Georgia Republicans may be offering an example to other legislatures of how not to proceed with major budget reforms. Last week in Atlanta, where the GOP holds both houses of the general assembly and the governor’s mansion, a plan to reform the state of Georgia’s tax code nearly fell apart as Democrats criticized the bill and Republicans fought among each other. The process is looking like something akin to the Democrats’ push to pass Obamacare last year, with frantic rewrites intended to secure the necessary votes.

Last year the general assembly created the Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness, which recommended to the joint committee on tax reform in December a comprehensive plan that would lower the individual income tax from 6 percent, “flatten” the tax code by eliminating most itemized deductions, and ultimately shift the tax burden away from income through consumption taxes.