Today, House Democrats introduced a new bill designed to begin the process of reforming Georgia's outdated tax code. I am honored to be the principal sponsor of HB 356, and wanted to start the conversation here by telling you what HB 356 does, and how it affects state government, local government, and taxpayers.

Most importantly, HB 356 is a revenue bill.  It brings in over $1 billion in new money to the state budget, and it does so without raising taxes one dime.  Right now, when you buy something and pay sales tax on it, far too often the sales tax you pay doesn't make it to the state's bank account.  In fact, the Department of Revenue estimates that we leave about $1.6 billion a year on the table in uncollected taxes.  Some of that money is income tax, but most of it is sales taxes that were collected at the point of sale, but not remitted to the state and local government.

Our bill changes that.  It puts the power to collect sales taxes in the hands of local government, and ends the state government's monopoly on collection.  Under our plan, local governments can contract collections out to private sector firms, lowering costs and improving efficiency.  Most importantly, it also brings in much of that revenue that has been left on the table and pumps over $1 billion into the state budget, at a time when we desperately need revenue to avoid crippling cuts to services like education, health care, and law enforcement, to name a few.

Our bill also scales back state government.  While localities will still have the option to use the Department of Revenue to collect sales taxes, they can also use other methods, including partnering with the private sector.  As a result, Department of Revenue can re-assign auditors to other critical functions, like catching income tax cheats.

Finally, HB 356 empowers local governments.  Democrats believe that the best government is the one that is closest to the people it serves.  Over the last few years, we've seen numerous attempts to vilify local government, and strip localities of power.  This bill gives local governments some of that power back.

HB 356 isn't a silver bullet, and it isn't going to solve all of our state's budget problems.  To do that, we need a new approach to budgeting and taxation.  But, our bill is a large part of that new Democratic approach.  HB 356 is the first step on the long road to reforming Georgia's tax code from top to bottom, to make it more fair and up to date with the 21st century economy.

You can read the bill here, and I hope you'll call your Senator and Representative and ask them to support HB 356.  It's the right step for Georgia – a fiscally responsible plan that puts money back into taxpayers pockets and into state and local governments' bank accounts.

Rep. Virgil Fludd (D-Tyrone) has served in the Georgia House since 2003.  He is the Chair of the Economic Development Policy Committee for the House Democratic Caucus.