Ridley says he will continue to focus on tax cuts

Published 7:55 am Friday, May 20, 2022

State Rep. Jason Ridley, R-Chatsworth, said the legislature has done a number of things to be proud of in the six years he has been a member.

First elected in 2016, Ridley is seeking reelection in District 6 for the state House of Representatives in the Tuesday Republican Party primary. He faces Lee Coker, a Whitfield County firefighter and EMT. The district includes all of Murray County and part of northern Whitfield County. No Democrat qualified. The term is for two years. Early voting is underway and continues through today.

“We’ve cut the state income tax year after year,” Ridley said. “We are going to try to continue to do that. I know I want to. That’s the taxpayers’ money. We are going to send $1 billion back to the citizens of Georgia.”

State lawmakers voted in 2018 to reduce the top state income tax rate from 6% to 5.75%. This year, the legislature passed a measure that will create a flat tax rate of 5.25% in 2024, which will fall to 4.9% over several years. The 2022 law also raised the standard exemption for single filers from $2,700 to $12,000, and from $7,400 to $24,000 for married couples filing jointly.

“Of course, the ‘Heartbeat Bill,’” Ridley said. “I believe in protecting unborn life.”

That bill, passed by lawmakers in 2019, bans most abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is typically around six weeks.

Ridley, a Murray County native, was a loan officer for 12 years with Appalachian Bank, First Bank of Dalton and AgGeorgia Farm Credit before starting his own farm 10 years ago.

“’Constitutional Carry’ is another bill I was glad to see passed,” Ridley said.

That bill, passed this year, allows Georgia adults, excluding convicted felons, to carry a concealed weapon in public without a permit. It did not change the locations where guns are prohibited such as schools and courthouses.

“The mental health bill we did may not be as well known as some of the others, but it was really important,” Ridley said.

That law, passed this year, will, among other things, require private insurers to submit data to the state showing they are complying with a federal requirement to provide the same level of benefits for mental health disorders as they do for physical illness.

Ridley said if he is reelected he would like to see the legislature keep pushing to reduce the state income tax.

“A lot of people want us to just go ahead and cut that out,” he said. “But that’s $14 billion out of a $30 billion budget. I know that Tennessee and Florida don’t have an income tax. But they tax services, which we don’t. I don’t want to cut the income tax if it means we have to raise other taxes. But we will keep looking for ways to cut the income tax.”

“In Murray County, we are working to pave Highway 411 and getting some of the pipes under there fixed that have been causing issues,” he said.

Ridley said the next session of the legislature may have to deal with a recession. The U.S. economy shrank in the first three months of this year, and the Federal Reserve has begun to raise interest rates.

“We’ve been good stewards of the people’s money,” he said. “We’ve got $2.6 billion sitting in a rainy day fund. Fiscally, I think the state is as ready as it can be. But we still are probably going to have to make some hard decisions.”