Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R-Cumming) on Thursday proposed a $250 million state tax credit that he said will lower crime statewide.
Duncan, in a press release, said he plans to work with members of the Georgia General Assembly on this Law Enforcement Strategic Support (LESS) Crime Act during next year’s legislative session.
“It should be no surprise that every state leader is concerned with the exponential rise in crime here in Georgia, especially in our Capital city,” Duncan said in the press release.
“Rising crime is affecting individuals, businesses, and Georgia families, and combatting this problem will not be accomplished by one solution alone. My goal is to bolster law enforcement agencies across our state by giving each community the tools necessary to prevent and stop crime. Big problems call for big solutions and I look forward to building a bipartisan coalition in the Senate and House to make the LESS Crime Act a reality.”
Duncan said in the press release that he and other officials modeled the program after the Rural Hospital Tax Credit that made donors to rural hospitals eligible for tax credits.
The LESS Crime Act, the press release went on to say, does the following:
• Allows citizens and corporations to write a check directly to their local law enforcement agency so they can receive a 100 percent dollar-for-dollar state tax credit.
• The credit, under this proposal, is capped at $5,000 per individual, $10,000 per married couple, or 75 percent of a corporation’s tax liability.
• Law enforcement agencies are, under this proposal, required to allocate those dollars to pay officers more, hire additional officers, and increase officer training.
Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) this week proposed spending $3 million in additional state law enforcement resources to fight Atlanta’s worsening crime problem.
Ralston announced this as he spoke to the State House Committee on Public Safety & Security via Zoom from Savannah, where he is attending the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police Conference. Ralston said amended Fiscal Year 2022 and Fiscal Year 2023 state budgets will contain proposals to fight crime in Atlanta.
Ralston said state legislators will consider his proposals during the 2022 legislative sessions appropriations process.
Atlanta made national headlines this year after FOX News host Tucker Carlson described, in sometimes graphic terms, how crime rates in Buckhead — a residential district of Atlanta — have soared. Carlson also said certain of Atlanta’s politicians incited that violence.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
