Legislative

GAM is the voice of manufacturing before the Georgia General Assembly.

Manufacturing is the wealth creation component of our economy. In an increasingly competitive global economy, it is critical for Georgia to maintain a welcoming environment for manufacturing and for manufacturing to remain a profitable venture in our state.

GAM is active at the State Capitol throughout each legislative session.  In a spirit of consensus building and supporting the interests of Georgia manufacturers, the Association works to:

• Lay the groundwork for the introduction of favorable legislation in areas such as taxation, energy policy, environmental stewardship, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance and health care cost containment;
• Intercede with legislators on proposed laws that would negatively impact GAM members;
• Influence the development of sound public policy through work on advisory bodies, including the Advisory Council to the State Board of Workers’ Compensation, the Governor’s Environmental Advisory Council, local and state water advisory councils, and the Technical College System of Georgia;
• Collaborate with other like-minded business advocacy groups to write, pass and reform legislation intended to perpetuate Georgia as the most attractive state for manufacturing investment and job creation.

GAM has a long and admirable history on behalf of manufacturing with the Georgia General Assembly.  Recent notable achievements include:

• Leading the effort that successfully repealed the state and local taxes on energy used in manufacturing, which is estimated to save Georgia manufacturers more than $250 million annually when fully implemented;
• Authoring legislation and working to implement regulations that adopt the “integrated plant theory” for purposes of Georgia’s sales tax exemption on equipment, machinery and replacement parts purchased for use in manufacturing, resulting in an annual savings of at least $20 million and making Georgia a more competitive state for manufacturing investment;
• Drafting and securing passage of legislation pertaining to carpet and flooring samples, saving Georgia’s flooring industry millions of tax dollars;
• Developing and achieving passage of legislation that brought employers meaningful savings in workers’ compensation costs; and
• Successfully lobbying against proposed laws that would have:  increased utility costs and workers’ compensation premiums; burdened manufacturers with unreasonable and counter-productive environmental regulations; eroded Georgia’s employment-at-will doctrine; imposed unwarranted workplace health and safety standards that would have cost manufacturers millions of dollars annually; and preserved property rights of employers to decide their position on guns in the workplace.