During this Congress, second-year Tech PUBP LillyAnne Beatty made significant contributions to Senate Bill (SB) 366 as a policy analyst. The bill successfully passed the Senate on January 30th and now awaits approval by the state House of Representatives.
SB 366, entitled the Tax Expenditure Transparency Act of 2024, is a bill that would permanently establish the Joint Committee on Taxation and Economic Development. This would allow tax incentive programs to be analyzed and approved throughout the year, rather than being limited to Congress, which lasts only 40 days.
“I'm proud of the Senate for passing SB 366, which is a priority of mine,” said Georgia Lieutenant Governor Bert Jones. “This legislation expands the General Assembly's ability to conduct audits and economic analyzes of tax incentive programs while considering reform proposals. Starting with this year's review process, lawmakers will hear all sides of these complex issues and It is clear that we need time to propose changes outside of the tense 40-day legislative session each year.”
In an interview with technology, Beatty talked about how she came across this opportunity and what led her to success. As she grew up, she realized that although Beatty didn't have the career of her dreams, she did have her talent and love for self-expression. This did not go unnoticed by her parents, and in her middle school years, her parents encouraged her to attend debate club meetings.
“I remember the first time I went to a rally…I was adamant not to go, but my mom assured me, “You'll like it, and if you don't like it, you can quit.'' I remember. She never wanted to quit,” Beatty said.
Eventually, she joined her high school's mock trial team, where she discovered her passion for the law. This past semester, she served as co-captain of the Georgia Tech mock trial team and is pursuing a minor in law, science, and technology. Through her experience at the School of Public Policy, Beatty developed a strong interest in policymaking.
“I care deeply about what's going on in this country politically…but if I'm going to work on something, it's going to be on the policy side of things,” Beatty said.
In his POL 2101 class, “State and Local Government,” Professor Michael Pollack applied Beatty's interests to help create concrete change in the policy arena. The class was structured around research projects in which Pollack worked closely with his students to try to solve policy problems.
Mr. Beatty decided he wanted to tackle tax spending. As a result, Pollack connected her with Brad Vaughn, legislative director and counsel in her lieutenant governor's office. As she worked with him, she discovered that there was an opportunity for economic improvement in applying tax credits. Tax credits are available but have not been widely considered.
The previous summer, Gov. Brian Kemp signed SB6, authorizing the creation of an interim tax credit review board. Beatty had the opportunity to attend committee hearings that were ongoing at the time, deepening his passion and expertise in this area. As a result, she decided to culminate her class's research in the form of a legislative proposal for Vaughn.
After working in the lieutenant governor's office last semester, Vaughn encouraged Beatty to apply to the Georgia Legislative Internship Program (GLIP) in spring 2024. Their website states that the program “offers students the opportunity to work full-time as interns for members of Congress, legislative committees, or legislative staff.” She currently works as a full-time intern in the Lieutenant Governor's Office through the organization.
On January 11th, what was once just a school project became a reality. While at work, Ms. Beatty learned that the research she conducted in the fall had been given to the Finance Committee Chairman, Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, and the current sponsor he needed to bring the research to other committees. Became.
“Every bill is proposed by a senator. And that essentially means that the senator brought the issue to the attention of the people. They are the ones introducing the bill… and [brings] I will submit it to the committee. It is also known as the bill sponsor and bill advocate. Legislative advisors are the ones who actually write the text of the law. So basically, legislators can bring these ideas to their legislative advisors and they'll put them into legally correct language. What I did was write a 50-page proposal containing my ideas about things I thought should be included in the law. “A big part of my job was interviewing people in the Budget Office and the Office of Budget and Policy Analysis,” Beatty said.
After seeing her proposal, Chairman Hufstetler decided to sponsor it and defend the process of codifying it into Georgia law. In fact, Vaughn surprised Beatty by having him receive a hard vopee from her Office of Legislative Counsel.
“He put the bill in my hands and from that moment everything became real. This is real. This is the bill. He said so [would] Once assigned to a committee, [would] Ask me later that week. Next I went to [the Finance Committee] Because it's an economic bill.On the day I went [the Finance Committee]I got there early in the morning and told my family to tune in to the livestream and witness it being introduced,” Beatty said.
Beatty went into the plenary session not expecting anything special and was happy just to see the bill she worked on voted on, but especially when one senator stood up to recognize her. He was surprised.
“My entire family was able to hear President Hufstetler say, “I want to recognize the work of a sophomore at Georgia Tech.'' Her name is Lilian Beatty, and she did all the hard work and groundwork on this bill. It was like the best moment of my life. After that, I talked to him a little bit. Three days after the session, I attended the next financial meeting. Before we started, he asked me if I wanted to stand up. Then, all the committee members present at the venue clapped for me. It felt very surreal,” Beatty said.
Beatty expressed special gratitude to the Institute's community and mentors for nurturing her passion for policy and guiding her to success.
“I'm so grateful to be in the position that I'm in, because first of all, it's just a testament to technology. I mean, you can really go anywhere just by coming to this school. It's really It's incredible. I'm so grateful…Professor Pollack has been so helpful in this regard, giving me the tools I need to be successful, but also making me want to use those tools. “He gave me…” Beatty said.
She particularly thanked PUBP Professor Richard Burke, who had a great influence on her.
“Dr. Burke, perhaps the best professor of all time, made me sit in his office many times and ramble on about policy and cool innovations and theories. And I totally I'll admit, I'm a very creative person, a very artistic person, and I've had a lot of doubts about my major, especially after my first year. I turned to industrial design. I can confidently say that Dr. Burke single-handedly got me into this program and accepted his guidance. [PUBP 2010] This fall class is the reason I will stay in this program no matter what. ”
