A budget nobody will call perfect

From the AJC, a report on the GA budget's passage, with quotes attributed to Allie Wall, worth a read:

"When state lawmakers drove away from the Capitol early Saturday, they left many Georgians facing the possibility of higher property taxes this fall and the prospect of higher utility bills in the future.

They left students facing likely increases in tuition at universities and colleges. And they left metro Atlanta residents with the likelihood that MARTA service will be cut.

They gave Georgians with profitable investments a break on capital gains taxes.

They also may have helped create some jobs for the unemployed by giving tax breaks to businesses that hire them and by approving $1.2 billion in borrowing for construction projects."

and ...

A bill consumer groups said would help address the state’s foreclosure crisis, Senate Bill 57, passed the Senate but never made it to the House floor for a vote.

Georgia Watch, an Atlanta consumer group, said the bill would have, among other things, banned major financial incentives for mortgage brokers to guide borrowers into expensive and unsuitable loans.

Allison Wall, executive director of the group, said she was “extremely disappointed” the House didn’t take up the bill.

Source here.