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AJC.com > Legislature > Georgia Beat > Archives > 2005 > March > 29
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Repeal of driver fingerprint requirement OK’d
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to a bill repealing a requirement that Georgia drivers be fingerprinted. Privacy rights advocates have long objected to the fingerprint requirement, which was passed in 1996 as a tool to reducing driver’s license fraud. The bill requires the state to destroy all fingerprints that it has obtained from drivers.
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Man cleared of rape to get $1 million
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Georgia man cleared of a rape conviction after serving more than 17 years behind bars will receive $1 million — but not all of it at once.
The state House today, by a 130-23 vote, agreed that Clarence Harrison be awarded the money to rebuild his life. But, Harrison will receive $100,000 up front with the rest paid out over 20 years through an annuity.
The House initially agreed to pay all the money at once. But budget concerns led the Senate to set up the annuity payout plan, Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (D-Decatur) said. The bill now heads to Gov. Sonny Perdue for his signature.
Harrison was released from prison after his conviction was thrown out based on DNA testing. The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office supported his release.
DNA testing was not available when Harrison was convicted of kidnapping and raping a woman who was walking to a bus stop in October 1986. She identified Harrison from a photographic lineup, and he was convicted and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.
During a recent meeting with senators at the Capitol, Harrison was offered a car after discussing his almost three-hour commute by bus and train from his home in Marietta to his job in downtown Atlanta at a book warehouse.
Sen. Chip Pearson (R-Dawsonville), who owns a construction business, offered the exonerated man one of the cars he uses for his business.
Harrison was overwhelmed by the gesture. “That was truly a blessing, and that shows the greatness of God,” he said.
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House bill targets information brokers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state House passed legislation today that calls for information brokers like Alpharetta-based ChoicePoint to alert Georgians whose confidential information has been leaked or stolen.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bill Hamrick (R-Carrollton), was introduced within weeks after ChoicePoint disclosed that it had mistakenly given confidential information on at least 400,000 people to a bogus company.
Senate Bill 230 passed the House 154 to 0 and now goes back to the Senate for final approval.
State Rep. David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge), who squired the bill through the House, said: “I think this is a good bill to protect us from those situations where we have intentional or unintentional breaches … that lead to the disclosure of personal information.”
The bill sets up guidelines for consumers to be notified, but no penalties if there’s no follow-through by the data collector.
“I have faith they will comply,” Hamrick said Tuesday. He also said lawmakers may come back next year and add penalties to the law.
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Legislature voids Atlanta’s living wage provision
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Senate today voted 33-17 in favor of a bill that would prevent local governments from giving contractual preferences to companies that pay their workers more than the federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour.
House Bill 59 now heads to Gov. Sonny Perdue for his signature.
The measure, introduced by House Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs), would undermine Atlanta’s living wage ordinance. The controversial Atlanta ordinance gives preference to companies bidding for city service contracts if they pay their employees $10.50 an hour with insurance, or $12 without.
“I think that the citizens of Georgia now can compete on an equal playing field for doing work with government agencies in their area,” Ehrhart said. “There will be no special preferences given. Once again, people would rather have a job at $8 an hour than no job at $12.50 per hour.”
Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) carried the measure in the Senate, arguing that a living wage artificially inflates wages and that taxpayers ultimately are hurt by such policies.
“The underlying economic theory is quite clear, a living wage simply does not work,” Rogers said.
Sen. Kasim Reed (D-Atlanta) spoke against the bill. He argued that the Atlanta city ordinance does not require companies to pay the higher minimum wage, rather, it simply encourages them to do so. He said that it is important to ensure that people who work in Atlanta earn enough to be able to afford to live in the city.
Reed also took exception to the General Assembly passing a general bill that is targeted to a specific city.
“For some reason as it relates to the city of Atlanta, we can ignore its local delegation, its county delegation and bring a general bill,” Reed said. “I would never do that to your city or county.”
The bill does not specifically name the city of Atlanta, and it would affect all Georgia cities and counties.
The Atlanta City Council made its living wage law voluntary because the General Assembly last year, in a bill sponsored by Ehrhart, outlawed mandatory living wage laws. House Bill 59 adds wage-based bidding preferences to the prohibition on living wage laws.
The bill set off a long debate about poverty levels and job competition among senators.
Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) said called Ehrhart’s measure an “anti-Atlanta bill.” The state Senate and House recently passed another measure targeting an Atlanta ordinance. That bill blocks Atlanta’s attempt to penalize private organizations that don’t offer gay and lesbian couples the same benefits as married couples.
“This bill goes after the barest of voluntary programs,” Fort said. “We ought not to be in the position of requiring the city of Atlanta to do away with a voluntary program.”
Sen. Seth Harp (R-Midland), however, argued that “artificially” mandated wage levels ultimately hurt American workers.
“The marketplace is what will determine what wages will be paid,” Harp said. “When the marketplace can’t determine that, jobs will go off offshore. That’s what’s been happening for the past 20 years. We can’t artificially legislate wages, and keep propping them up.”
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Budget agreement could hasten end of session
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
House and Senate leaders agreed on a $17.4 billion spending plan for fiscal 2006 this afternoon, freeing lawmakers to end this year’s session early.
The sticking point — about $3.5 million in local projects added by the House — was erased when leaders agreed to spend the money and throw in an extra $2 million for community and regional programs that will be doled out by the Department of Community Affairs.
In addition, House and Senate conferees agreed to put off more than $300 million in construction projects because the state has fallen behind selling bonds on more than $1 billion worth of school, prison and other construction projects.
The budget includes a 2 percent pay raise for 200,000 teachers and state employees, plus a 9.5 percent increase in health insurance premiums for those same employees.
It adds more than $200 million more for schools and more than $300 million extra for public health care programs.
The plan also cuts costs in many of the public health programs and cuts children off of PeachCare health insurance if they are consistently late paying premiums. Sen. Tommie Williams (R-Lyons) said PeachCare provides insurance for children in families with incomes of up to $42,000 for a family of four, higher than the average in his district.
“You’ve got to pay your bills,” Williams said.
However, Linda Lowe, a health care advocate, said most of those who get kicked off the program for not paying their premiums on time are on the lower end of the economic scale.
“It’s sad they weren’t able to help these children,” she said.
The budget for fiscal 2006, which begins July 1, is expected to be approved by both chambers tonight, sending it to the governor for his signature. Traditionally, budgets haven’t been approved until the last day of the session, so the measure’s approval may speed up the end of this year’s session.
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Perdue’s criminal justice package clears House
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state House today overwhelmingly approved key facets of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s criminal justice package and all that is needed is Senate approval for the bill to go to the governor to be signed into law.
House Bill 170 would give prosecutors as many opportunities as defense attorneys to reject potential jurors in criminal cases. Present law allows the defense to “strike” – or remove – twice as many potential jurors as the prosecution.
For years, state prosecutors, many of whom stood in the Capitol’s hallways today watching the vote, have sought “equal strikes.”
HB 170, versions of which had already passed both the House and the Senate, was approved again in the House by a 121-16 vote. Because the House added a few amendments, it again must be approved by the Senate before final enactment.
Both amendments were approved without debate. One would extend the state’s rape shield law to victims of other sexually violent offenses, such as aggravated sodomy and aggravated child molestation. Current law shields from the public only the names of rape victims.
Another amendment would increase the number of jury strikes in felony cases. The Senate had allowed prosecutors and defense attorneys only six jury strikes each. The House increased that to nine each.
Rep. Rich Golick (R-Smyrna) said he had talked about the jury strike amendment to Senate colleagues and that they were “amenable” to the change.
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Cellphone numbers could remain unlisted under House bill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cellphone users would have to give their approval before their names and telephone numbers could be published in any wireless company directory, under legislation that passed the House today.
“This is truly a simple bill,” said state Rep. Jay Roberts (R-Ocilla), who brought the bill to the House as a floor leader for Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Roberts told House members that this bill will do to cell calls what the do-not-call lists did to pest calls to home phones.
“If you don’t want that to start happening on your cellphone, you need to pass this legislation,” Roberts said.
SB 46, which is part of the governor’s agenda, passed 139 to 0. The bill has to return to the Senate for final approval.
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Senate unanimously approves ethics bill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state Senate today unanimously approved an ethics bill that sets up a self-policing panel to monitor lawmakers behavior but does not contain a limit on legislative gifts.
“This is a real bill with real teeth that has a real chance of passage,” said Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) just before senators voted 52-0 for the bill.
A final version of House Bill 48 will be probably be hammered out by a House-Senate Committee in the Legislature’s final hours. The Legislature is set to adjourn for the year later this week.
Gov. Sonny Perdue proposed the ethics bill — the third year he has done so — but it was watered-down in its first appearance before the House of Representatives. One of the few key provisions left by the House was a rule banning legislators from returning to the Capitol in lucrative lobbying positions for at least a year.
The Senate Ethics Committee attempted to strengthen the bill when it arrived in the upper chamber. They proposed a special legislative ethics committee to come up with rules of conduct and provide for enforcement. Four senators, four House members and four citizens would sit on the panel.
They also inserted provisions in the ethics bill that would force lobbyists to disclose how much they spend on people who sit on boards that make rules and regulations, like the Insurance Commission and the Public Service Commission.
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House bill slams spam
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue’s bill that makes sending spam e-mails a crime sailed through the House by a 161-0 vote Tuesday.
The Georgia Slam Spam E-mail Act allows state district attorneys and solicitors to prosecute anyone who sends false and misleading spam e-mails.
SB 62 makes it a felony, with a maximum 5-year prison term, to send more than 10,000 spam e-mails in any 24-hour period, send more than 100,000 in any 30-day period or send more than 1 million in any one-year period.
It would also be a felony when juveniles assist in sending the bogus e-mails and when any single spam e-mail generates more than $1,000 or when all spam e-mails generate more than $50,000.
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House, Senate leaders announce end to budget impasse
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
House and Senate leaders announced at 11 a.m. today that they have resolved differences in their versions of the $17.6 billion state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The two chambers had disagreed on how to fund a few million dollars in local projects, and the impasse threatened to lengthen the legislative session, slated to end this week.
“I applaud those legislators and members of leadership who worked together to produce a budget for our state that funds the most critical needs of our citizens, funds educational priorities for our children and funds key projects of importance to communities across the state,” said House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram).
“Going forward, the House majority leader [state Rep. Jerry Keen, a Republican from St. Simons Island] will be working to establish a joint budget process that I am sure will be more streamlined and provide greater accountability and transparency.”
Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) said: “The Senate is pleased that there is a commitment to work together on a different way of funding local projects in the future.”
A new budget process is to be completed by July 1, 2005, a joint press release states.
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House members slow to arrive on expected busy day
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House opened the 38th legislative day with a half-empty chamber this morning.
“It’s a little embarrassing to the chair, 91 members at the start of the business day,” said House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) as the House convened just after 9 a.m. for what promises to be a long day.
Richardson said last week that lawmakers should brace for a 10- to 12-hour day. The House and Senate have not been in session since last Thursday and have made tentative plans to adjourn for the year Thursday.
Major issues are still unsettled including passage of a proposed $17.5 billion state budget, an ethics reform bill and a two-year delay in class size reductions in some grades.
Those House members there got advice from the doctor of the day to “To nothing in excess, and keep your sense of humor.”
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