By Jan Jones, House Majority Whip

The 2009 Georgia General Assembly session ended quietly and without much notice by most or our state’s citizens. Most likely they were rather busy at the time: earning a living, looking for a job, helping with their children's home work, caring for elderly parents and just figuring out how to make ends meet.

For a citizen’s state legislature, that's the way it should be.

While Georgians took care of the home front, citizen state legislators worked intently to help their neighbors through common sense initiatives. After the session concluded, they returned home to pick back up their full-time vocations as grocers, farmers, pharmacists, teachers, small business owners, etc. Those serving who are now retired went back home to live on fixed incomes. Upon returning home, they face the same economic challenges that confront every Georgian today.

The real story of the 2009 session is what didn't happen – higher taxes and more fees. It's a fitting honor to the oft-forgotten taxpayers – the ones who actually pay the bills for every single state service.

Like every state in America, Georgia's revenues have plunged dramatically during the recession. Unlike many other states, Georgia did not raise taxes. In fact, some were actually cut. The state derives its revenue from two primary sources: a six percent income tax and a four percent sales tax. That means state coffers shrunk as citizens' paychecks and spending declined, due the historic downturn we are now navigating our way through.

Other states took the easy way out: they hiked taxes and fees to combat what has now become the deepest and most severe economic global slowdown since the 1930s. They put their spending priorities first. Not us. We put Georgians first. We trimmed the state budget by $3 billion – or $1,200 per family of four. This saved our citizens much needed money. We believe raising taxes now on Georgia citizens would have further hurt the economy – and harmed the average family.

Makes sense, doesn't it? At a time when folks have less to spend on basic necessities like groceries and rent, Georgia’s Republican-led legislature decided the most effective action they should take was to force the state to spend less as well. Our state now has to do with less – just like our citizens do. Georgia's current budget is smaller than last year's. It’s even less than what it was two years ago. This was not easy and it is not the type of nuts-and-bolts legislation that grabs the headlines. But it was timely – and necessary. And we did it.

In fact, the legislature did more than reduce spending to respond to our economic strife. In one of the most revolutionary acts in recent times, the House and Senate approved legislation freezing all property tax reassessments for two years. It succeeded in spite of the fact that the state’s Democrats nixed a voter referendum for a permanent freeze, not once, but twice.

Naturally, some school board, city council and county commission members complained. How will we provide essential services, they asked? The answer? Do first things first – and little else – until the economy rebounds, just like Georgia citizens paying bills at their kitchen table and workplace have to do. Our government should be no different.

Significant change is coming to public education as well. Key education reform legislation passed to signal the beginning of a market-based pay platform for teachers. Georgia will pay more, $4500 on average, to new and many existing math and science teachers to address crucial shortages in those critical disciplines.

For example, the Georgia University System produced just one physics teacher that actually ended up in the classroom last year. Our students' efforts to excel are undercut when qualified teachers can't be found.

The leadership of the 2009 General Assembly succeeded in keeping Georgia moving forward with a responsible budget, no new taxes, a property tax reassessment freeze and reforms in public education and transportation. Add to that dozens of workhorse bills like speeding up adoptions for foster children, providing tax credits to businesses hiring unemployed Georgians, and improving our state’s water and food supply and we will put our scorecard up against any other state in the nation.

Overall, legislators remembered the “Forgotten Man”, described aptly in 1883 by William Graham Sumner, "He works, he votes, generally he prays – but he always pays..."