Conservative thinkers gathered in Atlanta Friday to discuss ways to solve Georgia’s economic challenges. Some ideas presented at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation conference will likely reappear as part of proposed legislation when the Republican-controlled General Assembly convenes in January.

While the conference touched on healthcare, traffic and law, tax reform, is arguably, the hottest topic among conservatives.

Earlier this year, a tax reform council proposed changes that would have reduced the overall tax rate but added levies on some services.

Lawmakers failed to pass the plan. But one council member, Christina Ries, says she’s pushing them to try again next year.

Ries, a professor at Georgia Tech, says most conservatives want tax cuts. But she says the key is a broader tax base.

“If you’re going to shift the tax burden away from the job creators, you’re going to shift it somewhere else," she told the conference. "The trick is to shift it to as many people as possible so that everyone who pays a higher tax, but it’s just a little bit higher.”

Ries says that’s how the grocery tax the council proposed would have worked.

Critics say Georgia needs to address deficits, and it can’t do that without boosting state tax collections.

A separate session at the conference focused on transportation. Experts on the panel said Georgia needs to spend more on transportation, including improvements to how freight moves around the state.

Consultant Carrie Thompson helped Georgia develop its long-term transportation plan. She says Georgia’s ports and airports give the state a competitive edge. But it’ll lose that advantage if it doesn’t invest more.

“The state has underinvested, relative to its competitors, whether these are global competitors or other states or other cities, however you want to look at it," she said. "You can cut the data many ways but you can’t escape that conclusion. And the consequences of underinvestment are severe.”

Thompson says Georgia spent as much or more than other states on transportation until the early 1990s.

The conference featured state and national experts. But one speaker had a higher profile than any other.

That's Texas Governor and Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Perry, who spoke about taxes and his record at the conference.

He touched on some of the same themes that have catapulted him to the front of the Republican pack.

One of those themes is an attack on fellow nominee Mitt Romney. Perry says conservatives won’t elect someone who’s supported anything like Pres. Obama’s federal healthcare reform act.

“I knew when I got into this race that I would have my hands full fighting Obama’s big government agenda," he said. "I just didn’t know it would be in the Republican primary. Americans are clamoring for a reset button. They don’t want more of the same.”

Romney enacted an universal healthcare program when he was governor of Massachusetts.

Tags: transportation, Georgia Public Policy Foundation, tax reform