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Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Middle Georgia's influence on the decline?

Georgia Trend’s annual list of the 100 most influential Georgians showed up at The Telegraph this week, and only a handful of Middle Georgians made the list.

Forgive us if we miss anyone who grew up here and moved, but here’s how we scored it: George Israel, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and a former Macon mayor; Gov. Sonny Perdue, who is from Houston County; Atlanta Journal-Constitution Editorial Page Editor Jim Wooten and Troutman Sanders public strategy director Connell Stafford, who both went to high school in Macon; and U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, who represents the 2nd District.

Bishop’s a bit of a stretch, as his home base is in Albany, but his district stretches into the midstate. UGA President Michael Adams lived in Macon for about 18 months as a child, but that doesn’t quite count.

Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce President Chip Cherry, Board of Regents board member Bob Hatcher, who lives in Macon, Georgia Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kidd, who grew up in Milledgeville, and Georgia College & State University President Dorothy Leland made the magazine’s “notable” list, just missing the top 100.

Michelle Nunn, daughter of former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, who lives in Perry, also made the notable list, as did Atlanta radio host Clark Howard, who has a brother who lives around here.

Anyway you slice it, that’s not a ringing endorsement of the midstate’s influence.

“It’s not a matter of (geographic) relevancy,” said Georgia Trend editor Susan Percy. “We sit down every year and just endeavor to come up with the 100 people who are the most influential in Georgia. ... At the end of the day, we are singling out individuals.”

U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss was the magazine’s 2009 Georgian of the Year after winning a hard-fought race to hang onto his Senate seat and help block a Democratic super majority in the Senate.

Sales tax collections changing?

After months of study committee meetings, legislation is ready to move ahead that would allow local governments to contract out to collect sales taxes, instead of the state handling it and sending them a check for the pennies that pay for local government operations and major projects.

A similar system is in place in Alabama that, according to supporters, has increased revenues as a closer check is kept on merchants to make sure they charge the proper tax. Houston County Commissioner Tom McMichael was a member of the study committee and says the preliminary draft of legislation may need some tweaking, but the concept is “something we need to do.”

“I think ... we will see a substantial increase in the sales tax collected,” McMichael said.

The legislation “would give city and county governments the option of conducting their sales tax collection themselves, outsourcing the collection duties to a private service, or continue to utilize the Department of Revenue as their collection agency,” according to a news release from the Georgia Senate Press Office.

Snoop on state government

A new Web site lets people look at government spending information in a new, and often simpler, way.

For example: Gov. Sonny Perdue makes $137,310.24 a year, plus $47,000 in travel allowances. The site, www.open.georgia.gov, launched this week. Salaries aren’t the only thing you can look up. All kinds of financial reports and information about government contracts is available.

Telegraph staff writer Travis Fain compiled this report.