Georgians will vote on two constitutional amendments and a referendum in November

The Georgia ballot for the November election ends with three questions, two of which are constitutional amendments.

The Telegraph spoke with Chris Grant, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at Mercer University, about the three questions on the ballots, what they mean and the motivations behind them.

An amendment to the Georgia constitution has to first go through the state House of Representatives and the Senate and receive a two-thirds majority. The amendment will then be put in front of Georgia voters, and if a majority of voters approve the amendment, it will go into effect on Jan. 1.

Here are explanations of the two constitutional amendments and one referendum that will be on the November ballot.

Proposed constitutional amendment 1

Summary (as seen on the ballot): Authorizes dedication of fees and taxes to their intended purposes by general state law.

House Resolution 164 requires that all taxes collected for some specific intended public purpose be used for that intended purpose, and the state legislature will not be able to use those funds for other purposes unless they have a supermajority vote.

“Once we elect representatives to make good decisions, and we want to entrust them to do so, and that sometimes requires reprioritizing. On the other hand, when we specifically say we’re collecting money for a purpose, we have an expectation the money will be used for that purpose, and we don’t want it to be used for other purposes,” Grant said. “It’s an interesting requirement to place in the General Assembly, but I can understand it.”

The amendment originated over environmental concerns, Grant said. There is a $1 fee on every new tire purchase to pay for the disposal of the old tire. However, those funds were sometimes allocated to other needs. This amendment would require the $1 fee to be used to dispose of the old tires, Grant said.

Bibb County practices this requirement with most of its Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, Grant said.

The amendment received bipartisan support with only a few representatives in the House voting against the bill, according to Georgia’s General Assembly website.

Proposed constitutional amendment 2

Summary: Waives state and local sovereign immunity for violation of state laws, state and federal constitutions.

“As we all know, you can’t sue the government unless the government gives you permission to sue it, and this would remove the restrictions that have required a legislative act to allow you to sue the state,” Grant said.

If the amendment is adopted, the judiciary will be able to decide whether a citizen has the grounds to sue the state or a local government.

House Resolution 1023 has been going back and forth in the legislature for a few years after citizens of Georgia lost their ability to use the courts to stop illegal government actions in a 2017 Georgia Supreme Court ruling that dealt with a Georgia abortion law.

The General Assembly passed two bills that would restore the ability to go to court over questionable laws, but former Gov. Nathan Deal and Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed those bills, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The amendment passed unanimously in the state legislature. The bill was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. John Kennedy of District 18.

Statewide referendum

Summary: Establishes a tax exemption for certain real property owned by charities.

As the law stands, charities and nonprofits, like Habitat for Humanity, have to pay property taxes on the single family homes that they build or buy to renovate for families in need. This law would exempt the charities from paying taxes on those properties, Grant said.

The tax exemption only applies to houses that are sold to individuals using a zero interest loan.

This story was originally published October 5, 2020 at 5:00 AM.