Georgia’s 6th Congressional District has it’s candidate to take on current Republican Congressman Tom Price!  “Voters are ready for change and new leadership.” Bill Jones, a Cobb Businessman, said when he announced his candidacy April 16th.  “Soaring energy costs, collapsing home values, and ever increasing healthcare costs are creating a level of economic insecurity and concern unprecedented in recent history.”

Jones has an impressive resume going into the campaign.  A Viet Nam War Veteran and former Delta Airlines Pilot,  he currently works for Marietta-based SA Technologies as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.   More importantly, he has impressed Democrats locally with his political savvy and believes he is the man to defeat Rep. Price.

Visit his website and volunteer for this history-making campaign.  And watch this space for further updates and appearances.

Please join the North Fulton Democrats this Tuesday, April 8 at 7:15, for an evening with the Minority Leader of the Democratic Caucus of the Georgia House of Representatives DuBose Porter.

Porter the son of Dr. Lester and Katherine D. Porter and was born in Dublin, Georgia. Upon graduation of Dublin High School, he earned a B.A. in English from Davidson College. He then took an internship with Senator Sam Nunn. After the internship, Porter attended Cumberland Law School at Samford University. Upon graduation, he went back to Dublin and formed the law firm of Nelson & Porter. In 1987, Porter and Griffin Lovett purchased the Dublin Courier Herald. In 1982, Porter was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. In 1991 and 1992, he served as Administration Floor Leader to Governor Zell Miller. In January 2003, he was elected Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives, and in 2005 he was elected Minority Leader of the Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives. DuBose is married to Carol Dodd of Wrightsville, GA and they have four sons, Stephen, Guyton, Inman and Asa.

Please join us on March 11 at 7:15PM as Will Phillips, the Associate State Director for Advocacy at AARP Georgia, speaks to the North Fulton Democrats on grassroots advocacy, federal issue advocacy and advocacy around fair and affordable utility rates and serives.   AARP Georgia’s 2008 legislative priorities and about AARP’s newest intitiative, Divided We Fail, will also be addressed.

Prior to coming to AARP in 2005, Will worked for numerous non-profit organizations on various issues including energy and utilities, long term health care and farm policy.  Will is one of those Yankee transplants crowding Georgia’s highways, having moved South from Indiana in 2005.  He is engaged and has a yellow dog named Indy.

North Fulton Democrats March Meeting - March 11, 7:15PM - Startime Entertainment Complex - Roswell.  Directions. 

Friday, one of Georgia’s truly great Democrats and labor leaders passed away.   A long-time resident of Cobb County,  James Herbert “Herb” Butler gave his party and the Georgia labor community an enduring legacy of dedication and service we can all admire.

Born November 4, 1927 in Silver Grove, Kentucky, Mr. Butler was an active member of the United Auto Workers Union and served as the Atlanta-area director for 21 years.  He was also on the Advisory Council for the Georgia Department of Labor for over 35 years and a member of the State Board of Natural Resources.

Butler devoted his life to the causes he believed in and was an active Democrat most of his life.  His long and varied resume includes representing Georgia at the 2000 and 2004 Democratic National Conventions and recognition from the Georgia House of Representatives for “his dedicated service to the UAW and to the citizens of Georgia.”   In 2002 he received the Georgia state AFL-CIO ‘Herbert H. Mabry Lifetime Achievement Award.’

Democrats in the Georgia General Assembly are introducing a keystone plan that will save public education and provide some much-needed tax relief for Georgia’s families. With this Democratic plan, the Quality Basic Education Act will be fully funded without tax increases on Georgians. It calls for the state to pay its fair share of education funding which will free local governments to reduce property taxes and take the burden off of homeowners.

Sounds like a no-brainer, huh?

Since taking office in 2003, Governor Sonny Perdue and the Republicans have cut over $1.5 billion dollars from public education in Georgia. In this year alone, Perdue is cutting over $141 million dollars from our schools. What are the consequences of this? When the state government defaults on paying its fair share, city and county governments are forced to raise property taxes to make up the shortfall. Many Georgians are already under increased economic hardship because of the mortgage crisis. Higher property taxes would only increase that misery. Simply put, the state needs to pay its bills and stop making city and county governments pick up the slack. The Democratic plan does just that, and it puts money where we need it – into your children’s classrooms.

So, what are the specifics of the Democratic plan? It does two things: it makes the state pay its fair share of education funding, and it provides a safety valve so that local governments can lower property taxes without throwing public schools under the bus. If a local government lowers property taxes, they can access extra state educational funding to keep their schools performing well. The total amount available in Fiscal Year 2008 will be $300 million. Once this plan is passed, Georgia families are going to see tax relief in the form of lower property tax bills.

Democrats have always been the party of education and we believe every child deserves a teacher who has time to teach, and a well-equipped classroom, not a crowded portable trailer. If the Republicans continue to starve our education system of needed funding, society as a whole will suffer. Democrats believe that education should be our first investment, not our last. It’s time to make Georgia’s schools the envy of the nation.