A Georgia Budget and Policy Institute Commentary By Alan Essig Executive Director

When you go to the store to pick up a few groceries and hand the cashier a $20 bill, you always expect change for any unspent money.

Georgia citizens expect the same when it comes to their hard-earned tax dollars.

When government collects more than it needs to provide essentials such as education, transportation, health care for the poor, paying debt and adding to reserves, any remaining surplus doesn't belong to the state treasury.

It belongs to the people.

Republicans in the Georgia House aren't just punting on tax reform this year. In some cases, they're making the problems they've complained about even worse.

In the weeks before the current session began, lawmakers talked of a broad overhaul of the state tax code, in part to eliminate the many special-interest tax breaks the Legislature has approved over the years. However, that effort has now been pushed back a year.

Meanwhile, the House has approved another round of special-interest sales tax breaks that would cost the state and local governments almost $100 million in the first year alone. Beneficiaries of the sales tax exemptions include the Georgia Aquarium, Delta Air Lines, aircraft maker Gulfstream Aerospace and tourist attractions.

Legislators have also said they were convinced the state could corral more revenue -- without raising taxes -- by dedicating additional resources to the task of collecting what taxpayers already owe.

A $10,000 outlay to help the Athens Tutorial Project buy some used computers. A $25,000 proposal for playground equipment for a Waycross park. Another $25,000 proposal for building a bathroom at the Augusta Soccer Park. A request for $20,000 to renovate the Lincolnton City Clubhouse.

These are just four of the 350 requests for local funding that state legislators are trying to get included in the state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The total price tag, if all the requests are funded, would be $9.4 million of taxpayers' money.

Last year, legislators approved funding for $6.5 million in local projects.