A top Republican in the state Senate has proposed a wide-ranging overhaul of property taxes in Georgia.

Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers’ legislation would make more than 40 changes to the tax system. The Woodstock Republican said that while home values have tumbled in Georgia, assessments often remain artificially high.

Rogers is proposing a year-round property assessment appeals process as well as a provision that all comparable sales, including bank sales and foreclosures, must be applied when officials set an assessed value. The bill would also mandate that there be statewide uniformity of assessment notice and appeal forms.

E-READER BILL ONE FOR THE BOOKS

Georgia students could download books instead of loading down their backpacks under a new bill approved by state senators.

The Senate voted 45-5 on Tuesday to expand the definition of a textbook to include digital devices like e-readers for elementary and high schools. Sen. Cecil Staton, the bill’s sponsor and chairman of the science and technology committee, says the proposal allows school districts more flexibility to buy new technology and helps students compete in an age of evolving technology.

Opponents of the bill say the language is too vague and that it could run afoul of the state constitution.

The measure must still be approved by the House of Representatives, as well as the governor and state Board of Education.

RICHARDSON CASH PROBE UNDER WAY

Georgia’s ethics commission has launched a probe of former House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s leftover campaign cash.

The commission said Wednesday that it found probable cause to look into Richardson’s transfer of $219,000 in excess cash from his campaign fund to the MMV Alliance Fund political action committee he controls.

Georgia law requires that leftover campaign funds must be donated to candidates or political parties or transferred to nonprofits approved by the IRS or the state. MMV Alliance Fund appears not to be registered with the state or the federal government as a nonprofit.

Richardson, who stepped down Jan. 1, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

LET GOVERNOR APPOINT, SAYS PERDUE

Gov. Sonny Perdue is proposing that four state constitutional officers now elected by the public should instead be appointed by the governor.

The four are state school superintendent, agriculture commissioner, labor commissioner and insurance commissioner.

The change would require two-thirds approval in each house of the Legislature, and would have to be ratified by the state’s voters.

The governor elected in 2014 would be the first to appoint people to the four positions. Appointments would require confirmation by the Senate.

MORTGAGE FRAUD TARGETED

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation could soon get the power to investigate allegations of mortgage fraud under a new proposal being pitched by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

State Sen. Bill Cowsert, one of the governor’s floor leaders in the Senate, has introduced legislation that would create a special unit from the GBI, the Department of Banking and Finance and local law enforcement to investigate mortgage fraud crimes.

Supporters of the measure say Georgia currently ranks fourth nationwide for mortgage fraud. Mortgage fraud referrals cost the state an estimated $144 million between 2005 and 2008.

DEMOCRATS DECRY LOSS OF RAIL, ROAD FUNDS
By SHANNON McCAFFREY /AP

Georgia Democrats took the wraps off a proposal Thursday to overhaul state transportation funding and slammed Gov. Sonny Perdue, saying he’s failed to ease the state’s worsening gridlock.

Democrats, who are in the minority in the House and the Senate, said the state is missing out on millions of dollars in federal aid because it is failing to adequately fund road, rail and other infrastructure improvements.

They singled out federal rapid rail money and highway stimulus funds that would have required a state investment.

They are pushing a two-part plan.

One proposal would allow counties to band together and ask voters to hike the state sales tax by one cent to pay for transportation. The proposal is similar to a GOP-backed plan that’s failed to win approval the last two years.

The second part of the Democrats’ proposal would take the so-called fourth penny currently collected as part of the tax on motor fuel and funnel it into road and other infrastructure improvements. Most of the revenue collected by the state tax on gasoline already goes to fund transportation. But one penny goes into the state general fund.

Both proposals are constitutional amendments, so they would require two-thirds approval in the House and the Senate. They would then require voter approval at the ballot box.

Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said dedicating that additional penny to transportation would strip about $137 million away from the state treasury.

“That’s roughly the equivalent of 3,000 teachers’ salaries,’’ he said.

Brantley disputed Democrats’ argument that Perdue hasn’t been aggressive enough on transportation funding. Perdue focused last year on cleaning up management at the state Department of Transportation, insisting that before he sent the agency more money he wanted to ensure it would be well spent.

Perdue has also included $300 million in bonding for state transportation projects in his budget for the next fiscal year.

State Sen. Tim Golden, a Valdosta Democrat, argued Thursday that for the last eight years Georgia’s leadership had “led us on a road to nowhere.’’

About 30 Democratic legislators crowded into the news conference, including Senate Minority Leader Robert Brown of Macon and House Minority Leader DuBose Porter of Dublin.

State Sen. Jeff Mullis, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, noted that the Democratic sales tax proposal mirrors the GOP plan which is still in a conference committee.

“Transportation is not a partisan issue. We should all come together, as we did in the Senate, to work on solutions that are best for all Georgians,” the Chickamauga Republican said.

EXPANSION OF VOUCHER PROGRAM PUSHED
By DORIE TURNER / AP

A state lawmaker wants to expand Georgia’s limited school voucher program to include students in foster care and from military families.

Sen. Chip Rogers, a Woodstock Republican, announced Wednesday he is introducing legislation that would use taxpayer money to send the students to private schools. The state already gives such vouchers to families with special-needs students under a program that started in 2007.

About 2,100 students in Georgia are receiving the vouchers.

“We think this is the next logical step in providing choice to children and their parents,’’ Rogers said during a news conference at the state Capitol.

Rogers’ bill would increase the per-student funding from $6,331 to about $9,800 for special needs students. Military students and foster care children would get between $5,000 and $9,000 each, depending on where they go to school and how old they are.

But critics say the bill would take money away from public schools at a time when funding is scarce.

“It’s an incremental attack on public schools,’’ said Sen. Vincent Fort, a Democratic member of the Senate Education and Youth Committee. “We need to put our resources into public schools instead of taking money away.’’

The bill also would allow parents to enroll in the voucher program four times a year rather than just once per year. Parents have complained that if they miss the window to sign up, their children are stuck in a school for a full year.

In addition, the bill would set up deadlines for when the state Department of Education should send payments to private schools. Some schools have said the payments are often late because the state has just one person running the voucher program.

Last year former Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson, a Savannah Republican, failed to get legislation passed that would create a universal voucher program in Georgia, which would give a voucher to any student in the state to attend the school of their choice. Johnson resigned his seat last year to run for governor.

National experts say just six states and Washington, have voucher programs for low-income or special-needs students. No state has successfully passed a universal voucher program.