Because this subsection of O.C.G.A. § 48-7-27 was repealed by HB 488, Governor Perdue realized over a $100,000 savings on his state capital gains taxes on the Florida real estate transaction. What is even more bogus is the way this legislation was passed. Section 27 of HB 488 states that most sections of the Act were to become effective on July 1, 2005. The bill was signed into law by the governor on April 12, 2005. It was sent to the governor by the General Assembly on April 11, 2005, which means the governor signed this bill with lightning-like speed.

Why did he do this? Well, look at the effective date of the portion of the bill that enacts the capital gains tax shelter.

Section 27 of HB 488 allows sections 14 and 9 of the Act, (which were to benefit the governor on his land deal), to become law retroactively back to January 1, 2004. By making the law apply retroactively, the General Assembly gave a big tax break to Governor Perdue’s land deal, which occurred in December of 2004.

Several legislators wondered who was benefitting from the unusual retroactive tax law that Larry O’Neal got the General Assembly to pass last year. Now we know who benefitted from the law, and how much he benefitted dollar wise. This little piece of convenient legislation proves once again that the rich and the influential make the public business a way to get more out of the private trough. Democrats, including Representative DuBose Porter, have filed a complaint over this little affair with the State Ethics Commission, and rightfully so.

Representative Larry O’Neal, when contacted about this convenient piece of legislation he authored, indicated that it was not drafted to benefit Governor Perdue, his friend, in any way.

One only has to look at the actual legislation, and the land deal time line of events to see that this statement is nothing less than a falsehood. The governor’s office has also defended the propriety of this land deal in Florida. The problem with O’Neal’s argument and the governor’s argument is that a paper trail clearly exists concerning the timing of the legislation, and when it was enacted into law and signed. The actual circumstances of the enactment and signing of the legislation makes liars out of the players involved. If it was not meant to benefit the governor, then why put the effective date of the legislation as a retroactive date? That is almost unheard of by the General Assembly. It is also probably illegal and unconstitutional as well.

Usually, it takes weeks and months for the governor’s counsel to study bills passed by the General Assembly, and for the governor’s counsel to give him the green light to either sign, veto, or line item veto a specific piece of legislation. It is really interesting that a particular bill that gives the governor a $100,000 tax benefit is signed into law less than one day after it was passed by the General Assembly. He couldn’t sign it into law fast enough.

You must remember that if a particular transaction looks fishy, and smells fishy, then it must indeed be fishy. Larry O’Neal and Governor Perdue may think they really pulled a fast one off on the people of Georgia, but it looks like this time they got caught with their britches down.

Steven Harrell has practiced law in Perry, Georgia since 1989. He is the author of The Unionist, A Novel of the Civil War and The Rifle Captain, A Novel of World War I. Both are available at Publish America.com, Amazon.com, and Barnes&Noble.com. You may view his weekly column at www.StevenHarrell.com.