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AJC.com > Legislature > Georgia Beat > Archives > 2005 > March
March 2005
Bill requires video game retailers to post rating info
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state Senate gave final approval late Thursday night to a bill that would require retailers to post conspicuous signs explaining the rating system for video games.
The Entertainment Software Rating Board, a nonprofit organization that reviews video game content, has five categories for games: Early Childhood, Everyone, Teen, Mature (17+), and Adults Only (18+).
The Senate accepted a House amendment that would require arcade owners to post the ratings signs for coin-operated machines.
Senate Bill 106 passed 51 to 0.
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Bill gives tax relief to National Guard members
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state Senate unanimously gave final approval late Thursday night to legislation geared toward helping the Georgia National Guard members and their families.
Under House Bill 538, the Senate provided both income tax relief and a tax credit for soldiers’ monthly life insurance premiums.
The bill exempts the first $10,000 of non-military pay from state income tax liability. It applies to members of the National Guard who are called to active duty for 90 or more consecutive days.
The bill also pays the $16 monthly premium for the $250,000 in optional life insurance offered through the U.S. Department of Defense.
Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor announced the legislation earlier this year. A bipartisan coalition of Democrats and Republicans helped the measures receive final approval.
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Legislature approves equal strikes bill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
State prosecutors today got what they’ve sought for decades — a bill that will give them as many opportunities as defense attorneys to reject potential jurors in criminal cases.
The state Senate gave final approval, by a 42-to-4 vote, to the “equal strikes” bill, a key facet of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s criminal justice package.
Currently, the defense gets twice as many jury “strikes” as the prosecution in criminal cases.
SB 170 will allow prosecutors and defense attorneys nine jury strikes each in felony cases. The bill also will extend the state’s rape shield law to victims of other sexually violent offenses. The bill shall apply to all cases indicted or accused on or after July 1.
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Sandy Spring gets nod from Legislature
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
They had to get two bills passed and work the legislative process down to the final hours, but supporters of a city of Sandy Springs left the state Capitol on Thursday claiming victory.
“I am just thrilled. I am so glad to have the last hurdle cleared,” said state Rep. Wendell Willard (R-Atlanta), sponsor of the legislation.
Willard watched from the back of the state Senate late Thursday night as his bill won final approval with a vote of 35 to 14.
If voters agree, Sandy Springs would become one of the most populous communities to incorporate. Its supporters say that, with about 86,000 residents, it would be America’s largest new city.
For years, legislators from Atlanta persuaded the House’s Democratic majority to block cityhood for Sandy Springs. They continued to lobby against it this year, but the new Republican majority ruled.
In the Senate on Thursday night, Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) objected to the way the proposed city council districts have been drawn. He said the area’s African-American and Latino residents will be split between three districts.
“Not only is this bill a bad bill for Fulton County, the city of Atlanta, the 10 other cities in Fulton County, but it is also in terms of voting rights,” Fort said.
Willard said the group pushing for a city can now begin a campaign for passage of the referendum in June.
“There’s an excellent chance it will be adopted in June,” he said. “It’s a major undertaking — 86,000 people starting from scratch to make a city.”
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Legislature may go home tonight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Legislature may adjourn tonight.
House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island) took the well of the House chamber shortly after 8 p.m. and said he had some good news and some bad news for his colleagues eager to go home.
The bad news, he said, was that the General Assembly was not going to “sine die” as early as anticipated. House Speaker Glenn Richardson had hoped to adjourn as early as 6 p.m. but a breakdown in negotiations over the ethics bill had kept lawmakers at the Capitol this evening.
The good news, Keen said, was that “there’s good hope and reason for optimism” that an agreement can be reached and the session will end later tonight, the 39th day the Legislature has been in session.
“The parties are making good progress,” Keen said. “If you just hang tight, maybe we’ll have some good news.â€?
The chamber erupted into applause.
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Statewide smoking ban approved
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Senate gave final approval today to a statewide ban on smoking in most enclosed public places that allow minors.
The legislation will allow smoking in bars and restaurants that do not serve customers younger than 18 or employ anyone younger than 18. Protecting children and employees from the hazards of secondhand smoke is the intent of the bill, lawmakers said.
Eleven states have banned smoking in public places; four of them, including Florida, still allow smoking in most bars.
The bill wouldn’t affect the two dozen municipalities across Georgia that already have passed local smoking ordinances. For example, Decatur’s all-out ban on smoking in indoor public places and workplaces begins Friday. For nine months the city had allowed smoking only after 9 p.m. in most of restaurants and bars.
Under the bill, smoking still would be allowed at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, outdoor sports venues, retail tobacco shops and outdoor places of employment. The hotels could designate up to 20 percent of their rooms for smoking.
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Military personnel exempted from jury duty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Active duty military personnel and their spouses can be exempted from jury duty under legislation that gained final approval today in the state House.
Senate Bill 258, approved by a unanimous vote, applies to any active U.S. military personnel and active National Guard member.
SB 258 allows the military personnel to extend their driver’s licenses and terminate home rental or wireless service agreements. It also allows returning veterans to receive, without paying the fees, honorary hunting and fishing licenses.
“This is a good bill that does a lot of things for the service people,� Rep. John Yates (D-Griffin) told his colleagues. “It will help in recruitment, the officials tell us.�
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Senate votes to limit appeals of construction permits
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Senate voted 37 to 5 to approve changes to a controversial environmental bill that would set a deadline for neighbors, environmentalists and other opposition groups to make their case against projects that affect the environment, including power plants, landfills, mining operations and sewage discharges.
Currently, opponents can indefinitely stop industries and local governments from constructing such facilities by appealing their state environmental permits. Although less than 1 percent of the permits are appealed by citizen and environmental groups, Georgia’s industries and businesses said they needed more certainty in the permit process.
The original version of Senate Bill 190 would have allowed the permit holder to immediately start construction.
A compromise, worked out in the House and approved today by the Senate, would stall construction 90 days while an administrative law judge hears arguments and decides whether to uphold or overturn the state permit. The judge could extend the delay an additional 60 days if more time is needed.
If opponents lose there, they have another 10 days before construction can begin to convince a superior court judge to order additional delays.
Environmentalists counted the revised bill as a victory; industry representatives said they could live with the changes.
Appeals of permits to build bridges and docks in the state’s tidal marshes would not be affected by the bill because of the fragility of the coastal ecology. No construction can begin until the courts make a final ruling.
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Bill requires driver’s ed for 16-year-olds
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House approved a bill Thursday that would force teens who don’t get driver’s education training to wait until they are 17 to get their licenses.
A 5-percent surcharge on traffic fines, as well as private donations, would help pay for driving simulators in schools.
The bill, which was headed back to the state Senate for final approval, has been dubbed “Joshua’s Law” in memory of Joshua Brown, 17, of Cartersville, who died in July 2003 after he lost control of the car he was driving.
Joshua’s parents, Alan and LuGina Brown, have blamed their son’s death on inexperience and have established a foundation to provide Cartersville High School students with simulator driving training.
The Browns sat in the House gallery Thursday afternoon and watched as the bill was debated and then passed, 136 to 25.
LuGina Brown said her son also was watching.
“He’s here. He’s watching everything … ,” she said. “I’m very happy about this. It’s great for the parents. It’s great for the children.”
Driver’s education was phased out of most Georgia public schools in the 1980s, and, for years since, lawmakers have debated whether the state could afford to cover the costs.
Under SB 226, sponsored by state Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome), the state can start imposing a 5-percent surcharge on traffic fines once the bill is signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue.
The state expects to generate $9 million to $11 million a year from the surcharge and to mandate the training for 16-year-olds effective Jan. 1, 2007, Smith said.
“I believe it will save a lot of lives,” he said.
Teen drivers also can show proof that they have completed a private driver’s ed course.
State Rep. David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) said the bill may be the most important to pass this legislative session.
“This deals with a problem that has touched many communities, many homes, many schools — the tragedy of young people seemingly every weekend or every weekend dying on our roads … often simply from inexperience,” Ralston said.
The one problem some House members had was funding driver’s education with a surcharge on traffic tickets, rather than with regular tax dollars.
State Rep. David Lucas (D-Macon) said the state has already heaped all kinds of surcharges on traffic fines for everything from law libraries to a pension fund for judges.
By paying for driver’s ed with a 5 percent surcharge, the cost of the program will be shouldered by those “least able to afford it,” Lucas said.
“You’re not talking about a little money. You’re talking about a lot of money to these particular people,” he said.
Lucas proposed an amendment to use state money to pay for the program. The amendment failed 62 to 97.
The bill was amended in committee in the House to limit the passengers who can ride with a 17-year-old and to allow a parent or guardian to have a teen’s driver’s license temporarily rescinded. Alan Brown called the bill’s passage “a major hurdle.”
“The only thing is I’m two years too late,” said Brown, who, with his wife owns a chain of Cingular stores.
Now, he added, it is vital that a nine-member commission set up under the bill be able to start on its mission of raising public and private donations so every high school can have a driving simulator. Brown regrets that Joshua never took driver’s ed.
“I wish to goodness he had done that,” he said. “Maybe now the next generation will.”
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Gift card bill requires clear indication of expiration date, fees
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Companies will now be required to inform customers of store gift-card fees and the cards’ expiration dates under legislation passed today by a divided state House.
Proponents of Senate Bill 13 said the legislation will benefit consumers. Opponents contended the bill promotes deceptive trade practices.
“This is a great consumer protection bill,” Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ranger) told his colleagues. It lets recipients of gift cards know when they must use them before they expire, he said.
Under the legislation, the store gift cards must “conspicuously” display the card’s expiration date and note any fees that could be assessed for not using the card.
One House Democrat after another rose to condemn the bill.
“This is a bad piece of legislation,” Rep. Douglas Dean (D-Atlanta) said. “For God’s sake, I hope the consumers of this state know what we’re about to do to them.”
The problem, Dean and other Democratic colleagues contended, is that if consumers do not use the gift cards before they expire they will be charged a fee.
“What kind of fools do we think the consumers in this state are?” he asked. “They’re not crazy … Join me in voting this bill down.”
Rep. Virgil Fludd (D-Fayetteville) agreed.
“This bill does nothing for consumers,” Fludd said. “It’s a classic idea of a good idea that has gone severely bad.”
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) called SB 13 “the weakest consumer protection bill on gift cards in the United States of America. Do we want to acknowledge the political shrewdness of passing consumer protection legislation when you don’t protect consumers?”
Oliver made a motion to table the bill until next year, so it could be improved.
Her motion passed by an 86-78 vote with cheers going up throughout the chamber.
But Graves asked the vote to table the bill be reconsidered. This time, he won by an 85-83 vote.
The House then voted 100-66 to approve the gift card bill, which was approved by the Senate on March 3.
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Hair-braiders regulation dies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Legislation to regulate hair-braiders died in the House today after a prolonged and pointed debate during which one lawmaker complained about there being more discussion on the floor about cosmetology than the $17.4 billion state budget.
Senate Bill 145 would have allowed the State Board of Cosmetology to license and regulate hair-braiders after they obtained enough credit hours at state-approved schools or internships.
Some lawmakers supported the idea on the grounds it may lead to more sanitary conditions in hair-braiding salons. Other opposed the idea, wondering if the law would apply to people who braid hair in their homes, even students who braid one another’s hair at college.
After debate over the matter passed the half-hour mark on the final day of the session, Rep. Tom Bordeaux (D-Savannah) rose to question the House rules of debate.
“How can we be permitted … to ask more questions about hair-braiding than we did about the state budget which affects the lives of Georgia’s children?” he asked.
On Tuesday night, debate over the budget was cut short after about 20 minutes.
Speaker Glenn Richardson responded to Bordeaux’s attack by saying he did not see the Savannah Democrat at numerous conference committee meetings on the budget. Richardson then allowed a motion to table the hair-braiding bill. It passed overwhelmingly.
“It’s not going to make it this afternoon,” Richardson said of the hair-braiding bill, after the vote, effectively killing any chance of the legislation being enacted into law this year.
After a brief lunch break, cooler heads prevailed. Richardson spoke from the speaker’s chair and publicly apologized to Bordeaux, prompting applause throughout the chamber.
“A public act demands a public apology,” Richardson said. “The chair is ever mindful of the tension of the final day.”
Bordeaux rose and accepted the apology, amid more applause from his colleagues.
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Counties can retain indigent defense systems
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Three counties — Cherokee, Clayton and Forsyth — will now get a chance to opt out of Georgia’s new public defender system under legislation approved today by the state House.
House Bill 366, sponsored by Rep. Jack Murphy (R-Cumming), gives the three counties another chance to retain their own indigent defense systems.
Last October, the new Georgia Public Defender Standards Council had denied their requests to opt out of the new statewide system, citing concerns that the programs could not ensure that indigent defendants would be seen by a lawyer within 72 hours after arrest.
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‘Bill Elliott Day’ gets approval
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia General Assembly has decided the state needs to pay tribute annually to native son and race car great Bill Elliott.
Legislation won final approval Thursday for an annual “Bill Elliott Day in Georgia” on Oct. 8.
Here’s what lawmakers said about Elliott:
“The General Assembly finds that a Georgia family’s proud tradition of racing began in Dawsonville, Georgia, under the tutelage and guiding hand of George Elliott. George’s young son Bill began to demonstrate at an early age a natural skill and competitive racing instinct at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, and in 1976, at the tender age of 20, Bill Elliott entered his first Winston Cup race and launched a career that would span decades.
‘Awesome Bill from Dawsonville,’ a modest, unassuming, and unpretentious man, has become a household name in NASCAR racing and has been selected Most Popular Driver an unprecedented 16 times, Georgia Professional Athlete of the Year twice, National Motorsports Driver of the Year 14 times, and in 1998, was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
It is virtually impossible to list all of the honors and awards ‘Million Dollar Bill’ has garnered over his incandescent career, but perhaps his most acclaimed accomplishment is his support, love, and respect from racing fans. He has given unstintingly of his time, talents, energy and financial resources to numerous charities, including the Special Olympics, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and it is abundantly fitting and proper that this extraordinary Georgian be recognized in a special and lasting manner.
The members of the General Assembly commend Bill Elliott for his over 30 years of outstanding contributions to the sport of racing and designate October 8 of each year as Bill Elliott Day in Georgia.”
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Female mutilation made a felony
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Legislation that makes genital mutilation of females a felony gained final passage in the state House today by a 161-0 vote.
House Bill 10, already approved by the Senate, makes genital female mutilation, an ancient ritual practiced by some cultures, a crime with a minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum punishment of 20 years behind bars.
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Bill would ban covering license tags
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state House today approved legislation that will make it a crime to put plastic coating or other material on top of license plates to make it more difficult for police surveillance cameras to detect tag numbers.
By a 96-57 vote, Senate Bill 93 gained final passage.
Beginning July 1, it will be a misdemeanor — with a maximum jail term of one year and a fine of up to $1,000 — to cover license plates with such material.
In recent years, a number of cities and counties have installed laser-operated cameras at intersections that are triggered when a car runs a red light. Police mail citations to the car’s owner, based on the license plate information captured on the photo.
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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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Senate votes to remove motorist fingerprint requirement
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s fingerprint requirement for motorists soon may be repealed. The Senate voted 40-10 Thursday in favor of House Bill 577, a bill that would end the mandate requiring Georgians to be fingerprinted to get a driver’s license.
Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), who carried the measure, said that there is no evidence that the fingerprint requirement has “done anything to put someone in jail … and there’s nothing to show it’s prevented any fraud.”
The bill also would require the state to destroy all existing fingerprint records.
The measure must go back to the House because it passed the Senate with several amendments. One specifies the documentation necessary for a person to receive a temporary driver’s license, permit or special identification card. The documentation includes a pending or approved application for asylum, refugee status, temporary protected status or other federal documentation of legal presence in the United States.
Sen. Sam Zamarripa (D-Atlanta) said that while the amendement’s language clearly targets illegal immigrants, it does not change existing state law. “I’m okay with it,” Zamarripa said.
Another change would set the effective date of the bill to 2006. A third amendment stipulates that fingerprint images electronically stored on existing driver’s licenses will be destroyed when the motorist applies for a renewal.
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Legislature erases Jim Crow-era laws
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state Senate today officially erased four Jim Crow-era laws from Georgia’s code.
The Georgia Legislature enacted the laws during the 1950s in an effort to preserve segregated schools following the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ended “separate but equal” black and white school systems.
The laws have not been enforced in years, but have remained on the books.
One measure gave the governor the power to suspend compulsory school attendance laws; another allowed the governor to close schools.
With both Senate and House agreement, the bills now head to Gov. Sonny Perdue to be signed into law.
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Secrecy bills clear Senate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republicans pushed two secrecy bills through the Senate this afternoon.
One bill to allow university foundations to keep the personal information of nearly all donors from public scrutiny was approved 30 to 21, along largely partisan lines.
A second bill, to which the Senate gave final passage, would prohibit the release of the names and home phone numbers and addresses of any public employee — which could apply to anyone who works for city, county, or state government. Republicans argued the restriction was needed out of a concern for workplace violence.
But the State Merit System, which requested the legislation, acknowledged the bill was requested to prevent public employee unions from contacting state workers.
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House sends meth bill to governor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House gave final approval today to a bill designed to combat meth production by putting Sudafed and similar cold and sinus remedies behind the counter at stores statewide.
The bill, which passed the Senate on Tuesday and now goes to the desk of the governor, would take drugs with pseudoephedrine off the regular shelves. Pseudoephedrine is a key ingredient in the illegal stimulant methamphetamine.
Supporters of the bill say that making the ingredient harder to get will help thwart the production of meth, often cooked in explosive, makeshift labs in kitchens, trailers and sheds.
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Senate dismantles Department of Motor Vehicle Safety
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state Senate today passed Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue’s plan for dismantling the four-year-old Department of Motor Vehicle Safety, scattering its functions and 1,400 employees across four existing state agencies and a new department focused on driver’s license services.
The 35 to 15 vote on the bill followed a lengthy and sometimes heated debate about the need for the change and its potential costs.
Perdue has promised to alleviate the long lines at some driver’s license centers, particularly in metro Atlanta, and has said the best way is to have a department singularly focused on that issue.
Senate Democrats said the bill goes too far and unnecessarily breaks up an agency that is viewed as a national model and is credited with reducing commercial truck accidents.
“There is no reason or cause to do this,” said state Sen. Gloria Butler (D-Stone Mountain), a member of the Senate’s Public Safety and Homeland Security. “The department is working well in most cases.”
Senate Public Safety and Homeland Security Chairman Ross Tolleson (R-Perry) said he expects the various functions under DMVS to operate more efficiently and in a more cost effective manner under the governor’s reorganization plan.
He also disputed Democrats claims that there will be significant costs involved in the reorganization and the potential loss of federal funding.
“I’ll be honest I believe it will be a rather large savings,” Tolleson said.
Democrats tried to scuttle floor debate on the bill because it did not have a fiscal note, which is a report by state auditors on the likely costs of the reorganization.
They chided the GOP majority by declaring that the state law that requires fiscal notes on certain legislation was pushed through the General Assembly by former state senator and now U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson.
The GOP majority overruled them.
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Governor’s criminal justice package clears hurdles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two bills that are part of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s criminal justice package inched closer to final passage today.
The state Senate voted 44-3 in favor of House Bill 170, a measure that would give prosecutors as many opportunities as defense attorneys to reject potential jurors in felony and misdemeanor cases.
Currently, the defense can “strike” —- or remove —- twice as many potential jurors as the prosecution.
The bill, called the Criminal Justice Act of 2005, passed with an amendment that would extend the state’s rape shield law — a provision that prevents the prior sexual history of a rape victim from coming to light in hearings — to include aggravated sodomy, aggravated child molestation, and aggravated sexual battery.
The measure now goes back to the House for the members to consider the Senate amendment.
The Senate also approved Perdue’s Crime Victims Restitution Act of 2005 by a vote of 45-0. The bill outlines specific details on how crime victims can recover damages from criminals. The measure also returns to the House for final approval.
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Demonstrators protest bills requiring photo ID at polls
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A coalition of civil rights activists, labor unions, Democratic lawmakers, college students and others descended on the state Capitol today to loudly protest proposed legislation that would require voters to show voter identification at the polls.
The rally was organized by civil rights veteran Rev. Joseph Lowery of The Coalition for the People’s Agenda, but drew a wide range of opponents to the bill including Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, a candidate for governor in 2006.
“I feel like the cavalry has made it,” Taylor told a cheering crowd of about 200 people on the Capitol steps.
Taylor and others said the Republican-sponsored Senate Bill 84 and House Bill 244 are designed to suppress the vote of the elderly, the poor and minorities, groups that tend to support Democrats.
“They are against voting,” Taylor said. “We need to encourage voting in Georgia, we need to encourage voting in America.” Several Democratic lawmakers from the House and Senate also spoke out against the bills.
Others attending the rally included representatives from The League of Women Voters of Georgia, the AFL-CIO, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the NAACP, Hispanic advocates and students from Spelman and Morehouse colleges and Fort Valley State University.
The group began by singing some civil rights songs. Some in the crowd held up signs in support of labor unions or voting rights.
“What do they fear?” Lowery asked the crowd. “Why are they afraid of the people? Let the people’s voices be heard.”
Both the House and Senate bills are pending in each chamber, having been approved by committees. Either bill could come up for a vote in the House or Senate before the General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on April 1.
The bills would reduce the number of acceptable forms of identification for voting from 17 to only one of seven forms of photo identification. Republican proponents of the bill say it is designed to prevent voter fraud and to ensure that the person voting is who they say they are. Opponents of the bill say it could prevent people who do not have a driver’s license or other form of photo ID from voting.
An amendment to the bills would allow for poor people to receive a free state photo ID. But opponents of the bill say there are only 50 places in all of Georgia’s 159 counties where such IDs can be obtained, and it would be inconvenient or impossible for some people to get them.
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Bid to create Fayette county commission districts fails
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After several minutes of debate on the House floor today, a bill that would require district voting for the Fayette County Commission failed to gain enough votes to pass.
However, Rep. Virgil Fludd (D-Tyrone), author of the bill, made a motion to have the bill reconsidered tomorrow.
HB 856 would change the way county commissioners are elected by dividing the county into five districts, each with its own commissioner. Commissioners are currently voted on countywide.
Members of the Fayette County Commission were opposed to the bill, passing a unanimous resolution that was sent to the General Assembly this week.
Rep. Dan Lakly (R-Peachtree City) spoke on the House floor against the bill, calling it an issue of “fundamental fairness.”
None of the nearly 30,000 voters he represents supported the bill, Lakly said.
“This bill is being requested for political purposes,” Lakly said, “nothing more, nothing less.”
Lakly said the local delegation — Lakly, Fludd, Rep. Roberta Abdul-Salaam (D-Riverdale), Rep. Darryl Jordan (D-Riverdale) and Rep. John Yates (R-Griffin) — met in a hurriedly last week to discuss the district voting issue. The group voted 3 to 2 in favor of introducing the bill, with Lakly and Yates casting the two dissenting votes.
“I have received many calls against this legislation, but not one call in favor of it,” Yates said. Both Jordan and Abdul-Salaam expressed their disappointment after the bill was defeated, noting that generally local issues are not overridden by the House.
The vote was 82 against the bill to 63 in favor.
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House reverses vote on sparklers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House reversed itself Tuesday and passed legislation to legalize sparklers.
Less than a week ago, the House soundly defeated the bill — preserving Georgia’s status as only one of seven states that ban all fireworks.
But on Tuesday and under pressure from the bill’s sponsor, Senate Rules Committee Chairman Don Balfour (R-Snellville), House members held a second vote and passed the measure 119 to 53.
Balfour watched the debate and vote on a television outside the House chambers.
State Rep. Tom McCall (R-Elberton) was booed by his House colleagues when, before the vote, he cautioned them to “remember whose bill it is and who is chairman of Rules in the Senate.”
Another House member joked that Waffle Houses will start giving out sparklers to their customers. Balfour is an executive with Waffle House and, as Rules chair, can keep bills from reaching the Senate floor.
Last week, many female lawmakers, with backing from fire chiefs and firefighters, lobbied against the bill because of the potential hazard to children.
The bill now goes back to the state Senate for consideration of some changes.
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Senate study to look at splitting Fulton County
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Senate voted 48-1 today in favor of establishing a study committee to look at the pros and cons of splitting Fulton County in two.
State Sen. Sam Zamarripa (D-Atlanta) has proposed creating two consolidated governments, called Milton and Atlanta counties. Cities from Palmetto to Atlanta to Mountain Park would all be swept into one of the two governments.
The new Milton County would begin at the northern boundary of Atlanta.
The new Atlanta County would take in everything from Atlanta to Fulton’s southern border. The idea already has gained some support in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
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Legislature votes to take pseudoephedrine off shelves
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In an effort to fight spiraling methamphetamine abuse rates, popular cold and sinus remedies such as Sudafed and Claritin soon will be sold only from behind the counter at drug stores and other retail shops statewide.
The state Senate voted 53-0 on Tuesday in favor of House Bill 216, a proposal that would take drugs whose main ingredient is pseudoephedrine off the shelf.
“We have a problem,� said Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga). “And the problem in rural Georgia is methamphetamine. It’s a plague in our community. And if you don’t have it in your community, it’s coming soon.�
The bill also would require pseudoephedrine products to be sold in blister packaging. Retailers will be prohibited from selling more than three packages of drugs such as Sudafed in a single sale.
“I’m excited about the passage of this bill because of the impact it will have in protecting the families and communities of this state,� said state Rep. Jay Neal (R-LaFayette), the sponsor of the House bill.
The bill now goes before Gov. Sonny Perdue to be signed into law. The law would go into effect on July 1, except in counties where pseudoephedrine sales already are regulated. In Douglas County, for example, a local ordinance that is more restrictive than HB 216 is in effect. Those counties have until Jan. 1, 2006 to meet the statewide standard.
Some legislators had proposed more restrictive bills, such as a measure that would require only licensed pharmacists or pharmacy technicians to sell the products. Mullis said HB 216 strikes the right balance between meeting the needs of Georgians who legitimately need a cold remedy and “drug dealers who are manufacturing this terrible product.”
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Senate bill aims to improve courthouse safety
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Senate voted 46-0 today in favor of a proposal aimed at improving safety measures in Georgia’s state and county buildings.
Senate Resolution 431 would create a study committee to hold hearings across the state and provide a report detailing minimum security requirements by Dec. 31.
Sen. Joseph Carter (R-Tifton), the bill’s sponsor, said last week that security measures statewide in courtrooms and public buildings range from extreme to none.
The recent killings at the Fulton County Courthouse spurred Carter to introduce the legislation. The hearings likely will begin in April after the Legislative session. The committee will hear testimony from experts such as judges, attorneys and county commissioners.
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House vote approves deadhead logging in Flint, Altamaha
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House narrowly approved legislation today that would allow divers to extract 100-year-old logs from the Altamaha and Flint rivers in South Georgia.
The logs have been resting on the river bottoms since loggers stopped using the state’s rivers to move their products to market. Environmentalists oppose the practice —- called deadhead logging —- which has been illegal here since 1998. They say removing the 20- to 25-foot longleaf pine and cypress logs will stir up massive amounts of silt, ruining fish habitats and polluting the water.
House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta) cast the tie-breaking vote needed for the bill to pass with the slimmest 91-vote majority.
The vote would have sent the bill to the desk of the governor to be signed into law, but state Rep. Tom Bordeaux has asked that the House be given a chance to reconsider its action at a later date.
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House approves military scholarship
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House today unanimously approved a new category of state-funded scholarship for military reservists and their children.
The Georgia HERO Scholarship (SB 43), which passed 169-0, would give reservists and their children who are full- or part-time students at an approved school, a $2,000 annual scholarship for up to four years.
HERO stands for Helping Educate Reservists and their Offspring Scholarship.
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House approves military scholarship
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House today unanimously approved a new category of state-funded scholarship for military reservists and their children.
The Georgia HERO Scholarship (SB 43), which passed 169-0, would give reservists and their children who are full- or part-time students at an approved school, a $2,000 annual scholarship for up to four years.
HERO stands for Helping Educate Reservists and their Offspring Scholarship.
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House approves military scholarship
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House today unanimously approved a new category of state-funded scholarship for military reservists and their children.
The Georgia HERO Scholarship (SB 43), which passed 169-0, would give reservists and their children who are full- or part-time students at an approved school, a $2,000 annual scholarship for up to four years.
HERO stands for Helping Educate Reservists and their Offspring Scholarship.
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Hunting and fishing amendment to appear on ballot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House today unanimously approved a constitutional amendment calling for preservation of the tradition of fishing and hunting rights in Georgia.
Senate Resolution 67 passed 152 to 0.
State Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah), the resolution’s sponsor, suggested the amendment is a preventative measure.
“There are activist judges and future legislatures … that could restrict further our heritage and our historic right to hunting and fishing,” he told the Senate earlier.
No further action is necessary for the amendment to appear on the ballot as follows: Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to provide that the tradition of fishing and hunting and the taking of fish and wildlife shall be preserved for the people and shall be managed by law and regulation for the public good?”
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Legislature strikes ordinances requiring domestic partner benefits
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A proposal that would void an Atlanta city ordinance requiring associations such as the Druid Hills Golf Club to extend marriage benefits to gay couples cleared its final hurdle in the General Assembly on Thursday.
With very little debate, the state Senate voted 37-11 in favor of House Bill 67. The measure now goes to Gov. Sonny Perdue to be signed into law.
House Rules Committee Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) introduced the bill, which would prevent local governments across Georgia from enacting laws requiring organizations to extend domestic benefits to gay couples.
The measure cleared the House by a vote of 124-39, despite protests from Atlanta area lawmakers. Although the bill does not specifically name the city of Atlanta and Druid Hills Golf Club, it is directly aimed at nullifying the city’s human rights ordinance.
In December, Mayor Shirley Franklin said she planned to start fining the club for violating the ordinance, up to a maximum of $90,000. The club responded by filing suit against the city, arguing the ordinance violates the state constitution.
Sen. John Wiles (R-Marietta) carried the bill in the Senate.
“There’s no right for a city government, state government or county government to provide benefits to unmarried persons,” Wiles said from the Senate well.
Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) said that legislators were using the issue of domestic benefits for gay couples to pander to voters.
Last year, the General Assembly approved a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Georgia voters overwhelmingly approved the amendment Nov. 2.
“We use the term ‘local control’ in education and law enforcement,” Fort said. “But when it comes to discrimination … we don’t want local control. When it comes to the city of Atlanta, local control means nothing. It means nothing at all. It’s the height of hypocrisy.”
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Stephens announces secretary of state candidacy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Senate Majority Leader Bill Stephens (R-Canton) formally announced on Thursday his candidacy for secretary of state.
Flanked by his wife, mother, two youngest sons, and more than a dozen House and Senate Republicans, Stephens pledged to improve the elections process and strengthen other duties of the office, such as oversight of the state’s 34 licensing boards.
“I believe we must have secure, fair and open elections,” said Stephens, addressing supporters in the Senate chamber. “I believe that we must protect Georgians, particularly the elderly, from fraud and abuse. I believe we can better utilize this office to further job creation statewide.”
Secretary of State Cathy Cox, a Democrat, is expected to run for governor next year.
Democrat Carol Jackson, a former state senator and local elections official from Cleveland, also has announced plans to run for secretary of state.
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Speaker: No disciplinary action for House protests
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
House members who staged vocal protests last last week over legislation to require voters to have photo ID will not face disciplinary action, Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) announced this morning.
Richardson said state Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell) apologized for her actions Saturday, and he accepted.
Morgan went to the well of the House during a rare Saturday session to continue to vent over a Friday night vote on photo IDs. She refused to leave the well after her time had expired, even though Richardson repeatedly asked her to and banged his gavel. Instead she broke into song.
Richardson had threatened disciplinary action against her, as well as a contingent of House Democrats who staged a walkout Friday night over the legislation. He told House members this morning he believes he considers the issue closed.
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AARP blasts bills requiring voters to have photo ID
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AARP Georgia has joined the growing number of groups coming out against legislation that would require registered voters to show photo ID at the polls.
“While we are opposed to this change because it is unfair to voters of all ages, it is particularly onerous to Georgians 75 years and older, 36 percent of whom do not have a driver’s licenses,” AARP Georgia said in a press release.
“This proposal to eliminate up to a dozen previously acceptable forms of identification and substitute a photo ID is a draconian attempt at disenfranchisement and discrimination.”
Two bills, SB 84 and HB 244, mandate photo ID for voters and are being vigorously opposed by Democratic legislators. They contend a photo ID is tantamount to the old poll tax and designed to limit voting by minorities, the poor and elderly.
Republicans argue that requiring photo IDs will cut down on voter fraud.
Laughlin McDonald, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, has said he expects voting rights groups to file a lawsuit if either bill is passed and signed into law with the photo ID requirement.
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House looks to shield privacy of toll road users
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republicans and Democrats in the Georgia House were in rare agreement today on a new exception to the Georgia Open Records Act.
State Rep. Wendell Willard (R-Atlanta), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said lawmakers need to close an exemption that would make public private information about motorists who use credit-card backed cruise cards on Georgia’s toll roads.
Willard said a marketing company has pending a request for information on cruise-cardholders credit cards and times of travel.
“We felt this was something that should not be permissive,” he told House members.
House Democratic leader DuBose Porter of Dublin, who has opposed other Open Records exemptions proposed by GOP leaders this year, came out in support of SB 121.
“This protects something that needs protecting,” Porter said. “It is no one else’s business when you go through a tollway, or what credit card you put it on.”
He also said it was unfair to penalize people who use the new technology of the cruise card, rather than just throwing coins in the toll cage.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) seemed surprised at what the current law allows. “Someone can use government to know where you’re going and what time you’re going?” he asked.
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Senate bill requiring photo ID at polls fires up Democrats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lawmakers continued to spar in the Senate today over a bill that would require voters to show photo identification at the polls.
African-American lawmakers walked out of both the House and the Senate Friday to protest passage of Senate Bill 84 and House Bill 244, both of which call for reducing the number of acceptable forms of voter identification from 17 to five. Black lawmakers in both chambers brought shackles to the well when railing against the bill. Some compared the passage of the ID bills to the return of Jim Crow laws in the South.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s threat to seek some form of censure against Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell) for refusing to end a speech Saturday after her allotted time expired angered some senators. Morgan was speaking against the ID bill, and used part of her time to sing a civil rights song while Richardson tried to gavel her down.
Today, Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) urged senators to remain civil to one another and chastised Democrats for their behavior.
“Nobody is claiming that senators don’t have the right to speak to their constituents,” Johnson said. “But when the language turns to calling people racists, returning to the white hoods of the KKK, wearing shackles on the floor of the Senate, we crossed the line, we violated the decorum of this chamber and … disrespected every citizen of this state.”
Johnson angered many black lawmakers and Democrats by saying “emotions ran high” and saying they only returned to the chamber to eat pizza that had been provided for them.
“Now I spent 10 years in the minority, and I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of the iron fist of the majority,” Johnson said. “But in 130 years as a minority, I don’t believe the Republicans ever, ever walked out on their duties.”
He also berated Democrats for offering an amendment on Friday to a piece of legislation that would’ve called for a moratorium on the death penalty in Georgia while a commission is appointed to look into the fairness of its application.
After Johnson’s comments, 10 Democratic senators — most of them African-American — took turns blasting Johnson’s remarks and the provisions of the photo ID bill.
Minority Leader Robert Brown (D-Macon) said Johnson’s use of the word “emotion” to describe minority dissent “trivializes the level of debate.”
“Voting rights is a very fundamental part of the process,” said Brown. “When you talk about abridging those rights on a people who have fought tooth and nail to obtain those rights, it’s not just emotion. That’s beyond emotion.”
Black lawmakers warned that Republicans are underestimating the impact of requiring photo identification for voting. They say it has the potential to disenfranchise poor, elderly and minority people who do not drive, can’t work or who otherwise have no means to get proper photo ID. They also warned that punishing Rep. Morgan or any other legislators for speaking their mind is dangerous.
“We should not let the focus of what happened shift from the evil that was done to those who spoke out against that evil,” said Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta). “When we come to this body, we have only two things — our vote and our voice. Let me say this, you can vote us down but you can never take our voice.”
Some Democrats reminded Republican leaders that they have flirted with a lack of decorum when they were in the minority party. Sen. Michael Meyer Von Bremen (D-Albany) recalled when a Republican lawmaker called Gov. Roy Barnes “an S.O.B.” from the well of the Senate. He also recalled that Republican senators once strung yellow crime scene tape across the back of the chamber to protest a bill.
Later, Sen. Don Balfour (R-Duluth) said he had, indeed, called Barnes a “supreme omnipotent being,” and said he was wrong when he did that and apologized for it. But Balfour said it was incorrect to imply that he had used an obscenity to describe Barnes.
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Legislature approves Gwinnett 4-year college
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House passed a resolution this morning calling for creation of a four-year college at Gwinnett University Center. The resolution passed 161 to 2.
State Rep. John Heard (R-Lawrenceville) said the university system has been trying to get college courses in Gwinnett for the last 20 years.
He said Gwinnett County is the largest county east of the Mississippi without its own four-year college. With 8,000 students and 1,000 more enrolling each year, its on the verge of reaching the size of West Georgia University and Valdosta State, Heard said.
“The need is there,” he said. “The students are there.”
There was no floor debate.
The resolution now goes to the desk of the governor for consideration.
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Democrats lash out at GOP ‘misconduct’ letter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
State Rep. David Lucas (D-Macon) went to the well of the House this morning to denounce as an attempt at intimidation a letter put on lawmakers’ desks Monday on the potential punishments for misconduct on the floor.
“I took the letter to mean if I don’t do what y’all say, you’ll silence me,” Lucas said.
The letter hit lawmakers’ desks on the next working day after state Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell) refused House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s demand that she leave the House podium after her allotted time for speaking had expired. Morgan was angry about a vote Friday night on legislation to require photo ID of voters, something she and other Democrats denounced as harmful to blacks, poor and the elderly.
Lucas told House members he considers the photo ID requirement unconstitutional and equivalent to the old poll taxes. The Macon legislator said there have been other outbursts in the House — including some by Republican lawmakers. “In the heat of (partisan) battle, things happen,” he said.
Lucas said he hopes lawmakers can hash out their differences in private.
But he also said: “I’m here to say to you I will be judged by the folks that elected me if I walk off [the House floor] because I feel [requiring a] photo ID for the privilege to vote is unconstitutional.”
Richardson chastised Morgan on Monday and said lawmakers may still consider some type of disciplinary action.
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Faith-based initiative bill fails in Senate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue’s plan to ensure that religious organizations can compete for state dollars lost again in the Senate Friday, the second time it has failed to get enough votes to make it onto the ballot.
Proposed changes to the state Constitution need to get two-thirds of the vote in both chambers. The vote was 32-21 Friday, six votes short of the 38 needed to move it to the House for consideration.
However, lawmakers said the House could try to suspend its rules and pass a version of the proposed amendment next week.
The measure has widespread support among church leaders, but has run afoul of Georgia’s two largest teacher groups — the Professional Association of Georgia Educators and the Georgia Association of Educators — whose members fear it could pave the way for private school vouchers. Perdue’s proposal contains no language about vouchers.
The Faith and Family Services Amendment had little chance Friday because it needed at least four Democrats to join the chamber’s 34 Republicans to pass the plan. Democrats promised not to go along with the Republican governor’s proposal if the GOP majority didn’t include provisions making it clear that private school vouchers would be outlawed.
Republican senators voted down the proposed language, essentially assuring the measure’s defeat. “It is not the fault of the Democrats. It is the fault of the governor himself,” said Sen. Doug Stoner (D-Smyrna), who proposed the anti-voucher language.
Republicans didn’t even bother debating the proposed amendment.
But Perdue was unhappy with the outcome.
“An unfortunate legacy of this session of the General Assembly will be a few members voting in opposition to faith-based organizations that provide aid to needy Georgians,” Perdue said in a statement. “Thanks to those who opposed this measure, these faith-based groups will remain subject to the threat of legal action that could halt their valuable programs.”
The proposed constitutional amendment would ensure religious organizations could perform social services to compete for state dollars. Some do so now, in a roundabout fashion, by setting up separate foundations. Proponents argue that those arrangements could be invalidated by the courts. Some critics say the proposed amendment isn’t needed and that Perdue filed it to score points with religious conservatives.
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Democrats walk on bill requiring photo ID to vote
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Twenty-one of 22 Democrats walked out of the Senate chamber for about 30 minutes Friday evening following a vote that lowered the number of pieces of identification acceptable for voting. Senate Bill 84 would require photo identification from the Department of Motor Vehicle Safety to vote.
Democrats said they had serious voting rights concerns about the bill and worried that elderly and the poor wouldn’t be able to get photo IDs.
Tim Golden (D-Valdosta), head of the Democratic Caucus, said, “White Democrats joined black ones to show their solidarity.”
He spoke of “the irony of getting rid of Jim Crow laws tomorrow while putting another on the books today.”
Republican sponsors of the bill said it was an effort to cut down on voter fraud. But Democratic critics compared it to the poll taxes, literacy tests and other laws aimed at suppressing black votes during segregation.
Most of the Democrats returned when the time came to vote on Sonny Perdue’s faith-based initiative, which would allow religious institutions that provide social services to compete for state funding. Critics say the resolution’s language could lead to school vouchers. The resolution calls for a constitutional amendment which would require a two-thirds majority. Some Democrats would have to support the resolution for it to pass.
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Senate passes ID privacy bill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgians whose personal information is compromised would have to be notified by the data-brokering companies that collect it, according to a bill passed by the state Senate on Thursday.
The bill, which passed 52-0, was a response to problems reported at Alpharetta-based ChoicePoint, where thieves posing as small businesses accessed information on 145,000 Americans.
Authorities say at least 750 people were defrauded because of the scam.
Sen. Bill Hamrick, R-Carrollton, the plan’s sponsor, called it “a little bill that is very consumer-oriented.”
Only California now has a law requiring such notification.
ChoicePoint compiles and sells personal information on U.S. residents. The company announced the breach last month.
New Hampshire, New York and Texas are among the states considering similar bills.
The plan now goes to the House.
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House votes to give Delta tax break on fuel
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House overwhelmingly approved legislation Thursday that could help financially strapped and homegrown Delta Air Lines by setting a cap on the sales tax for jet fuel.
The bill, sponsored by House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta), would put a $15 million annual limit on the sales tax on jet fuel, regardless of how high fuel prices go.
Delta, the state’s largest private employer, paid $17 million in fuel taxes last year.
Burkhalter said Georgia’s airlines currently are at “an unfair disadvantage” because Texas and other states typically exempt airline fuel from state sales tax.
“This is a small way we can help our airlines in uncertain times,” he said.
Burkhalter said Air Tran officials also have told him they may consider moving their headquarters to Atlanta if the sales tax cap becomes law.
Some Clayton County lawmakers said they have concerns about the financial impact on their local governments.
“Do you fully understand the financial burden you are putting on the backs of Clayton County?” state Rep. Darryl Jordan (D-Riverdale) asked Burkhalter.
Burkhalter said Clayton could lose out if Delta decided to buy its fuel in neighboring Fulton County.
He also said that, considering the airline’s current plight, the greater harm would be if Delta went out of business.
State Rep. Gail Buckner (D-Jonesboro) said the bill needed more study and sought to have it tabled. Her motion failed 28 to 127, and the bill passed 138 to 121.
The measure now goes to the state Senate.
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Senate bill requires 16-year-olds to take driver’s education before getting license
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s 16-year-olds would have to pass a driver’s education course before getting a driver’s license, under a bill approved by the Senate today.
Senate Bill 226 would create a nine-member Georgia Driver’s Education Commission, which could accept public and private donations toward placing driving simulators in every high school. A 5 percent surcharge would be added to traffic fines to help pay for the devices.
Without the classes, teens would have to wait until they were 17 to apply for a license.
Implementation of SB 226 was pushed back until January 1, 2007, amid concerns from some legislators that it would take time to put the program in place.
SB 226 passed the Senate 50-3. It now heads to the House for consideration.
The legislation has been dubbed “Joshua’s Law” in honor of 17-year-old Joshua Brown of Cartersville, who died in July 2003 when he lost control of the car he was driving.
In pushing the bill, sponsor Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome) noted that 123 teen drivers died in Georgia in 2003 as the result of automobile accidents.
Smith said the high-tech simulators will teach young motorists to drive under various conditions and adverse scenarios. On-road driving, which can be provided by parents, would still be required.
“I believe in my heart of hearts that this a bill that will save lives in Georgia,” said Smith.
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House approves online lottery ticket sales
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House passed legislation today to allow online lottery ticket sales.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Terry Barnard (R-Glennville), would allow lottery players to buy their tickets via the Internet through either electronic fund transfer or debit card.
Barnard’s bill initially also allowed credit card purchases, but that idea was killed in committee.
The bill passed the House 98 to 48 and now goes to the state Senate for consideration.
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NASCAR plates get Senate nod
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NASCAR fans may soon show appreciation of their favorite driver through a Georgia license plate.
The Senate today approved Senate Bill 168, which provides for the creation of NASCAR license plates. Motorists will be able to choose from one of 44 drivers.
Money raised by the $13 plates would go to the Governor’s Highway Safety Program. Senators also approved a “Share the Road” license plate to recognize bicycle safety. SB 168 now heads to the House for consideration.
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Bill would help military personnel with tuition costs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Senate today passed a bill providing college scholarship money to Georgia military personnel serving in overseas wars - and their children.
Senate Bill 43, the Wiles-Harbison-Harp Veterans Education Act of 2005, would give $2,000 grants per year, for a maximum of $8,000 members, and their children 25 or under, of the National Guard or Reserves who have served 181 days or more in a combat zone.
The awards have been dubbed HERO grants; Helping Educate Reservists and their Offspring. SB 43 passed the Senate unanimously and heads to the House for consideration.
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New Congressional district map stirs debate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House began a heated debate this morning over a new Republican-draw map for the states 13 Congressional districts.
Several black lawmakers rose to oppose the map, saying it dilutes the voting strengths of minorities.
One of the biggest surprises was an appeal from state Rep. Larry O’Neal, a Republican from Warner Robins and one of the governor’s floor leaders, for defeat of the proposed map.
O’Neal opposed the map because Warner Robins, home of Robins AFB, would lose U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Savannah) as one of its two congressmen.
O’Neal said the base, the state’s largest employer, needs to keep Kingston as its advocate during the upcoming base closure hearings. “It’s always a balancing act, everything we do, but in my opinion, a vote for this is a vote against Robins AFB.”
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House OKs tougher ethics rules
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The House overwhelmingly approved tougher rules for elected officials Friday, but not before Democrats complained the bill was a watered-down version that wouldn’t make the changes Republicans once promised.
The bill, approved 163-3, includes a waiting period for elected officials becoming lobbyists after leaving office, a measure thought to reduce influence-peddling by former politicians. The bill also increases maximum fines for ethics violations from $1,000 to $10,000.
But many provisions of the original proposal were stripped out. Backed by Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue, the original bill also would’ve capped gifts to lawmakers at $50 and would’ve given the state ethics commission broader powers to investigate conflict of interest complaints.
“This thing has gone from a choir robe down to a G-string,” said House Democratic Leader DuBose Porter. “What is covered does need to be covered. It just doesn’t cover much.”
His remark elicited whoops from lawmakers, but he was jabbed right back from the Republican Leader, Jerry Keen. Keen said Porter himself is wined and dined by lobbyists and announced a menu from a dinner Porter attended earlier in the week along with other legislators: broiled crab cake, 18-ounce New York strip, key lime pie and a $39 bottle of wine.
“You’re talking out of one side of your mouth and eating out of the other. You keep doing that, and your G-string’s not gonna fit,” Keen said.
On a more serious note, Republican leaders said the ethics bill was still substantive.
“Is it better than where we are now? Absolutely,” said Rep. Rich Golick, sponsor of the bill.
But even Republicans in the Senate say more should be done. The top-ranking Republican in that chamber, Sen. Eric Johnson of Savannah, said senators would insist on a tougher bill.
“I think the Senate will be making significant changes,” he said after the House vote.
The House also a bill Friday setting up new protections for state employees who report fraud. A more controversial bill to ban state lawmakers from lobbying for better treatment for prisoners was delayed until next week.
House leaders insisted their ethics bills were tough. They pointed out that Democrats had a long time to implement many of the provisions they now advocate, but didn’t.
“This is the toughest ethics bill in the history of Georgia,” said Rep. Joe Wilkinson, R-Atlanta. “My party brought this bill to the floor of the House in 28 days. It didn’t take us 135 years.”
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Senate votes to change private school classifications
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A bill changing the way private schools are classified for high school sports and other competitions passed the state Senate on Friday.
Currently, schools compete in classifications based on the number of students at the school. Students at private and parochial schools that compete against public schools are counted as 1.5 students under the formula.
That system was adopted by the Georgia High School Association in 2000, after then-House Speaker Tom Murphy pushed for it.
Murphy argued that private schools have an unfair advantage because they can recruit athletes and other students, regardless of where they live.
“This was because his daughter-in-law was losing on the Bremen debate team to the Pace (Academy) debate team,” said Sen. John Wiles, R-Marietta, who formerly coached a private school baseball team and sponsored the bill.
Wiles said counting enrollment equally for all schools is a matter of fairness. He said the current system forces private schools to play football, baseball, soccer and other sports against public schools that are much larger.
The bill passed 37-4 and now goes to the House.
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House approves $16.5 billion supplemental budget
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The House signed off this morning on a fiscal 2005 supplemental spending plan that would send more than $100 million to school systems whose enrollments grew last fall. The vote was 145 to 19.
One sticking point in the $16.5 billion midyear budget adjustment had been the $20 million worth of local projects added by the House. After weeks of on-again, off-again negotiations, many of the projects remained in the final spending plan, which will likely be approved by the full House and Senate.
Included in the budget is $1 million for rail upgrades at the Brunswick Port, which is represented by House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island). Also in the budget are $2.7 million to design a teaching laboratory building at Georgia State University and $1.6 million to design a new University of Georgia College of Pharmacy.
The Senate is expected to take similar action later in the day, which would send the supplemental budget to the desk of the governor to be signed into law.
Immediately after voting on the supplemental budget, the House began looking at recommending for spending in fiscal 2006, which starts July 1.
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Senate votes store gift card rules
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Retailers that sell gift cards soon may be required to put expiration and non-usage fee dates on the face of the card. The Georgia Senate on Thursday voted 52-2 in favor of the measure, which was introduced by Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock). “We’re taking a card that’s extremely popular and making it better for consumers by giving them the information they need,” Rogers said.
Senate Minority Whip David Adelman (D-Atlanta) said he supported the bill, but wanted the measure to better protect consumers. He proposed two amendments. One would limit non-usage fees to a maximum of $1 per month, while the other would prohibit non-use fees from kicking in for 12 months after the card’s purchase date.
“This is a good, moderate, pro-consumer compromise,” Adelman said. Both of his amendments failed. Senate Bill 13 now heads to the House for approval.
Several states recently have enacted similar legislation. New York legislators, for example, approved a law that bans monthly service fees on gift cards until the card has been unused for twelve consecutive months.
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House lets state college donors stay secret
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s public colleges would no longer have to disclose their private contributions under a bill approved by the state House.
The House voted 129-to-30 to exempt donors from the state’s open records laws. That means that public colleges and universities would not be required to say who gives them money or how much. Republican sponsors of the bill said the exemption is necessary because some potential donors shy away from giving to state colleges because they fear their personal financial records would be open to examination.
Some Democrats opposed the measure, saying the public has a right to know who is giving money to public colleges, and whether any conditions are placed on those donations.
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Georgia on Jamie Foxx’s mind?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thrilled by Jamie Foxx’s Oscar win for his performance in “Ray,” the Georgia House is hoping the actor will visit the Capitol and re-enact a 1979 visit by Ray Charles.
A resolution introduced Thursday congratulates Foxx for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of the Albany, Ga., native and invites him to the chamber to be honored in person.
The Legislative Black Caucus, which sponsored the idea, is hoping that Foxx would perform “Georgia On My Mind” on a piano in the House chamber.
Charles performed the tune for lawmakers in 1979 when it was designated the state song. Georgia politicians maintained a close relationship with the singer afterward; he performed at the 2003 inauguration of Gov. Sonny Perdue. Charles died last year.
In an autobiography, Charles said he was deeply honored by his visit to the House.
“That touched my heart,” Charles wrote in “Brother Ray.” “I cried. I truly did.”
Sponsors haven’t heard yet whether Foxx would be able to visit, said the resolution’s author, Democratic Rep. Quincy Murphy of Augusta. He said lawmakers just wanted Foxx to know how much they liked the movie.
“It’s been tremendous. It has resurrected all this good will and feeling for Ray Charles,” Murphy said.
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Tax rules eased for Georgia companies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia companies will get a $1 billion tax break over the next decade under legislation that won final approval in the Senate this morning and now heads to the governor for his signature.
The Senate voted 43-10 for a bill that radically changes how corporations in Georgia are taxed, moving from a system based on sales, property and payroll to one based only on sales.
It is designed to close tax loopholes and increase the tax burden of out-of-state companies, and would save Georgia firms about $1 billion over 10 years. The measure was supported by Gov. Sonny Perdue’s Department of Revenue.
Backers said it would provide incentives for businesses to invest in Georgia because they wouldn’t have to pay higher taxes for building a plant or adding workers. Lobbyists for Georgia-based Coca-Cola, BellSouth, General Electric and the textile industry pushed the bill, which earlier overwhelmingly passed the House.
“It’s all about jobs,” said Senate Finance Chairman Casey Cagle (R-Gainesville), its leading backer in the Senate.
Critics called it corporate welfare.
“This money is coming from the citizens of this state,” said Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Ellenwood). “We’re going to reduce taxes on corporate America and we’re going to raise taxes for the citizens of this state.
“We should be man and woman enough to tell the citizens of Georgia that we’re going to raise your taxes.”
Sen. Steve Thompson (D-Powder Springs) criticized Republican leaders for not letting Democrats add an amendment to the bill making the state and companies verify how many jobs — if any — are created because of the corporate tax cut.
Pro-business legislation has zoomed through the General Assembly this session, the first with Republican majorities since Reconstruction. Earlier, lawmakers passed a business-backed measure limiting doctors’ and hospitals’ legal liability, and the Senate approved a sub-minimum wage “training” pay for some workers. The House has approved a bill granting governmental bodies secrecy when trying to attract businesses, and it is about to consider a measure that would allow automobile insurance companies to raise rates without having to first get state approval.
Thompson said he considers himself pro-business, but he added that corporate lobbyists seem to be getting whatever they want from legislators these days. He joked that when he leaves the Capitol, “I check the gold on the dome to make sure it’s still there.”
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Clean up — and say ‘cheese’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Before the lights and camera came the instructions: “Clean your desks.”
That’s what House members were advised this morning as they prepared to pose for a panoramic photo of all 180 members and their chamber. For the annual event, House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) asked members to stuff all their papers and laptop computers inside their desks. A man with a bullhorn then talked them through the specifics of how the photo would be shot.
And so began Day 27 of the legislative session. Fourteen bills are on the House calendar, including a controversial measure that would allow public colleges to keep secret all information about their private donors - even those who give large gifts.
Republican sponsors and the state Board of Regents say the secrecy is needed because public colleges are at a disadvantage when they can’t promise donors privacy.
Democrats expect to fight to fight House Bill 340 and have declared it the latest in a series of GOP plans to close government business from public view.
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Senate approves anti-spam measure
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state Senate voted to slam spam — the junk messages that clog the e-mail inboxes of computer users — after a long debate Thursday morning.
By a vote of 50-3, the chamber approved Gov. Sonny Perdue’s “Slam Spam E-mail Act,” a measure that makes it a felony to send a high volume of commercial e-mail.
The proposal passed with an amendment, which stipulates e-mail defined as commercial spam must be intended to mislead recipients.
The measure now heads to the House.
Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth) carried the bill for the governor. He said the bill would not solve the problem of spam but would be an important part of the solution.
“What this bill does is give tools to our small businesses, prosecutors and Internet Service Providers — tools we believe will be very effective in controlling spam,” Shafer said.
Senate Minority Whip David Adelman (D-Atlanta) said he did not think the bill would make a difference.
“Let’s make it clear to the people of Georgia that when we pass this anti-spam law it won’t stop spam, not one iota,” Adelman said. “We need to really manage the expectations of the people of the state of Georgia.”
At one point in the debate, Adelman asked Shafer whether the bill was a “great big nothing.”
Shafer retorted that Adelman had the option to vote “no” on the measure. Despite a lengthy debate with Shafer, Adelman voted “yes” on the bill.
Shafer said a provision in the bill gives the state attorney general, district attorneys and prosecutors the power to issue investigative subpoenas for computer crimes.
Adelman introduced a bill earlier this year on behalf of Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor that would give prosecutors the authority to investigate suspected sexual predators who use the Internet to lure minors.
Shafer argued the Spam Act would allow investigators to target commercial e-mail, sexual predators and other criminal acts carried out via the Internet.
Sen. J.B. Powell (D-Blythe) also asked why a person who suffered personal, property or economic damages from deceptive e-mail could receive damages of up to $2 million per incident, plus expenses of litigation and attorney’s fees.
Powell said the cap was too high, especially because the Senate and House recently approved a highly controversial measure capping non-economic damages for medical malpractice lawsuits at $350,000 for individuals. Perdue signed the medical malpractice limits into law earlier this month.
Powell’s amendment to set the spam damages cap at $350,000 failed.
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House spending plan includes some pork
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pork is back on the menu at the Capitol.
The new Republican House is proposing a $17.4 billion spending plan for next year — approved by the Appropriations Committee this morning — that is loaded with $3.5 million worth of local projects the GOP commonly called “pork” when Democrats ruled the statehouse.
In addition, the proposal adds more than $40 million in college and technical school building projects favored by top lawmakers.
Much of the special project money went to the districts of Republican leaders, including at least three in the district of House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin (R-Evans). The plans includes $180,000 in park and renovation money for St. Simons Island, a wealthy coastal community represented by House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island)
“Obviously, they couldn’t stand it, they had to do their special projects, which they railed against for years,” said House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin).
The Republicans, like past Democrat leaders, noted that the local projects — ranging from volunteer fire department equipment to historic preservation — were only a tiny piece of the state budget. And they added that the three pages in the budget document dedicated to hometown money were less than Democrats used to add. During some years, the Democrats would add 25 pages of local projects.
Nonetheless, it stood out in the budget, which will be considered by the full House Friday, because the state’s fiscal crisis the past few years has made it difficult to fund such projects.
Harbin said his chamber’s plan adds $33 million toward state employee health coverage to reduce insurance premium increases expected July 1, and eliminates millions of dollars in spending cuts hospitals were expected to suffer across the state.
It also includes $2 million for a new mentor program for science teachers, which lawmakers say is a major need in schools. Many students who fail to graduate from high school do so because they can’t pass the science section of the state graduation test.
“I think we put people over politics,” Harbin said.
Harbin said the local projects had to meet certain criteria. They had to bolster economic development and education or provide other vital community services.
“We decided at the start that there wouldn’t be any band uniforms, there wouldn’t be any ballfield lights,” he said.
Gov. Sonny Perdue’s original budget proposal for fiscal 2006, which begins July 1, was already top-heavy with bonded construction projects. It contains about $1 billion worth of new bonds for next year.
House budget writers added several more, including $4.9 million for renovations at the Georgia Tech historic civil engineering building, $4.9 million to renovate the social science, library and Wilson buildings at Kennesaw State University, $5 million for an addition to the student center at Gainesville College and $1 million toward a library in Hall County.
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Police-car proposal tabled
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Senate met for three hours Wednesday and took up several bills.
Legislators spent the most time debating Senate Bill 64, a measure that would repeal a law requiring police cars to have blue lights on the roof.
Sen. John Douglas (R-Covington) introduced the bill. But several other senators, including both Republicans and Democrats, spoke out against the bill. Sen. John Wiles (R-Kennesaw) said the bill could put women in danger because they might be pulled over by someone who is not a police officer.
“I just think we’re going the wrong way if we’re concerned about protecting our women and children,” Wiles said.
Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford) also said she would not support the bill. “For the women of Goergia, I’m asking you to vote no.”
Douglas tabled the bill after the lengthy debate.
The Senate also took up a measure to prevent the taking and selling of female blue crabs bearing eggs. The proposal, Senate Bill 119, passed 49-0.
The Senate also approved Senate Bill 91, a measure to create a state-wide telecommunication system for the blind and visually impaired. The measure passed 53-0.
The Senate meets at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Stephens (R-Canton) announced the calendar for next week. The Senate will be in session for three days next week: Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
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