Deal reacts to tax reform commission, Arizona law ruling

As reform commission meets, Deal says solution can't raise taxes

Conservative Republican candidate for governor Nathan Deal today called on the state's tax reform commission to consider his economic growth plan "Real Prosperity" as the appropriate model for the future.

"In these tough times, we need to give Georgia a competitive edge in job creation, and that's what 'Real Prosperity' would do," Deal said. "The Tax Foundation has analyzed my plans and ruled that it would boost Georgia's business tax climate from 29th to 16th nationally. It would give Georgia the most competitive business climate in the Southeast and it would help Georgia families by cutting income taxes and eliminating the marriage tax penalty."

The tax reform council, whose work is slated to continue over the summer and into the fall, will make recommendations to the Legislature once its analysis is complete on how best to modernize Georgia's tax structure.

"Reform recommendations," Deal said, "should not increase taxes at all. Higher taxes kill jobs that Georgians desperately need and will further prolong our economic woes. I fully support the commission's review of the state's tax exemptions. We need to examine if these exemptions are fulfilling their original purpose or if they're out of date. We need to assure everyone is paying a fair share so that we can lower the rates for everybody."

Deal: Judge's ruling won't deter fight for immigration reform

Conservative Republican candidate for governor Nathan Deal said that Georgia should pursue an Arizona-type immigration law despite today's injunction by a federal judge.

"It's outrageous that the federal government is spending tax dollars to sue states for enforcing the law. If the federal government wants to help, it needs to help states like Georgia deal with the massive costs imposed by our open borders. States have a constitutional right to enforce the law. We're already doing that in several counties in Georgia, through a program that I worked on that allows local police to work with federal officials to deport people here illegally. So, how could it be illegal for a state to do what a federal program already allows for? President Obama needs to know that when I'm governor, he's going to have to sue Georgia too, because we're going to enforce the law and protect Peach State taxpayers."

Georgia has more illegal immigrants than Arizona. We average 30,000 new illegal immigrants moving here each year since 2000. One group estimates this costs Georgia taxpayers $2.4 billion annually at the state and local levels.