The Atlanta Press Club debates have kicked off – Secretary of State, Public Service Commission, Commissioner of Labor and School Superintendent air this week, followed by other races in the next few weeks. One of the items on your November ballot that will not get featured in a debate are the proposed amendments. The supporters of those amendments have to find other ways to get out in front of voters, advertising perhaps. The Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Amendment supporters began just that this week.
The advertising campaign is so far focused on a digital strategy to reach voters between now and Election Day. One of the noted items in the campaign is that the amendment does not call for a new tax. If passed, the amendment would dedicate a portion of an existing tax on sporting goods for conservation purposes. The revenue would help to support Georgia’s outdoor recreation industry, which has an annual economic impact of $27 billion and growing.
“We believe that as people learn about this important amendment, they will agree that investing in our waters and lands is the right thing to do – especially if it can be done without raising taxes. The approximately $20 million in annual funding that will be dedicated for the next ten years if the amendment passes will have a generational impact on the quality of life for all Georgians as well as our economy,” said Thomas Farmer, senior policy director for The Nature Conservancy and manager of the amendment campaign.
The total revenue generated from the amendment would be approximately $20 million annually for a period of 10 years. That revenue would be used for a variety of projects in the scope of conservation, including: protecting lands critical to clean drinking water, acquiring and improving parks and trails, and maintaining and improving access to wildlife management areas.
Previously, the taxes from sporting goods went into the general fund and were rolled into the annual appropriations process. Long-term planning for conservation projects was made more difficult when, every year, there were almost certainly political fights of some sort over funding. A dedicated funding source would provide a reliable amount of funding. This would also better position the state and conservation groups here in Georgia seeking additional funding or support from federal, philanthropic or private investment groups.
Georgia has long had a number of user-type fees that ostensibly are dedicated to programs pertaining to those users. The most prominent of these examples may be the tire-fee money that is meant to clean up dumps and other problem areas from discarded tires. According to the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, some $200 million of that has been diverted from their express purpose.
Numbers on the sporting goods fee are uncertain but the prospect of dedicated revenue has drawn support from a wide array of conservation groups including The Conservation Fund, Georgia Conservancy, Georgia Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, Park Pride, and The Trust for Public Land.
To learn more about the amendment and see some of the campaign, see here: https://www.georgiaoutdoorstewardship.org/
