The upcoming legislative session is important to Milledgeville, Baldwin County

Published 8:00 am Saturday, January 3, 2015

In just a couple of weeks, the Georgia General Assembly will convene the 2015 legislative session. Amidst all of the routine legislation, this year’s session looks to hold a significant impact for Baldwin County and locals should watch closely to see what measures are approved.

The most potentially impactful legislation will no doubt be the introduction of a bill to place a resolution before local voters on unified government. Controversial to some, this bill places the decision before local voters who will decide what they desire for local government. Allowing locals to vote takes the decision out of any one governing body’s hands and gives every citizen an opportunity to weigh in one way or the other. Although there are residents who find issue with this process, right or wrong, the discussion on unification is too important a topic for everyone not to weigh in at the ballot box.

Also of pivotal importance locally is the impact of the forthcoming state budget for the progress of the Central State Hospital redevelopment and for local transportation development. According to reports, state officials will look to come up with an estimated $1.5 billion in new annual revenue to help meet transportation needs. That could come in the form of an increase in the gas tax or a new tax altogether to raise the revenue.

On the development front, local leaders will look to the state to make a financial commitment to the CSH campus. Since its inception, funding for the Central State Hospital Local Redevelopment Authority has come from city, and recently county coffers. Originally during the CSHLRA creation pitch, local community leaders told Gov. Nathan Deal they would request no state economic development funding until it was evident the plan could succeed.

The authority believes the state should step in with monetary support at this point, which could impact the progress of development at the former mental health care facility.

While the legislative session still days away, it will be Crossover Day before we realize it and the impact of key pieces of legislation expected to be pushed through this session could be large for Milledgeville and Baldwin County. With the potentially historic impact of the charter referendum, it’s certainly worth paying attention to on the local level.