With Georgia’s 2011 legislative season well under way, the city of Decatur’s full list of legislators plan to hold a “town hall” style meeting at Decatur’s City Hall on Tuesday, February 1st from 6p-7p to hear from their constituents, according to a press release sent by Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield.

In addition to Rep. Benfield, Senator Jason Carter, Rep. Stacey Abrams, Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, and Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd will be in attendance to listen and respond to concerns of Decatur residents regarding this year’s legislative session.

What are some of the hot topics in this year’s session?  Well I asked Rep. Benfield that very question!  Here is her response…

The tax issue is the biggie. If the Tax Reform Council’s proposal moves forward, we’ll be looking at greater sales taxes and taxes on services. That will affect everyone who buys groceries and numerous services – from plumbing to selling girl scout cookies to prescription drugs. All of these would be taxed under the new plan.

We’ll likely see some water legislation with a focus on increasing supply through reservoirs.

And education is always a hot topic, with funding for the HOPE Scholarship and pre-K programs to be at risk.

Additionally, Rep. Benfield hinted that she’s working on legislation that will “help Georgia breweries expand their businesses…to allow breweries and brew pubs more opportunities to promote and sell their product”.  However, she’s still working on a draft of that legislation, so we’ll have to be patient for more details on that front!

For more information about any of this, you can contact Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield at (404) 964-7025.