The Tri-County Retired Educators Association held its monthly meeting at White Columns Inn Wednesday, Oct. 3 with Sen. Bill Jackson as the keynote speaker. Approximately 30 members listened as Senator Jackson discussed items that state legislators will be working on in their upcoming session, including supplanting property taxes with a series of sales taxes, a new water bill and a $20 billion budget.
"It's probably the most important session going on in our lifetime," the senator said. "There's a lot of important issues."
Supplanting property taxes with sales taxes will distribute funds more evenly among school districts, giving the small school districts the same advantages as large ones, according to Sen. Jackson. The senator added that he would like to see more vocational and technical training incorporated into high schools.
Regarding the water bill, Sen. Jackson said mountain streams in the state are drying up and the proposed water bill will tap into other river basins, including the Savannah, and send the water to other areas."We do have a water problem in the state, and legislature will be dealing with it," he said.
The next Tri-County REA meeting will be at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 7, in the Georgia Room at White Columns.
