes. Quite the opposite. If all we do is increase taxes whether its the gas tax or some other tax, we will hurt our citizens, we will discourage job creators and we will dampen our economy. As ive said many times, i will veto any straightup increase in the gas tax. Thats just not going to happen while im governor. Its the wrong thing for South Carolina. So heres the deal. Lets do three things at once that will
Thinking of as ron was asking you to imagine some of the challenges is the fact that this executive action does not do a lot of things. One of the things it doesnt do is provide eligibility for health care, for example, for people who are eligible overall. When you have people who are still going without Health Insurance, that becomes more of a challenge and an issue for your communities. Im wondering what the possible ways of addressing that might be and whether that does, indeed, pose a challenge in terms of resources. Again, i think the answer to that, unfortunately, does not lie in cities. We just dont have the authority or the power to solve the problem. We just have the responsibility to deal with the problem. And thats the tough part. In a city like aurora, weve got three major hospitals weve got another one coming on line shortly i hope its a va hospital, you never know. But well find ways through the nonprofit community, through the Faithbased Community through our own program
Pursuant to the ord of the house of january 6 2015, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morningr. The chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour, and each member r than the majority and minority leaders and minority whip limited to five minutes. But in no event shall debate continue beyond 1 50 p. M. The chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from north carolina, ms. Foxx for five minu ms. Foxx thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker paying for college is hard work and its getting more difficult as tui and fees continue to increase at rapid rates. Fortunately, American Families have an investment tool known as a 529 plan to help them save for their childs college education. Since 2001 students have been able to withdraw earni from these plans tax free if the funds are used to pay for qualified Higher Education expenses. It was disheartening to learn last week that president obama now