Lawmakers Ethics Bill Signed By Perdue

A lawmakers’ ethics bill is now law. The legislation clears the way for state revenue officials to release names of lawmakers who fail to pay their taxes to chairmen of the state House and Senate ethics committees. It also gives offenders 30 days to fix the problem. Earlier this year, revenue officials reported 22 lawmakers were delinquent in getting their taxes in. Only three names were made public.

Some not getting tax rebates--for a reason

The state has stepped-in and intercepted 16,000 federal stimulus checks from people who allegedly owe back Georgia taxes. The Georgia Department of Revenue says it collected over $4.66 million through the end of May with the federal "offset" system. Georgia started participation in the program five years ago, which permits it to take federal refunds if a state resident owes state back taxes. In the five years under the program, Georgia has collected a total of $137 million. The state ranks third nationally for number of stimulus seizures.

(updated)