Wealthy Lt. Gov. is longtime advocate for eliminating all state income tax, which would cripple state government

Before the status of the Trump administration’s misguided, illegal, and on-again-off-again slashing of federal spending was thrown into legal limbo by a federal judge, Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones jumped at the opportunity to push his pet project of eliminating all state income taxes and defunding state government. 

“Jones desperately doubling down on Trump’s irresponsible slashing of federal spending in order to curry favor with him and MAGA voters ahead of his gubernatorial primary has wrought chaos for veterans, first responders, and children across Georgia,” said DPG spokesman Dave Hoffman. “Unfortunately for Georgia, Trump and Jones view the chaos and complete elimination of public services as mere collateral damage in their crusade to defund, and ultimately break, government altogether.” 

Jones reiterated his long-held ambition to “eventually eliminate the state income tax in Georgia,” at a bill signing last April. In fiscal year 2024, the state income tax generated $16 billion in revenue - more than the Kemp administration spent on higher education, health care, transportation and corrections combined - and eliminating it would generate a massive budget hole Jones has offered no plans to replace. 

A federal judge halted Trump’s illegal executive order Tuesday afternoon; shortly thereafter, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rescinded it. Less than an hour later, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took to Elon Musk’s social media platform formerly known as Twitter to clarify that while the memo ordering the freeze was rescinded, the freeze itself was still in effect. In the meantime, OPM sent all federal employees - 71,739 of whom work in Georgia - an invitation to resign immediately in exchange for eight months’ salary. According to Mashable, a number of OPM memos were drafted by individuals connected to Project 2025.