Major Legislation for Second Half
March 7, 2010 | News
The General Assembly went into recess two weeks ago at the end of it twentieth legislative day. That means that when legislators return to the Capitol this Monday, they will have 20 days left to the 2010 Legislative Session.
That means, lawmakers have 20 business days left to pass two budgets and tackle issues such as transportation funding, ethics reform, and school cheating.
As of Friday, 1,730 bills have been filed for the 2009-2010 session – 1,277 in the House and 453 in the Senate. Most won’t make it by the time the final bell rings.
Until then, expect the pace to build to a mad scramble as lawmakers try to get their priorities passed. Their next deadline is Day 30, by which time bills must have passed one chamber to remain viable.
Here are some of the bigger bills under consideration and where they stand in the process. To read the full text of the bill and track its progress, click on the bill number.
Banking
House Bill 926; Lifts some of the mandates on state banks so they can renew loans with their good-standing borrowers.
Status: Signed into law by the governor.
Budget
HB 947: The 2010 amended state budget. It cuts about $800 million from the budget plan passed by lawmakers last April.
Status: Has passed the House and the Senate, but in different forms. Will eventually go to conference committee where a compromise will be found. Timing is uncertain, as lawmakers are likely to wait to see if state revenues recover.
HB 244: As passed by the House last year simply changes the name of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority to the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority. But, it was amended in a Senate committee to add language necessary to facilitate Gov. Sonny Perdue’s plan to tap a GEFA bond fund for $288 million to help balance the 2011 state budget.
Status: Could reach the Senate floor this week.
House Bill 869: Would allow the Legislative Services Committee to order furlough days for legislators because of budget constraints. Lawmakers were asked to voluntarily take furloughs this year. But a couple have refused.
Status: Passed House committee.
Taxes
Senate Bill 346, sponsored by Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), the bill would assure that all property owners receive a valuation from their county annually. They would also get information on when to file an appeal. Under the substitute bill, each county would now send an annual assessment to each property owner. That assessment notice would include a pro forma tax bill. The bill would use the property owner’s millage from the past year, multiplied by the current year’s tax assessment, but would not include any exemptions.
Status: In the Finance Committee.
House Bill 1023, the Jobs, Opportunities and Business Success Act of 2010, by Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ranger) would provide tax credits and cuts and incentives to create, expand and attract new business. Last year, the governor vetoed the similar HB 481, which would have given tax incentives to companies to hire and retain unemployed and would have provided capital gains tax cut.
Status: Passed the House Committee on Small Business Development and Job Creation. But with state budget crisis is expected to have an uphill battle.
HB 1093: Plan by Rep. David Knight (R-Griffin) to require local governments to collect key information from businesses applying for a license. Information would go to Department of Revenue to help the state track and collect millions in unpaid sales taxes.
Status: On Feb. 16, the bill was sent back to committee. But it has powerful backers and could well be back.
HB 39: Plan by Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) to increase state’s tobacco tax by $1 a pack. Estimates say it would generate more than $350 million a year in new revenue.
Status: In House Ways and Means Committee. Outlook is not promising.
House Resolution 1: Limits growth in property tax assessments to no more than 3 percent a year. Similar to Senate Resolution 1, which passed Senate last year.
Status: Both pending in the House.
SB 57: Creates a series of mortgage reforms in response to the foreclosure crisis.
Status: Passed the Senate. Pending in the House, but no movement thus far this year.
SB 77: Authorizes an Atlanta referendum on a tax for public safety.
Status: Passed the Senate. Pending in the House, but no action so far this year.
HB 307 The governor’s plan to impose a hospital tax to help fill a massive $600 million gap in Medicaid funding. It’s being opposed by the powerful hospital, doctor and dental lobbies. The 1.6 percent tax on patient revenues, combined with a 1.6 percent tax on the premium revenues of managed care insurers, could raise about $300 million.
Status: Assigned to House Appropriations Committee..
Insurance
SB 330 prohibits health insurers from rescinding or canceling policies or denying insurance claims based on misstatements or omissions on policy applications. The bill also allows children up to the age of 25 to stay on their parents’ policies even if they aren’t in school.
Status: The bill is in the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee
Ethics
SB 406, to allow online voter registration. The bill would provide for the use of certain information maintained by the Department of Driver Services to identify certain voter registration applicants.
Status: The bill is before the ethics committee.
SB 371 would grant the Georgia Bureau of Investigation power to investigate mortgage fraud. The bill would also grant the GBI subpoena power to investigate fraudulent real estate transactions.
Status: The Senate passed the bill and it now moves to the House
SB 393 would drastically change the way key government officials get their jobs. Instead of an election, the bill – pushed by Gov. Perdue — would allow the governor to appoint state’s insurance, labor and agriculture commissioners, as well as the state school superintendent.
Status: The bill is currently in the Government Oversight Committee.HB 920, sponsored by Sandy Springs Republican Wendell Willard and over 30 other co-sponsors, would ensure that money donated to run for public office didn’t become a slush fund for powerful leaders. It also would extend the one-year revolving door provision to employees of the executive branch and limit lobbyist gifts to $100. Status: Assigned to House Judiciary Committee.
HB 893 by Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver sets up a process for independent review of complaints against elected officials.
Status: Assigned to House Judiciary Committee.
HB 1166 by Rep. Austin Scott, a Republican of Tifton, would make it illegal for the state insurance commissioner to accept campaign contributions from executives of companies regulated by his office. The bill is in response to reports in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and elsewhere that the current commissioner, John Oxendine had collected more than $2.6 million from employees and owners of insurance and small businesses that he regulates.
Status: Assigned to the Governmental Affairs Committee.
Education
SBl 361, Georgia Early HOPE Scholarship Program, would offer vouchers to foster kids, children of military service personnel and the severely disabled with special learning plans.
Status: The bill is in the Education and Youth Committee.
HB 1111 Would bar employees convicted of altering state test scores from collecting a state pension. Would apply only to individuals who join the retirement system after July 2010.
Status: Assigned to retirement committee in the House.
HB 1121 makes it a misdemeanor to tamper with a state assessment, a measure springing out of the recent CRCT scandals.
Status: Assigned to House judiciary committee on non-civil matters.
SB 319 expands the definition of “textbook,” to include computer hardware. Essentially, the bill would let schools buy and use devices like Kindles and iPads as part of their spending budgets.
Status: The bill passed the Senate and is now in the House.
SB 84 would give the governor the power to remove poorly performing board members. The bill was introduced last year after Clayton County became the nation’s second school system to lose accreditation in 40 years.
Status: Approved in Senate last year, passed out of House committee on Feb. 16 and could be headed to House floor.
SB 299 would give principals and school systems more discretion in how they handle disciplinary cases in their schools under the existing Zero Tolerance policies. Sponsors of the bill say the law would, prevent any kind of standing court order that mandates that a student be arrested or jailed immediately without a hearing; ban the charging of a student as a designated felon, unless he used a weapon in an assault or brought a gun to school; and give judges more discretion into how they handle cases.
Status: Passed by the Youth and Education committee.
Utilities
HB 168 Would continue the state’s Universal Access Fund, created in 1995 to make it more cost-effective for phone companies to serve rural areas, and would increase its limit to nearly $200 million for 10 more years. It is funded by a monthly fee on urban customers’ bills.
Status: The Senate passed this amended version of the original bill passed in 2009 by the House which would have eliminated the fund, setting up action by the House.
Public Safety
SB 308 Sponsors of the bill say that it would clarify existing rules about where licensed owners can carry their guns – including churches, bars and public universities. But the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents is fighting the bill and would like the state to keep the current law, where guns are banned within 1,000 feet of college campuses. A substitute bill includes college classrooms and research facilities as prohibited areas to carry a gun.
Status: The bill is in the special judiciary committee.
SB 304 defines that girls under the age of 16 cannot be charged as prostitutes, because they are likely being exploited and should be seen as victims. Sponsors say the bill is designed to protect young girls and would steer them toward diversionary programs. Critics contend that the bill decriminalizes prostitution.
Status: Bill is in the judiciary committee. Sponsor is reconsidering parts of the bill in response to critics.
SB 315, the Volunteer Emergency Assistance Bill, allows out of state licensed emergency personnel to assist the state in the event of a disaster like a flood, earthquake or act of terror. Currently, there are restrictions of what emergency personnel can do if they are not licensed in a state. Status: The bill passed the Senate and has moved to the House for consideration.
HB 897, one of three measures in the House and Senate designed to criminalize sexual contact between teachers and students who are above the age of consent. Sponsors say they want to close a loophole created when the Georgia Supreme Court ruled last year that a lower court erred by not considering the age of a victim as a defense to sexual assault. Status: Passed by House Judiciary Non-Civil.
Healthcare
SB 344 expands volunteer healthcare legislation to include physicians’ assistants, which sponsors say would provide more care for indigent patients.
Status: The bill passed the Senate and is now in the House.
HB 1184 Would expand access by allowing individuals and families to buy health plans that have been approved for sale in other states. Similar measure is pending in the Senate.
Status: Pending in the House.
Environment
HB 1094 Known as the Georgia Water Stewardship Act of 2010, the bill would reduce waste and offer incentives to increase water supply and decrease demand. Effective date would be July 2012, coinciding with the date a federal judge has set for Georgia, Alabama and Florida to reach a compromise on the state’s long-standing stalemate over water use.
Status: Passed the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee.
Transportation
HB 1218: Would call a referendum on a 1 percent sales tax to fund transportation projects. The state would be divided into 12 regions, and each region would have its own project list and its own referendum to approve or reject the tax within the region.
Status: In special subcommittee.
HB 277: As passed by the House, it would allow voters to levy a statewide 1-cent sales tax for transportation projects.
Status: Passed both chambers last year and died for the session in conference committee. No movement this year.
SB 120: Would lift a rule that makes MARTA spend half its revenue on capital projects rather than operations.
Status: Passed Senate; passed House committee last year. No movement this year.
Economic Development
SB 374 creates an Economic Development Council to provide oversight and accountability to how the state’s economic development dollars are spent.
Status: The bill passed the Senate and is now in the House.
Sunday Sales
HB 138, 352 and SB 16 would each allow localities to hold referendums on the issue of Sunday alcohol sales.
Status: all assigned to committees last year. No action expected this year because Perdue has made his opposition to the measures clear.
Legislators Locked In
February 28, 2010 | News
Amid all the hustle and bustle of the busy work of legislators, there are opportunities to enjoy some of the lighter sides of the serious business of state government. Enjoy this recent clip:
Legislature in Recess
February 19, 2010 | News
The Legislature begins a two-week-plus recess today. The purpose is to give lawmakers a chance to figure out what to do with an $18.2 billion budget for 2011. There are reportedly three weaknesses to this budget which add up to $1 billion or so: A 4 percent growth rate, which Gov. Sonny Perdue said last month was based on his sense of an economic turnaround; a hospital bed tax; and the siphoning of cash from a fund intended to help local governments fund infrastructure and expensive environmental projects.
No one, as of today, is sure how any of these three issues will play out, since all three have problems attached to them: a lack of predictable revenue, so a cigarette tax has been offered as an alternative. But some House leaders, especially the Speaker, have said no to that, too.
It is worth noting that Ralston is allowing only four House committees to continue their work during the recess: Transportation — for deal with the transportation issues of the state; Natural Resources — to handle the water bill; Appropriations — for reasons already mentioned; and Ways and Means — which is where all tax-related legislation originates.