Georgia lawmakers currently face an opportunity to better fund core services that promote economic opportunity or enact broadly popular tax cuts for low- and middle-income Georgians, but they are instead choosing to advance legislation that would primarily cut taxes for the wealthy. House Bill 1437 would even further shift the tax code in favor of […]

Lawmakers Can Use Federal Dollars to Support an Earned Income Tax Credit COVID-19 continues to affect the health and economic wellbeing of Georgians throughout the state. Many families are struggling to access child care or find a job that pays a living wage, and too many are unable to afford food, rent or other necessities. […]

Where does the Georgia Work Credit stand? Crossover Day, the last day in which a bill could pass out of its original chamber in order to be passed this year, was last week. While we have several bills that would enact a Georgia Work Credit, none passed over by this Crossover Day deadline. However, there […]

The Georgia Legislature considered several bills that would enact a Georgia Work Credit this year. While none of them passed over from their originating chamber to the next by Crossover Day, each of the bills introduced in this session will still be active in the 2022 Legislative session. There’s also a chance a Georgia Work […]

The deadline to register for Economic Impact Payments, more commonly referred to as the stimulus check, has been extended to November 21. This extension applies to those who did not file a 2019 federal tax return, did not already receive an Economic Impact payment and did not register for an Economic Impact Payment already. People […]

A new study from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that up to 383,000 Georgians that qualify for a recovery rebate have not yet received one. If Georgians do not claim these rebates, up to $365 million could be left on the table. Across the country, families with very low-income children, people experiencing […]

Gov. Kemp has Requested Steep Budget Cuts The coronavirus pandemic has reduced the amount of revenue the state has been able to collect over the past few months. As a result, Governor Kemp has requested deep budget cuts to critical services and programs that will result in layoffs and furloughs, disproportionately harm working families, communities […]

Get Your Refund Resources The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a new video on how to receive your economic recovery check if you did not file for income tax. You can view the video here. Those who filed 2018 or 2019 taxes with a Social Security number or receive Social Security benefits are eligible for an […]

Georgia Work Credit Coalition Focusing on Information, Resources To Help Families Make Ends Meet The current COVID-19 crisis has caused many of us – as individuals and organizations – to shift and refocus our work. The same is true for the Georgia Work Credit coalition. Based on feedback from advocate partners, we will be using […]

Georgia Tax Filers Can Claim New “Recovery Rebate” in Addition to EITC, Other Credits to Make Ends Meet During This Difficult Time The third federal stimulus package that passed on March 25 included a direct payment to many families and individuals called the Recovery Rebates. These one-time payments will be based on the prior year’s […]

Georgia’s Tax Filing Deadline Pushed Back This Year To help working families during the coronavirus pandemic, both the state and the federal deadline to file and pay income tax  to July 15. This will help many Georgians, including contract, freelance, and low-wage workers who are currently receiving less income due to the public health emergency. […]

Last week marked Crossover Day, the day by which a bill must make it out of the chamber that introduced it in order to still be considered this session. Aside from the usual flurry of last-minute votes, Crossover Day this year was marked by the indefinite suspension of session due to the nation’s ongoing public […]

Call to Action Help us reach our goal to send 150 letters to legislators! Thank you to all who have shared and sent letters to our legislators; we are currently at 63 letters. With Crossover Day approaching, we need to continue to build this momentum and let our legislators know we support HB 588. If […]

HB 588 Fact Sheet Gets an Upgrade We have updated our House Bill 588 fact sheet. It has a new design, new graph information and GBPI’s new emblem for the People-Powered Prosperity Campaign (PPP). We encourage you to use this new sheet in your advocacy. Download here. Rockefeller Foundation Partnership The Rockefeller Foundation advances new frontiers of […]

HB 588 Needs Your Support Lawmakers are increasingly looking for ways to address stagnant wages and support Georgia’s working families, putting HB 588 in a great position. HB 588 would be an enormous step forward for the Georgia Work Credit, establishing a 10 percent non-refundable credit to benefit nearly 700,000 Georgia families. As the legislature […]

Join the Atlanta Community Food Bank and the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute for a special Hunger Action Month Event to explore a state policy that can help thousands of Georgia families keep food on the table. The Georgia Work Credit is a bottom-up tax cut that allows working families to keep more of what […]

Thank you to community leaders, state policy experts, volunteer tax preparers and other neighbors who came together for a conversation about using policy solutions like the Georgia Work Credit to help more families in Savannah achieve financial success. We discussed economic barriers and opportunities facing the community and explore ways you can advocate for policies […]

A diverse group of Georgia Work Credit advocates testified in support of a state earned income tax credit (EITC) at the Gold Dome on Thursday, Feb. 21. Speaking before the Georgia Senate Finance Committee on Senate Bill 41, which would create a 10 percent refundable state EITC, advocates outlined the multitude of ways that working […]

Too many Georgians in our community struggle to reach the middle class, even as they strive to climb the economic ladder. When people can’t get ahead despite working hard, the entire economy and community can suffer. For more than 30 years, Buckhead Christian Ministry (BCM) has worked to prevent hunger and homelessness for people facing life-disrupting […]

Join fellow Georgia partners and advocates to learn the latest about the Georgia Work Credit and brainstorm strategic activities for 2019.

A comprehensive report illuminating how a Georgia Work Credit would provide a significant, bottom-up tax cut to build Georgia’s middle class has been refreshed and enhanced with the latest available data. Here are a few important takeaways from the updated analysis from the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a time-tested federal policy to cut […]

It took hard work, a little help and a quarter century for Synovia Ridley to climb the economic ladder into the middle class. Synovia moved to Georgia in 1983 from Birmingham, Ala., to study social work at Clark Atlanta University. A few years after starting college, Synovia felt called to service and enlisted in the […]

This blog was originally posted by Laura Harker at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. Public health and taxes. While it may seem like an unlikely pairing, GBPI brought the two topics together at an event last week held at the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. GBPI has led the Georgia Work Credit […]

Originally posted by Laura Harker at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. Download the PDF. People living in communities suffering from poverty are more likely to be saddled with poorer health.[1] The richest Americans enjoy a life expectancy 10 to 14 years longer than the poorest Americans, according to a study of 1.4 billion tax records […]