www.tourismdevelopmentalliance.org

February 16, 2007
In Remembrance:
U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood
The following is a statement from Governor Sonny Perdue Regarding the Passing of Congressman Charlie Norwood:

"Mary and I extend our deepest sympathies to Gloria and the entire Norwood family. Gloria has been an incredible example of strength and dedication to us all as she stood by Charlie's side.

"Charlie cared for his constituents in the same way he cared for his patients as a dentist, always working on their behalf and looking out for their well being.

"Charlie will be remembered for his unwavering commitment to transforming our nation's health care system, particularly in protecting the rights of patients and improving the availability, affordability and quality of health care. He also served as a leading
advocate for our country's soldiers - active duty, veterans, and their families.

"I visited Charlie in the hospital just days ago and was heartened by the strength he showed as he continued to fight for his life. I believed and prayed that he would win that fight.

"Our nation has lost a true public servant and citizen legislator. Mary and I have lost a dear friend. We mourn and honor a life and a career of service that ended far too soon."

On, Feb. 13 Governor Perdue signed an executive order ordering all state flags lowered to half staff on all state buildings. The text of the
executive order is below:

Whereas: Today the State of Georgia mourns the loss of the
Congressman Charles "Charlie" Whitlow Norwood, Jr.; and

Whereas: After receiving a Doctorate in Dental Surgery, Charlie Norwood volunteered for the United States Army and honorably served his country as a Captain in the Dental Corps from 1967-1969;
and

Whereas: Congressman Norwood served the ninth district of Georgia, whose citizens have always been at the center of his heart and the focus of his life of public service; and

Whereas: Congressman Norwood leaves behind a lasting legacy due to his tireless efforts on behalf of Georgians and Americans everywhere in the areas of health care reform, education, the protection of private property rights, telecommunications and environmental regulation.

Now, Therefore, in honor and as a mark of respect for the memory of
Congressman Charles Whitlow Norwood, Jr. and his friends and family, pursuant to the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Georgia, It Is Hereby Ordered: That the flags on all state
buildings throughout the State of Georgia be flown at half-staff from this day until such date as set by Proclamation of the President.

This 13th day of February, 2007.
Recent Tourism Bills
HB 148 - State sales and use tax; aquariums; provide exemption
- With over 3 million visitors since opening in November of 2005, the Georgia Aquarium is already expanding their facilities. Rep. Mark Burkhalter has introduced this bill to allow the aquarium an exemption on sales tax for construction materials.

HB 159 & SB 56 - Wine; state license requirements; direct shipment to Ga. residents; provisions
- This bill was introduce by Rep. Wendell Willard in the House and Senator Renee Unterman in the Senate. It would allow any licensed winery, wholesaler or retailer to ship up to 24 cases of wine per Georgia resident per year.

HB 162 - Sales and use tax; performing arts amphitheater facilities; provide exemption
- This bill, also sponsored by Rep. Burkhalter provides a sales tax exemption for performing arts centers that begin construction after July 1, 2007 and have costs in excess of $30 million, more than 60,000 square feet of space and associated facilities, including, but not limited to, parking.

HB 169 - Sales and use tax; certain prepared food and beverage donations; provide exemption
- Under Georgia law, if a restaurant donates food to charity, they are required to pay sales tax at the full retail value. This bill would exempt those donations from sales tax.

HB 214 - Jekyll Island - State Park Authority; renewal of property lease; provisions
- There has been much passionate debate over the years regarding the future of Jekyll Island. There is a definite need for investment in the convention center and redevelopment of some of the existing hotels. Any changes at Jekyll must also be consistent with the mission of preserving this great natural resource. HB 214 extends the lease for another 99 years. It also provides for the creation of a legislative oversight committee.

HB 262 - Flexibility for Excellence in Education Act; enact
- Georgia law mandates 180 days of instruction for elementary and secondary education. This bill by Rep. Chuck Martin and Rep. Ron Stephens would allow local school boards to move to a 170 day school year. It is not a mandatory change.

SB 55 - Alcoholic Beverages; resealed partially consumed bottle of wine; uniform rules of the road
- This bill sponsored by Senator Unterman would allow you to brown bag a partially consumed bottle of wine from a restaurant. This bill was introduced last year by Rep. Bob Smith. It passed the House and Senate, but was vetoed by the Governor due to concerns regarding federal transportation laws.
Congratulations
Washington, GA was featured for their Tour of Homes in the February/March issue of Y'all Magazine. The publication is based in Mississippi and Washington was featured in their Pilgrimage Issue.
 
Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana were all the states featured in the magazine and then two cities from each state. Washington-Wilkes and Thomasville were the two from Georgia.
 
Washington was also featured in the April issue of Victorian Homes Magazine for their Spring Tour of Homes.

A big congratulations to all who worked hard to promote Georgia's great destinations across the country.
Upcoming Tourism Events
ü The inaugural Athens Outdoor Show will be held at The Athens Classic Center April 20 - 22. The dates were selected to compliment the Tour de Georgia and the Athens Regional Medical Center Golf tournament weekend. This family oriented, all-inclusive event will bring together all types of exhibitors related to outdoor leisure, sport and recreation for the public to enjoy. The show's coordinators are currently accepting exhibitor registrations. Please click here for more information, including all exhibitor registration forms, or please call Philip A. Verrastro, Event Director for the Athens Outdoor Show, at 706.357.4427.

ü The Tour de Georgia, an annual, multi-day, professional cycling stage race that draws the most elite cyclists and showcases one-of-a-kind towns and terrain in Georgia, will cover over 600 miles in seven days, from April 16 to April 22. The 2007 host cities are: Peachtree City, Macon, Thomaston, Rome, Chattanooga, Tenn., Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Brasstown Bald Mountain, Dalton, Lake Lanier Islands, Stone Mountain Park and Atlanta. To view part of the tour near you, please click here to find more information on the tour route and dates.

This is just a sample of tourism events across Georgia. Please keep us informed of upcoming tourism-related events, and we will include those in future newsletters.
Subscribe
If you are not subscribed to receive this email please sign-up by clicking here. To unsubscribe, click here.
Past Alliance News
February 7, 2007
January 29, 2007
January 16, 2007
January 9, 2007
December 4, 2006
November 6, 2006
September 26, 2006
August 22, 2006
May 24, 2006
January 20, 2006
Greetings everyone,

Please join me in remembering U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, who lost a long battle with lung disease and cancer on Tuesday. I first met Charlie at Valley Pharmacy in Dillard, Georgia and immediately felt like I was speaking with an old friend over orangeade and a grilled pimento cheese sandwich. I believe that Charlie never met a stranger, and he always treated everyone with respect.

One thing Charlie always made clear to everyone he met was that he loved Georgia and he loved serving its people. Charlie took on many roles throughout his life, touching countless other lives in his role as a dentist, a legislator, a father, a grandfather and a husband. He treated every constituent like family. Charlie will be remembered as a man of integrity, a man of strong moral character and a man whose legacy of service to the state of Georgia will benefit our children for generations to come.

Commissioner Ken Stewart's Tourism Foundation announcement

"In an effort to continue to fine-tune our Department and strategically align our organizational structure to accomplish our mission, I'd like to announce Gilda Watters as the new Managing Director of the Tourism Foundation. Gilda's skills at relationship and program building will help us take the Tourism Foundation to the next level. Gilda will join Nerissa Serrano-Okiye in strengthening the relationships with our public and private sector tourism partners that have been established by the creation of the Foundation.

"The Marketing and Communications Division will now fall under the leadership of Charlie Gatlin. Charlie's new role will be as Deputy Commissioner for External Affairs overseeing marketing and communications and also retaining responsibility for the Georgia Allies, legislative affairs and research. Bringing these business units together will allow us to build upon the natural synergies that exist between these functions.

"Please join me in supporting Gilda and Charlie in their new roles."

The Legislature

The public policy committee will be considering a number of tourism related bills over the next few weeks. This week new bills were introduced that have possible impact on Georgia's tourism industry. For a review of last week's bills, please check out the right hand column. If you have any comments on the following legislation, please let us know:

This week I would like to highlight HB 374 - Hotel motel tax; definitions; change certain provisions

Many thanks to the continued support of House Leadership. In the summer of 2006, the House Comprehensive Tax Reform Study Committee began a two year process of overhauling Georgia's outdated tax code. Internationally acclaimed tax analyst Arthur Laffer has been retained by the House of Reps to assist in this revision.

As part of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Study Committee, House leadership plans to simplify and clarify hotel tax code and its original intent of tourism promotion. The first phase was HB 1415 in 2003, which created performance measurements and accountability through Department of Community Affairs' Hotel Motel Tax Performance Review Board.

HB 374 was introduced this week by Reps. James Mills, Ron Stephens, Jay Shaw and Butch Parrish as a first step in that process. HB 374 moves all of the definitions related to appropriate uses of the funds to the front of the code section. Currently, the most important definitions are difficult to find.

During the interim, we will continue working with House leadership on additional measures to simplify the code and expect some additional changes in 2008.

Other bills of interest introduced this week include:

HB 291 - Georgia Council for the Arts; Georgia Arts Alliance; create
- This bill sponsored by Rep. Joe Wilkinson creates the Georgia Arts Alliance. The alliance would create a centralized office for oversight and funding of the arts related to education, economic development and tourism.

HB 302 - Excise tax; public accommodation furnishings; change certain provisions
- This bill sponsored by Rep. Robert Mumford increases hotel motel tax from 6 percent to 8 percent for Paragraph 3.7 of the hotel motel tax code. Currently, the only communities reporting under this code section are Conyers, Elberton and Fort Oglethorpe. This bill has been assigned to the Public Finance Sub Committee of Ways and Means.

HB 351 - Georgia Council for the Arts; Georgia Arts Trust; create; provide tax credit
- This bill sponsored by our Chairman Ron Stephens is similar to HB 291; however it provides credit for taxpayers for their contribution to the trust.

HB 393 - Farm wineries; licensing; change certain provisions

HB 439 - Income tax credits; film, video, or digital productions; increase amount
- This bill sponsored by Chairman Larry O'Neal of the Ways and Means Committee amends the law that was sponsored by Rep. Parrish in 2004 to allow Tier 3 and Tier 4 communities to participate in the credits currently offered for Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties.

HB 451 - Georgia Tourism Development Act; enact
- This bill sponsored by Reps. Jeff Lewis, Stephens and Parrish is essentially the Kentucky Model that we detailed in our Nov. 6, 2006 newsletter.

HB 453 - Farm owners; agritourism activities; provide limited liability
- This bill sponsored by Rep. Calvin Hill limits liability for agritourism activities, similar to laws in place for equestrian activities, snow skiing and general recreation.

HB 462 - Malt beverages; brewery tours; free tasting; food; change provisions
- This bill authored by Rep. Matt Dollar allows breweries to provide free food on such tours.

HB 464 - War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission Act; enact
- This bill authored by Rep. Cecily Hill passed the House last year, but it failed to get out of Senate Rules due to the late date. It allows Georgia to participate in this federal program.

HB 468 - Alcoholic beverages; local authorization; Sunday sales; provisions
SB 137 - Alcoholic Beverages; regulation of sales on Sunday; county/municipality
SB 138 - Alcoholic Beverages; regulation of sales on Sunday; county/municipality
- These bills by Chairman Roger Williams of the Regulated Industries Committee and Senator Seth Harp allow for a local referendums to consider retail and package Sunday sales of malt beverages, wine & distilled spirits.

HR 182 - Jekyll Island Authority; urge to exercise restraint in the redevelopment of resort and other facilities on island

HR 195 - Hospitality Highway; dedicate GA 400
- This resolution is the result of the partnership between Dahlonega, Cumming, Dawsonville, Roswell, Alpharetta and Sandy Springs to regionally promote the GA 400 corridor. It authorizes the Department of Transportation to develop and maintain appropriate signage for the corridor.

SB 82 - Dunwoody, City of; incorporation, boundaries, and powers of the city
- This bill by Sen. Dan Weber is unusual for a city charter in that it creates the Dunwoody Convention and Visitors Bureau as part of the charter.

SB 87 - Highway System; Dept. of Transportation; RV friendly markers on specific service signs for business establishments
- This bill authored by Chairman Chip Pearson has passed the Senate.

The General Assembly is in recess today; it will reconvene on Tuesday, which is Day 22.

Newsletter Information

In this newsletter you will find Gov. Perdue's special remembrance of U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, a special congratulations to Washington-Wilkes for their Tour of Homes coverage, upcoming tourism events across the state and past alliance news. Please take time to peruse the information in the right column.

TDAG wants to continue updating you on all the great tourism news that is happening in Georgia. As always, we welcome your input and your ideas. Please let us know if you have any questions. Thanks for your commitment to Georgia and for your support of the Tourism Development Alliance.

Best Regards,

Joy Spears Walstrum

Tourism Development Alliance of Georgia

404-223-2471 (w)

404-358-5634 (m)

404-223-2290 (fax)

joy@tourismdevelopmentalliance.org