Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3A
Isakson addresses healthcare and debt to locals
SEN. ISAKSON
BY KATIE HUSTON
SEN. JOHNNY Isakson made
a stop in Jefferson Saturday
morning to talk about healthcare
and the national debt.
Isakson, who is running for
re-election, is on the campaign
trail and spoke to a packed
house at the monthly meeting of
the Jackson County Republican
Party at Beef-o-Brady’s in
Jefferson.
Isakson, a Republican, has
been involved with the ongo
ing healthcare debate on the
national level and was recently
in Washington, D.C., during the
area's massive snowfall.
“If somebody ever told me
that I’d wake up at two o’clock
in the morning and walk through
20 inches of snow to make a 3
a.m. speech on the floor of the
senate, I would have said ‘Old
men don’t do that,’ but these old
men did that,” Isakson said. “We
did it for a very important rea
son. Healthcare’s important.”
Isakson went on to say that he
believes in affordable and acces
sible healthcare to all Americans,
but it must be proposed differ
ently than what many democrats
are suggesting.
“I don’t know what trick
they’re going to use (to pass the
bill),” Isakson said. “But when
they do, and if they’re success
ful, they’re going to see the big
gest backlash in the history of
our country.”
“Destroying what 86 percent
of the American people have
and have paid for to give it to
14 percent of the people who
haven’t is not the right thing,” he
said. “It’s just not.”
Isakson told listeners that the
bill being proposed takes $500
billion out of the Medicare trust
fund and moves it to provide
to the 14 percent of Americans
who he said haven’t paid for
it. He also said that the bill
destroys the delivery system that
most people in Georgia depend
on - that being a home deliv
ery system. The system is more
affordable and accessible and he
said that money is being taken
out of home healthcare with no
reimbursement.
“These are all mechanisms to
say that the bill’s not going to
cost us anything,” Isakson said.
“But what it’s going to cost us is
the best home delivery system in
the world.”
He supports tort reform and
wants Americans to be able to
choose their own doctors and
wants to stay away from social
ized Medicare.
Isakson went on to speak of
the national debt and how he
opposed the stimulus bill saying
that it wasn’t working and that
it increased the debt by $787
billion.
He said that the healthcare bill
will cost $1 trillion more dollars
over a ten-year period and will
take the debt from $9 trillion to
over $12 trillion dollars, call
ing it “an unsustainable ratio of
debt to the GDP (gross domestic
product.)”
“We have to stand up and
we have to stop spending like
drunken sailors and begin to do
what you have to do and what
I have to do and my wife and
I do every year,” Isakson said.
“We sit around the kitchen table,
we take the income we’ve got
and we budget it to make sure
at the end of the year we’re not
in debt.”
He mentioned the difficult
time the state is having along
with local school boards and
proposed an idea for Congress.
“We don’t have the luxury in
the State of Georgia of deficit
spending,” he said. “We have
a balanced budget amendment.
It’s time we pass the balanced
budget amendment to amend
the Constitution of the United
States so that Congress lives
within its means and the presi
dent lives within his means or
her means and this country gets
back to fiscal accountability and
fiscal soundness.”
Isakson is the former presi
dent and CEO of a Georgia-
based small business for over
20 years. He is a recipient of
the Taxpayers Friend Award and
an “A” rating from the National
Taxpayers Union. He’s also
voted for pro-growth tax relief
and against trillions of dollars in
excess spending.
In addition, Isakson has been
married to his wife, Dianne, for
over 41 years. The couple has
three children and nine grand
children.
The county Republican Party
meets the second Tuesday of
each month and all meetings are
open to the public.
Budget cuts on tap next week for legislators
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
EDUCATORS and other state
of Georgia employees should
find out next week just how
severely the $1 billion in budget
cuts will affect their programs
and departments, according to
Rep. Tommy Benton.
“The budget for fiscal year
2011 is pretty much done,” said
Benton. “I think we’re going to
see it next week some time.”
But the District 31 Republican
says he is not privy to the details,
and the members of the joint
appropriation committee are
“kinda hush-mouthed about it.”
“We’re an equal opportunity
cutter,” Benton speculated. “I
don’t know of any programs or
agencies that will be exempted
from the cuts.”
As for Gov. Sonny Perdue’s
recent reduction in the revenue
forecast for the rest of this fiscal
year, Benton said, “I think we’re
okay.”
The House was due to meet
in session Wednesday and half
of Thursday of this week, and
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday
of next week.
Background to the budget dis
cussion are comments from state
superintendent of schools Kathy
Cox about raising the price of
lottery tickets to help fund educa
tion and Perdue’s proposal to cut
Medicaid reimbursements by 10
percent.
Benton said he’s seen no indi
cation that either idea is being
warmly received by legislators.
“I don’t know if there’s any
support for that or not,” he said of
Cox’s proposal. “If you increase
the price of lottery tickets by
50 cents, it will hurt the sale of
tickets.”
Benton noted that Perdue’s
previous proposal to tax hospitals
1.6 percent of revenue “gained
no traction at all,” and said he’d
heard little comment on the gov
ernor’s plan to slash Medicaid
reimbursements. Currently, he
said, the state reimburses hospi
tals for 82 percent of their cost
for Medicaid services.
Likewise, Benton said the
governor’s proposal to revoke
the tax-exempt status of not-for-
profit hospitals does not appear
to be gaining traction.
It’s time, said Benton, to try
another track.
“I think that we’re going to
have to find additional sources
of revenue,” he said. “Everybody
preaches the fair tax, which is
the sales tax. I’m concerned with
the way the cuts are going local
governments will pass the cuts
on to property owners, which I
don’t like.”
Benton is the third signer on
an amendment to the proposed
legislation to increase the tax on
cigarettes. As a constitutional
amendment, it will take 120
votes to pass.
“Whether we’ll get a vote on
that, I don’t know,” he advised.
OTHER BILLS
Benton reported that the
transportation bill will be voted
on in committee this week, and
that a bill to mandate a school
starting date was voted down in
the Education Committee.
The next week should bring
a lot of bills forward as the
deadline of “crossover day” is
five days away.
“There’s going to be a lot
of movement to try to get bills
out of committee and onto
the House floor for a vote to
get into the Senate,” Benton
noted.
SPLOST vote may be
postponed until Nov.
JACKSON COUNTY lead
ers are considering postponing
a vote to renew the special pur
pose local option sales tax until
November.
In earlier meetings, the board
of commissioners and city offi
cials had discussed holding the
election on July 20. At a meeting
this week, the leaders discussed
waiting until Nov. 2 in order to
have more time to prepare for
the SPLOST election.
By the time the current tax
expires June 30, 2011, it will
have brought in as much as
$55 million to city and county
governments. To keep the funds
flowing, voters will have to
renew the tax in a referendum
July 20 or Nov. 2.
For the county, most of its
share would go to pay down
debt. BOC chairman Hunter
Bicknell said earlier that the
county hopes to use about $12.6
million to make payments on
its new jail, and it would like to
use SPLOST proceeds instead
of General Fund revenue to
make the county’s annual debt
payment on the Bear Creek
Reservoir and water treatment
plant.
To do the latter, Bicknell said
the SPLOST proceeds allocated
in this round of SPLOST to
the Jackson County Water and
Sewerage Authority for capital
projects would go to Jackson
County for debt service in the
new round.
JHS may change schedule
BY KATIE HUSTON
AMID CONTINUED budget
cuts on the horizon, the Jefferson
City School System may revert
to seven-period a day scheduling
at its high school in an effort to
stay afloat.
More teachers are required for
block scheduling, which the sys
tem currently utilizes, but there
are fewer students in a class per
semester.
Since fewer teachers are
required for seven-period a day
scheduling, the change could
save the system up to $282,000.
“That in itself in these fis
cal times is something to seri
ously consider,” Pat Blenke
of the Georgia Department of
Education said.
BOE chairman Ronnie
Hopkins noted that if the transi
tion would be in the best interest
of the system from an academic
standpoint, that it may be forced
to make tough decisions from a
monetary standpoint.
Blenke presented research
that indicated grade point aver
ages (GPA’s) tend to increase
with block scheduling. However,
there’s a mixed impact when it
comes to scoring on state-man
dated tests and SAT/ACT results.
There are no significant atten
dance changes noted when com
paring the two forms of schedul
ing. Most teachers do enjoy the
collaboration opportunities that
block scheduling has, although
overall, most tend to prefer a
seven-period day.
With block scheduling, stu
dents undergo 8,100 minutes of
teaching in 90-minute classes
for 90 days a semester. For a
seven-period day, students get
9,000 minutes of learning dur
ing seven 50-minute classes for
180 days a year. That equals 900
additional minutes for instruction
than block scheduling. However,
there are more elective opportu
nities with block scheduling.
JHS initially went from the sev
en-period day because many stu
dents from the Gwinnett school
system were coming in off block
scheduling into the system. The
system was also concerned it was
overloading not only students,
but teachers by implementing so
many classes a day.
The board continues to be con
cerned with overwhelming both
students and teachers if reverting
to seven-period a day schedul
ing. Blenke said that a common
approach to the change is offer
ing more teacher incentives, such
as a teacher of the week pro
gram.
“If you decide to do this, there’s
going to be pushback from your
teachers,” Blenke said. “Because
they see, ‘I’m doubling my work.
I’m doubling my kids and I’m
not getting any more money
from this.”
Blenke added that it’s possible
teachers may even get paid less
if the school system switched to
a charter system, which is being
considered. In a charter system,
the school district would not be
required to use the state salary
schedule and would potentially
might have to rid itself of supple
ments to balance its budget.
Comprehensive plan continued from page JA
Another open house will
be held on Tuesday, March
23, at 7 p.m., at East Jackson
Comprehensive High School.
“This is what I consider to be
a vital part for the citizens of
Jackson County,” Yates said.
Public comments on the com
prehensive plan will be taken
during the Jackson County
Planning Commission’s meet
ing on Thursday, April 22, at 6
p.m., in the auditorium of the
county government complex in
Jefferson.
Then, the BOC is expected
to take additional comments
on Monday, May 17, at 7 p.m.,
before sending the compre
hensive plan to the Georgia
Department of Community
Affairs for review.
Once the state-mandated
reviews are complete, the
finalized comprehensive plan
should be adopted by the BOC
in September, according to
Jerry Weitz, a consultant wor
king on the document.
Jackson County requires that
zoning decisions be consistent
with the county’s future land
use plan — one of several
maps included in the compre-
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hensive plan. Those proposed
projects that aren’t consistent
with the future land use plan
may require a map amendment
approved by the commissio
ners.
“It is a document that you can
point to and hold your board
of commissioners accountable
to,” Yates explained.
And while the state requires
counties and cities to adopt
comprehensive plans, the Great
Recession is making it difficult
to plan for the next two deca
des.
By some estimates, Jackson
County has anywhere from six
years to 86 years of inventory
of vacant residential lots ready
for development. Estimates
vary widely because some are
expecting a quick economic
recovery, while others believe
it could take many years.
“It’s going to take us a while
for us to absorb what’s already
on the ground,” Weitz said of
the recession’s affect on the
housing market.
Still, the comprehensive
plan is the document that is
used to guide where schools
will be built, where to install
new water and sewer lines, and
where to construct new roads,
Weitz said.
Even with the 20-year out
look for the comprehensive
plan, the state may require the
county to revisit the document
in 10 years, he added.
In Loving Memory of Donald Elrod
March 22, 1972 - April 1, 1988
It has been 22 years since you went to your heavenly home. And it too was on an
Easter weekend. But it still feels like only yesterday you were bubbling with
excitement in finding the Lord as your Saviour and getting your driver’s license. You
were so happy belonging to the Youth Group Choir at Pond Fork Baptist Church.
1 would like to thank Rev. )ohnny Knight, the members at Pond Fork Baptist Church,
and especially the Youth Group for helping Donald find Jesus. You have all been very
good friends to us and we appreciate all of you.
There are a lot of good people here in Jackson County. When you need them the
most, they are always there to lend a helping hand and a special prayer.
I would also like to thank John and Gail Cox, of Commerce, for combining our home
movies into a video cassette. It meant a great deal to us.
Thanks, we love all of you.
Harris Denver and Martha Elrod and all the relatives
The Jefferson Lions Club will hold its
ANNUAL
PANCAKE SUPPER
Saturday, March 20, 2010
In the Jefferson High School Cafeteria
5:00 P.M. to 7:30 P.M.
Entertainment by Crystal River
Tickets may be purchased
from any Lion or at the door
Adults: $6 * Kids 2-12 years: $3
Under 2: Eat Free
Come join us for an evening of good food, fun and friendship
FREE VISION SCREENING
PROCEEDS DIRECTLY BENEFIT OUR COMMUNITY
Be sure to bring along any donations of used eyeglasses, and cell phones ~
all of which will be used to help the visually or hearing impaired.
LIONS We Serve
Friends of Commissioner
BRUCE TATES
cordially invites you to a
reception andfundraiser
supporting
his re-election campaign.
Tuesday, March 30
5:00-7:00 PM
The Braselton-Stover House
Downtown Braselton
Telephone 706.367-2111
Paid for by the candidate.