ATLANTA – State Representative Mark Hamilton (R-Cumming) received an ‘A+’ from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce on its 2014 Legislative Scorecard. The Chamber’s scorecard grades Georgia lawmakers based on their votes on certain pro-business measures considered during the 2014 General Assembly session.
“I am honored to be recognized by the Georgia Chamber,” said Rep. Hamilton. “Each session I work to enact and support legislation that will best serve my constituents and all Georgians, and I cannot think of a better way to do so than by supporting our state’s business community. I am also proud that our state was recently named the number one most competitive state in the country by Site Selection Magazine, and the number one state to do business in the country before that. With this distinction, I want to ensure that pro-business and economic development measures are a priority in this state for many years to come.”
Throughout the 2014 Georgia General Assembly session, legislators addressed a number of issues impacting the state’s business community. The Government Affairs Council assigned scorecard status to those bills considered most important to Georgia’s future economic success in areas including economic development, legal reform, business and industry, environment and energy, and education. Each legislator’s grade, given by the Georgia Chamber, reflects an assessment of his or her support for business community priorities.
One bill that was assigned scorecard status by the Chamber was HB 714, authored by Rep. Hamilton. HB 714 corrects a loophole in Georgia’s unemployment system, which has allowed a handful of companies to abuse the unemployment system. These companies and employees use unemployment benefits to supplement the salaries of seasonal workers costing the unemployment system approximately $8 to $10 million each year. HB 714 passed the General Assembly during this year’s legislative session and was signed into law by Governor Deal last month.
“Decisions Georgia legislators make while serving in the General Assembly have long-term impacts on our state’s economic prospects,” said Georgia Chamber president and CEO Chris Clark. “Receiving a high score on the Georgia Chamber’s scorecard confirms a lawmaker’s commitment to passing job creation and economic development measures. We commend Rep. Hamilton for his support of Georgia’s business community.”
Legislators were assigned final grades of A, B, C, or U based on their votes for each scorecard bill – nine votes in the state House and 10 in the state Senate. To receive a grade, the legislator must have been present to vote for 50 percent of the total scorecard votes. If the legislator was not present for 50 percent of the votes, they received an ‘N/A’ grade. For some legislators, subjective factors – including but not limited to sponsoring bills, speaking for or against bills, voting in committees, offering amendments, and furthering the Chamber’s legislative priorities – were taken into account.
Additionally, Site Selection Magazine released its Top 10 Competitive States ranking earlier this month. The Top 10 Competitive States ranking is based on an index of 10 criteria, most of which are tied to new projects and expansions tracked by Site Selection’s New Plant Database. In November 2013, Georgia was named the state with the Top Business Climate in the nation by Site Selection.
Site Selection’s Top 10 Competitive States has given Georgia 426 points — 12 more than the 414 that won last year’s first place. Last year, Georgia ranked as the nation’s third most competitive state and has remained in the top 10 most competitive states since 2010.
Site Selection states that what makes a state competitive is the total number of new and expanded facilities; capital investment in new and expanded facilities; new jobs created; rank in the corporate real estate executive portion of the 2013 Site Selection Business Climate Ranking; state tax climate as ranked by the Tax Foundation; performance in the Beacon Hill Institute’s State Competitiveness Index and the number of National Career Readiness Certificates per 1,000 residents aged 18-64, according to ACT — Workforce Development Division, administrator of the ACT Certified Work Ready Communities initiative.
To view and download the complete 2014 Georgia Chamber Scorecard, please click here.
Representative Mark Hamilton represents the citizens of District 24, which includes portions of Forsyth County. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2006 and currently serves as Chairman of the Industry and Labor Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations, Energy, Utilities, & Telecommunications, Governmental Affairs, Rules, and Transportation committees.
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