Senator Staton discusses high energy prices

Sen. Cecil Staton Votes to Cut Gas Tax

Submitted by Senate Press

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

During the August special session of the Georgia General Assembly, Sen. Cecil Staton (R-Macon) voted to ratify Governor Nathan Deal’s Executive Order freezing the state’s gas tax, creating a beneficial tax break for Georgia families during the state’s hard economic times.

“Gas prices are high enough already,” Sen. Staton said. “It simply does not make sense for the state to try to squeeze a few more cents from already cash-strapped residents. Gas prices affect everyone. Even if you never drive, you end up paying gas tax in the cost of good that must be shipped to your local store.”

During the first half of 2011, gas prices spiked dramatically spurring the governor to issue an executive order in June of 2011 suspending the collection of a portion of state taxes on sales of motor fuels and aviation gasoline. In order for the executive order to be extended it was necessary that members of the House and Senate approve the executive order during the 2011 Special Session. The tax increase would have been due to a biannual adjustment to the state’s motor fuel tax.

Georgia’s gas tax comes with several different parts: a fixed 7.5 cent per gallon excise tax charged on gasoline purchased in our state and a state sales tax of 4 percent calculated and converted to a per gallon cost based on the average retail price for midgrade gasoline during the previous six months.  These two taxes, along with an 18 cent per gallon federal excise tax, are collected at the retail distribution level and built in to the cost of the gasoline.  Local governments can add a variety of local option sales taxes on to the retail cost of gasoline.  The state’s 4 percent sales tax on gas is recalculated twice a year unless the price varies (up or down) by 25 percent or more, which triggers an immediate recalculation of the cents per gallon tax rate.

For example, in March of this year, fuel prices soared high enough to trigger a recalculation.  The state’s sales tax portion increased from the 10.1 cents per gallon (as established on January 1, 2011) to a rate of 12.9 cents per gallon which took effect on May 1.  Had the governor not issued his executive order to prevent an increase, the sales tax portion of the gas tax would have increased again on July 1 (the normal bi-annual recalculation date) all the way up to 14.5 cents per gallon.

Senator Cecil Staton, a Republican from Macon, was first elected to the Senate in 2004 to represent the 18th Senatorial District which includes portions of Bibb, Crawford, Houston, Jones and Monroe counties. He was re-elected in 2006, 2008 and 2010 without opposition. He is the Majority Whip of the Georgia Senate.

He serves as vice chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. He is also a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, sitting on three sub-committees, and is Chairman of the sub-committee on Higher Education. Additionally, he serves on the Finance, Banking and Financial Institutions, Rules, and Reapportionment and Redistricting committees.

A native of Greenville, South Carolina, Sen. Staton received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Furman University and a doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Oxford in England. Moving to Georgia in 1989, for more than 15 years he served as a college professor and administrator. He currently is a publisher and broadcaster in Macon and Warner Robins.

Sen. Staton and his wife Catherine have two sons, Trey and William. They are members of the Highland Hills Baptist Church in Macon. In 2000, he received the Richard Furman Award from Furman University. He has also been recognized as the Rural Healthcare Legislator of the Year in 2008, and has won recognition for his work on trauma and other health care related issues. He was recognized as Legislator of the Year by the Technology Association of Georgia in 2010, and by the Georgia Hospital Association in 2011.

He is responsible for most of the new election laws in Georgia in recent years including Georgia’s requirement for photo identification for voting (2005), and in 2009 a requirement that proof of citizenship accompany voter registration applications.  Having previously served as the Vice-Chairman of the Republican Caucus, in 2010 he was elected Majority Whip for the Senate.

Sen. Staton’s legislative office is located in Suite 421A of the Capitol, where he can be reached at 404.656.5039. His email address is cecil.staton@senate.ga.gov. For more information, visit www.cecilstaton.com.

A Successful Special Session under the Gold Dome

 (Wednesday September 7, 2011)  In 2001, the Democratic Party in Georgia barely clung to power. The state, at that time, was moving ever closer toward a Republican majority. When the Democrats began the redistricting process, they knew the only way they could attempt to retain power was to gerrymander the districts in such a way that Republicans would have a difficult time getting elected to office.

 Well, it didn’t work. After weeks of work during a special session – a session where secret maps were drawn and unreleased until well into the process – the new districts looked outrageous. Lawsuits followed and the process began again a couple of years later to repair the damage. Ultimately, the Democrats did not succeed in their goal and Georgia followed its path toward a Republican majority.

 Over the summer, the Republicans were required to perform the 10-year redistricting process. Lucky for us, we were not under the same predicament as the 2001 Democrats. As Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, the chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee, said from the well of the Senate, this was an open process from the beginning. We had promised, before we ever started this endeavor, we would make the process open and fair. We held meetings all across the state to receive public input; we presented the maps to the public several days before they were to be debated in open committee meetings; and the redistricting committees received input from all Senators and Representatives who wanted to provide their guidance.

 Many Georgians told us they were worried about splitting counties, precincts and neighborhoods between more than one voting district. We significantly limited the number of split counties. The results of our work are House, Senate and Congressional maps with contiguous districts that meet Constitutional standards.

 In yet another beneficial accomplishment, we managed to approve these maps in a few short weeks, which saved much time and taxpayer dollars.

 There is one more step in the process. To comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the final signed maps must be sent to Washington , D.C. to be pre-cleared by thefederal government. I expect the open nature of our process and the care wetook to make sure the new districts are fair will ensure that the maps willhave no problem receiving pre-clearance from Washington . Once they are approved, the new districts will be effective for the next election cycle.

 As a final note, I would like to point out that your Senators voted unanimously to save you some money at the gas pumps.

 On top of local and federal gas taxes, Georgia has a gas tax that comes in several parts. First, a 7.5 percent excise tax is charged at the wholesale level and is passed to consumers at the pump. Georgia also charges a 4-percent tax at the pump. That 4-percent tax is calculated twice a year – once on January 1 and once on July 1 – based on average gas prices near those dates. 

There is, however, another component at work here. If the price of gas goes up or down by more than 25 percent, the at-the-pump gas tax is automatically re-adjusted. Between January and June, the price of gas rose by more than 25 percent – meaning the gas tax was supposed to rise accordingly. Instead, Gov. Nathan Deal put a hold on that increase until December 31, 2011. For his executive order to stand, however, the General Assembly needed to give its approval, which it did during the special session.

 As always, I am open to input from all my constituents. Please feelfree to contact my office at any time with your concerns. I look forward to the regular session in January where we can continue to provide Georgians valuable services from a limited state government.

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Sen. Cecil Staton serves as Senate Majority Whip. He represents the 18th Senate District, which includes portions of Bibb, Crawford, Houston, Jones, and Monroe counties. He may be reached at 404.656.5039 or by email at cecil.staton@senate.state.gov.

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