Governor Sonny Perdue recently held a business summit to discuss federal healthcare and energy proposals that will impact both large and small Georgia businesses.

"Issues currently being debated in Washington will have a serious economic impact on businesses and state government," said Governor Perdue. "It is critical for citizens, businesses, and government officials to understand the financial realities of healthcare reform and energy legislation, both in the checkbooks of Georgia families and in the state budget. The summit will allow business leaders from across the state to learn the specifics of proposals being considered and discuss how their ability to create and retain jobs will be affected."

Based on the healthcare bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee, the Georgia Department of Community Health projects nearly 1,000,000 new Georgians would become eligible for Medicaid and Peachcare, costing the state $3.6 billion from 2014 to 2019 if all newly eligible sign up.

If 80 percent of the newly eligible enroll, more than 740,000 new members would carry an additional benefit cost to the state of $2.4 billion over those same years. These figures represent the state portion of these programs and only address actual expenses of benefits for new members. There will be additional administrative and operational costs associated with such a large expansion of these programs.

A cap-and-trade energy bill has already passed the U.S. House and hearings are being held in Senate committees. While there are wide estimates about the impact the proposal would have on energy prices and the resulting increase on products and services, a U.S. Treasury Department analysis shows that American taxpayers would pay between $100 billion and $200 billion in new taxes under a cap-and-trade system. At the high end of the Treasury Department estimate, that would mean more than $1,700 per year per American family. The lower estimate would equate to half that amount.