State Sen. Cecil Staton said the 2009 session of Georgia’s General Assembly was the most difficult since his election in 2004.

During an April 17 interview in the office of his publishing company, Staton reflected on the legislative session, which he said was largely about balancing the state budget. Unlike the federal budget, states are required to have balanced budgets, and this year that was no small feat.

The senator represents Georgia Senate District 18, which includes portions of Bibb, Crawford, Houston, Jones, and Monroe counties. He was re-elected in 2006 and 2008 without opposition.

Staton is the chairman of the Science and Technology Committee and is a member of the Appropriations, Finance, Transportation, Retirement, Veterans, Military, and Homeland Security committees. He also serves as vice chairman of the sub-committees on Community Health and Higher Education.

Staton said he feels like he has been in meetings for the last six months.

“It was a terrible session. Winning in this session was reducing your cuts,” he stated. “We cut $3 billion from the state budget, and it was painful.”

The senator said it seemed legislators were constantly delivering bad news.

“We didn’t want to cut health care to families that otherwise can’t get care. My goal was to do the least harm while fulfilling the constitutional mandate to a balanced budget,” he said.

Having said that, Staton said he is proud that the legislators were able to balance the budget without increasing taxes.

“We shrank government in Georgia, which is the exact opposite of what is going on in Washington,” he pointed out.

Staton said the session was not pretty, but legislators did their jobs. He said the General Assembly is receiving a lot of criticism about the session, but he said a lot that got done did not get any attention.

“Some of the best bills passed this session were helpful to small businesses. Eighty percent of jobs created are in small businesses, and HB 481 and 482 provide tax relief and tax credits to businesses,” he said.

Legislation

Staton said inventory tax was eliminated and intangible tax on assets. He said effects of the bills may appear small but will mean a lot to small businesses. He said a bill to reduce long-term capital gains tax by 50 percent was also passed.

The senator said home buyers will receive a $1,800 tax credit with the hope of stimulating home sales and property tax assessments were capped for two years. He said laws were also passed to help homeowners challenge assessments.

“These may be little things that didn’t get a lot of attention, but they are good for the individual,” he said. “In the midst of a crisis of the economy, we tried to do some good things and get home.”

Staton said the process of government can be frustrating, and in the General Assembly, it is incredibly difficult to do anything.

“A lot of things are done behind the scenes, but it has to be. In my opinion, it is too messy to ‘make sausage’ on the Senate floor,” he said.

Staton said the Republican senators met every day for 1-2 hours to go over every bill as it came out of committee. He said, if a senator has a problem with a bill, they let it be known in those meetings.

“We didn’t create the process; we just follow traditions. We try to have discipline, but there are always potentially unforeseen consequences when you are writing laws. It’s probably good that it is so complicated. That prevents us from making more mistakes,” he said.

Staton said his least favorite time is the last days of the session when all the legislation that has piled up for weeks is attempted to be pushed through. The senator explained that bills are on a two-year cycle, and, if not introduced this year, the legislation does not die.

“When you get back in January, it’s still alive, and it may be easier next year,” he said.

Staton said his trauma bill, SB 156, redefines the work of the trauma commission. He said he worked with stakeholders for six months to make sure the bill would be helpful.

“I have a lot invested in the bill, and it was frustrating that it did not get on the floor,” he said.

GDOT

Staton said, as a member of the Transportation Committee, he agrees with Gov. Sonny Perdue that the department was broken and something had to be done. He said he voted for SB 200, which restructured the department.

“The House worked it over, but it was still in the right direction. The bill allowed the appointment of a planning director and moved the influence of dollars spent. My concern is that the Georgia Department of Transportation had gotten huge and was controlling billions of dollars,” he said. “It had become a quasi-government agency.”

Staton said the General Assembly elected transportation board members and then many times did not hear from them. He said that was not the case with Larry Walker, who represents District Three, which includes Jones and Bibb counites.

“Am I entirely happy with the bill? No, but legislation is about compromise, and if nothing else, this sent a message,” he added.

Staton said he wants to make sure Middle Georgia is represented in the process and receives the money needed for its roads.

“Half of the state is not Atlanta. I did not support a statewide transportation sales tax because we must protect the interest of the rest of the state. That issue is non-partisan. It has more to do with rural verses urban counties,” he said.

Bottom line

Staton said education had a hedge built around it and it was protected as much as it could be. He said, at one point, legislators were considering furloughs for teachers.

“We are in the worse economy since the Great Depression, and if we don’t find the bottom, there is a potential for more cuts. Our revenues are less and are draining our reserves. Anyone who wants to complain about what we did, that’s fine, just tell me what else we can do,” he said.