On Nov. 2, voters will have the opportunity to cast votes on a number of issues that are important to Georgia’s economic future. 

 

 “The Georgia Chamber encourages voters to say yes to all of the statewide initiatives on this year’s ballot,” said Georgia Chamber President and CEO George Israel.  “As our state works toward economic recovery, now is the time to put measures into place that will ensure our competitiveness, help existing businesses, and improve our quality of life.”

 

Statewide amendments and referenda this year include:

 

Amendment 1 – Improving employment law

 

• Ensures that Georgia employers and employees enjoy the same certainty regarding employment agreements as in other states.

 

• Clearly defines which employees can be held subject to such agreements. Currently, an employer can require any employee to sign regardless of position or level of access to proprietary information. 

 

• If passed, this constitutional amendment will allow judges to make reasonable adjustments to existing employment contracts to reflect the original intent when they are contested in a court of law.

 

Amendment 2 – Providing needed trauma care funding

 

• Establishes a comprehensive, statewide trauma care network through the creation of a $10 vehicle tag fee that will provide funding for critically

needed trauma services throughout the state.

 

• Creation by constitutional amendment ensures that these funds can only be used for trauma care. 

 

• Today, our state has only 16 designated trauma centers, putting many Georgians at risk of being too far away from the specialized care they need to survive an accident at work, at home, or on the road. 

 

Amendment 3 – Allowing multi-year transportation contracts

 

• Allows the Georgia Department of Transportation to change its accounting practices from a cash basis to a system of accrual, letting GDOT award multi-year construction contracts on the expectation of future revenues.

 

Amendment 4 – Encourages energy efficiency

 

• Authorizes Georgia state government to enter into multi-year performance contracts for energy-efficient retrofits of state buildings that would be paid for by utility bill savings.

 

Amendment 5 – Providing services to annexed industrial property

 

• Allows owners of industrial property in unincorporated areas to have that property annexed by a city that currently provides municipal services to the property in order to ensure continuation of those services.

 

Referendum A – Removing the state inventory tax

 

• Eliminates the state portion of the ad valorem tax on business inventories, which costs retailers and other businesses millions of dollars a year and discourages companies from locating their warehousing and distribution facilities in Georgia.

 

• If passed, this will place Georgia on a more competitive playing field with many of our economic competitors.