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Georgia Uses of Revenue from Taxes on Fireworks, Amendment 4 (2016)
| Georgia Amendment 4 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2016 | |
| Topic Taxes | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
| 2016 measures |
|---|
 |
| November 8 |
Amendment 1  |
| Amendment 2 |
| Amendment 3 |
| Amendment 4 |
| Polls |
| Voter guides |
| Campaign finance |
| Signature costs |
The Georgia Uses of Revenue from Taxes on Fireworks, Amendment 4 was on the November 8, 2016, ballot in Georgia as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment.[1] It was approved.
| A "yes" vote was a vote in favor of dedicating revenue from fireworks sales taxes to trauma care, fire protection services and public safety. |
| A "no" vote was a vote against dedicating revenue from fireworks sales taxes to trauma care, fire protection services and public safety. |
Election results
| Amendment 4 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 3,205,955 | 81.18% | ||
| No | 743,103 | 18.82% | ||
- Election results from Georgia Secretary of State
Overview
Legislation
The Georgia State Legislature legalized the sale of fireworks in 2015 through House Bill 110.[2] The approval of this constitutional amendment allowed the implementation of Senate Bill 350 and Senate Resolution 558.[1][3] Senate Resolution 558 was designed to call for the proceeds of excise taxes raised from fireworks sales to be used for trauma care, fire services, and local public safety purposes. Senate Bill 350 specified the percentage of the proceeds that each of these areas would receive.[4][5]
Senate bill 350 allocation
Senate Bill 350 allocated revenue generated from fireworks sale excise taxes in the following way:[5]
- 55 percent of revenue toward the Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission
- 40 percent of revenue toward the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council. Specifically, the revenue would be used to fund a grant program for improving the equipment and training of Georgia firefighters.
- 5 percent of revenue toward local governments, to be used specifically for public safety purposes.
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title was as follows:[6]
| “ |
Dedicates revenue from existing taxes on fireworks to trauma care, fire services, and public safety.[7] |
” |
Ballot question
The following question appeared on the ballot:[6]
| “ |
Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to provide that the proceeds of excise taxes on the sale of fireworks or consumer fireworks be dedicated to the funding of trauma care, firefighter equipping and training, and local public safety purposes? ( ) YES ( ) NO[7] |
” |
Ballot summary
The ballot summary was as follows:[6]
| “ |
This proposal provides that the proceeds of excise taxes on the sale of fireworks or consumer fireworks be dedicated to funding trauma care, fire services, and local public safety purposes. It amends Article III, Section IX, Paragraph VI of the Georgia Constitution. A copy of this entire proposed amendment is on file in the office of the judge of the probate court and is available for public inspection.[7] |
” |
Constitutional changes
| Georgia Constitution |
|---|
|
| Preamble |
| Articles |
| I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII • VIII • IX • X • XI |
Amendment 4 was designed to add the following subparagraph "o" to Article III, Section IX, Paragraph VI of the Georgia Constitution:[6][4]
(o) The proceeds of any excise tax imposed by general law on the sale of fireworks or consumer fireworks in this state shall be dedicated to the provision of trauma care, fire services, and local public safety purposes in Georgia. The General Assembly shall provide by general law for the use, dedication, and deposit of revenues raised from any such excise tax on fireworks or consumer fireworks. Contributions and revenues deposited for such purposes shall not lapse and shall not be subject to the limitations of subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph or of Article VII, Section III, Paragraph II.[7]
Support
Supporters
Officials
Amendment 4 was sponsored by the following legislators:[3]
- Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-53)
- Sen. Ben Watson (R-1)
- Sen. Tyler Harper (R-7)
- Sen. David Shafer (R-48)
- Sen. John F. Kennedy (R-18)
- Sen. Mike Dugan (R-30)
Opposition
Opponents
Officials
The following legislators voted against the legislation during the last reading before its passage in the Georgia House of Representatives:[8]
- Rep. Stephen Allison (R-8)
- Rep. David Casas (R-107)
- Rep. Paulette Rakestraw (R-19)
- Rep. David Stover (R-71)
- Rep. Steve Tarvin (R-2)
Organizations
Other opinions
The Georgia Municipal Association, which represents 521 municipal governments in Georgia and acts as a legislative advocate for Georgia's cities at the state and federal level, offered a list of over 300 "bills to watch" broken down by subject area along with its corresponding organizational stance (support, neutral, or oppose) for the 2016 legislative session on its website. The organization indicated that it was neutral regarding SB 350, both in the list and in a March 25, 2016, legislative alert.[11][12]
Media editorials
Support
- The Savannah Morning News wrote the following in support of Amendment 4:[9]
| “ |
Amendment 4 on the Nov. 8 ballot is simple enough, and worthy. It asks that excise tax revenue from the sale of fireworks be used to pay for trauma care, fire services and public safety throughout the state. We recommend a Yes vote.[7] |
” |
- The Augusta Chronicle editorial board wrote the following in support of Amendment 2:[13]
| “ |
We also recommend voting “yes” on Amendments 1 (see editorial, this page), 2 and 4. [...] Amendment 4 would allow taxes from fireworks sales to go to trauma care, fire services and public safety.[7] |
” |
Opposition
Ballotpedia has not yet found any editorial board endorsements in opposition to Amendment 4 that should be posted here. If you know of one, please email the Ballot Measures project director.
Campaign finance
| Total campaign contributions: | |
| Support: | $0.00 |
| Opposition: | $0.00 |
As of February 17, 2017, there were no political action committees registered to support or oppose Amendment 4.[14]
Path to the ballot
A two-thirds (66.67%) vote in both chambers of the Georgia Legislature is required to refer an amendment to the ballot. Georgia is one of 16 states that require a two-thirds (66.67%) vote.
The Georgia Senate approved Amendment 4's corresponding legislation on February 24, 2016, with 52 senators voting yea and two voting nay.[15] The Georgia House of Representatives approved the legislation on March 15, 2016.[1][16]
Senate vote
February 24, 2016
| Georgia SR 558 Senate Vote | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 52 | 92.86% | ||
| No | 2 | 3.57% | ||
House vote
March 15, 2016
| Georgia SR 558 House vote | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 169 | 93.89% | ||
| No | 2 | 1.11% | ||
State profile
| Demographic data for Georgia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Georgia | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 10,199,398 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 57,513 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 60.2% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 30.9% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 3.6% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.1% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 9.1% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 85.4% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 28.8% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $49,620 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 21.1% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Georgia. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Georgia
Georgia voted Republican in six out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in Georgia, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.[17]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Georgia had five Retained Pivot Counties, 2.76 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More Georgia coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Georgia
- United States congressional delegations from Georgia
- Public policy in Georgia
- Endorsers in Georgia
- Georgia fact checks
- More...
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Georgia fireworks tax ballot measure 2016. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Open States, "Georgia Senate Resolution 558 (2016)," accessed March 30, 2016
- ↑ Open States, "Georgia House Bill 110 (2015)," accessed March 30, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Open States, "Georgia Senate Bill 350 (2016)," accessed March 30, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Georgia General Assembly, "Senate Resolution 558," accessed April 28, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Georgia General Assembly, "Senate Bill 350," accessed April 28, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Georgia Secretary of State, "Proposed Constitutional Amendments General Election November 8, 2016," accessed August 25, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Georgia General Assembly, "2015-2016 Regular Session [SB 350 House Vote #743 (PASSAGE)," accessed April 28, 2016]
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Savannah Morning News, "Editorial: Vote Yes on Amendment 4 to support trauma care through fireworks sales," October 22, 2016
- ↑ The Champion, "NAACP formally opposes three Georgia amendments," November 8, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Municipal Association, "March 25, 2016 - Legislative Alert," March 28, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Municipal Association, "Legislative Session," accessed May 5, 2016
- ↑ Augusta Chronicle, "Reject changes to judicial commission; support proposed fund allocations," October 29, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, "Campaign Reports - Name Search," accessed November 7, 2016
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedtext - ↑ Georgia General Assembly, "2015-2016 Regular Session - SR 558," accessed April 28, 2016
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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