By: J. Randolph Evans

The 2011 session of the Georgia General Assembly was “Year 1.”  Now, that can mean different things to different people.  For example, for Governor Nathan Deal, it was “Year 1” of 4.

Year 1 for a new administration is filled with both opportunity and limitation.

In Year 1, a new administration gets a fresh start, beginning with a brief honeymoon period.  So, a new governor presumably gets to reevaluate priorities, personnel, and plans and start afresh.  The “this is the way we’ve always done it” excuse is presumptively no longer good enough.

And for things that cannot be fixed right away, there is a kind of ‘get out of jail free’ card – a card played often by other chief executives in explaining problems or issues that they can attribute to the last administration.

At the highest level, there was a ‘new sheriff in town’ in 2011, presumably with all decisions on the block for reconsideration, rejection, or reaffirmation.  Hence, it was a Year 1 for a new, or at least different, course for Georgia, especially state government.

If only it was that easy.

Unfortunately, desire and ability rarely intersect in the first year of a new administration.  After all, the election occurred in November 2010.  The General Assembly convened in January 2011.  In December 2010, Governor Deal’s administration was in transition while Governor Sonny Perdue’s team completed the enormous and detailed groundwork necessary for the 2011 session.

Candidly, re-doing all the work from throughout 2010 while transitioning into power would have been impossible.  And so, 2011 was as much of the last year of the Perdue Administration as it was the first year of the Deal Administration.

Of course, that does not mean that Governor Deal was not the key player in the 2011 Georgia General Assembly.  He was.  And, the biggest challenges for the 2011 Georgia General Assembly could not get resolved without him because they were not going to wait.

Amidst a horrible economy, the two biggest challenges were the budget and the future of HOPE.  As with most problems, there are no good decisions when expectations exceed the reality that comes when money runs low.  These challenges were no different.  But decisions had to be made, and priorities set, and that is what happened with little fanfare, but many accolades from both political parties.

Now comes 2012, and it will be a different kind of legislative session.  Governor Deal’s team has had a whole year to become more involved in the state’s operations from top to bottom.  This includes getting into the ‘nitty gritty’ of the state budget and the planning and operations of state government.

While 2011 carried with it the (unneeded) potential of plausible deniability, 2012 will be Governor Deal’s.  As a result, expect more big changes to emerge in the next legislative session in ways that change and improve Georgia’s future.  It is Year 2 of 4.

With all of that said, the Georgia Legislature is in a completely different situation.

For legislators, 2011 was Year 1 of 2.

And, 2012 will be Year 2 of 2 (not 4) for Georgia legislators.

Unlike the Governor who has until 2014 before his next election, Georgia legislators (all of them) face reelection in 2012 – complete with the pressures of election year politics.

With historic margins of control in both the Georgia House and Georgia Senate, Georgia Republicans indeed have to prove again that they can deliver.

This is not a new challenge.  Since capturing control during the first years of Governor Perdue’s first term, Georgia Republicans have had to deliver for years.  And, their margins have only increased.

Speaker David Ralston has proved that he can deliver.  And, notwithstanding an unwieldy Georgia Senate, Lieutenant Governor Cagle increasingly provides direction.  Yet, like a winning football team, politicians must deliver recently, not just historically.  2012 is no different.

In addition to the annual challenge of the budget, the Georgia Legislature must again confront the Big 3:  the economy, education, and transportation.

This is not to say that there will not be the spackling of bills and measures aimed at the perennial hot button issues of the right to life, guns, and immigration.

Yet, the economy remains central.  Undoubtedly there will be a wide variety of ideas (some strange, some good) for stimulating growth in Georgia’s job market.  Unfortunately, long-term solutions require much more than quick fixes.

One of the most significant possibilities is to change Georgia’s tax structure.  2012 should be Year 1 of the ‘Eliminate Georgia’s Income Tax’ plan.  If combined with appropriate lawsuit reform and regulatory reform, Georgia could become the destination state for employers looking for somewhere to go from states taxing, regulating, and suing them to death.

There is no better time to start than in Year 2.