Editor’s note: A Q & A with Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga. from our friends at Total Spectrum will be featured tomorrow
State of the Union: A Federal-State Perspective
By the time you read this article, President Trump’s first State of the Union address will have been delivered. Transcripts for State of the Union speeches are being polished almost right up to the minute the President leaves for the Capitol, so transcripts are not yet available.
We expect President Trump will have touted the tax changes which he and the Republican Congress enacted into law. This is understandable when most taxpayers will be receiving the benefits of those changes. There will be real growth generated by tax reform. Add to this the fact that numerous corporations are giving bonuses or wage increases to their employees because of these tax changes, and we can expect that the President will certainly be crowing.
Infrastructure will definitely have been a part of the State of the Union Address. Everyone from Governors to state and federal legislators to city mayors are anxious to know what the President has in mind. Infrastructure is certainly on the minds of our Georgia leaders. Lt. Governor Casey Cagle has said that Georgia needs more “bold steps” in this area. Governor Nathan Deal has stated that if Georgia makes the list of final three contenders for Amazon’s HQ2, he will call a special session of the General Assembly to address certain issues to accommodate a “business opportunity of this magnitude”. Infrastructure is one of the top issues to be discussed and it will most likely require a state-federal partnership. This has the potential for, and should provide for, a bipartisan effort.
Another issue sure to have been addressed by President Trump is immigration. These issues have already affected the federal budget process (does the government shutdown ring a bell?) The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, border security, chain migration, and the visa program will most likely be addressed by the President. There is certainly room for give-and-take here, but it’s just a matter of who is giving and who is taking. And, of course, what is being given and what is being taken. This is an area that will require a bipartisan solution if it is to get through both the House and the Senate.
All three of these issues affect Georgians, either directly or indirectly. We will be highlighting these issues – and others – in coming articles.
