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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2006 > February > 14
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
House approves fee on illegal immigrants’ wire transfers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After two hours of contentious debate, the Georgia House approved legislation today that would impose a 5 percent fee on illegal immigrants who use wire transfers to send money out of the country.
The “Illegal Immigration Fee Act,” the first bill focusing on illegal immigration to reach a legislative chamber, passed 106 to 60.
Supporters of HB 1238 billed it as a small step to recouping some of what state government spends on health care, mostly emergency room care, for illegal immigrants.
Detractors argued that it would penalize hard-working people, many of whom are doing jobs that Americans don’t want. They also suggested the fee on wire transfers could send more undocumented workers underground and harm U.S. companies.
State Rep. Tom Rice (R-Norcross), the bill’s chief sponsor, said the fee would allow illegal immigrants to pay back some of the costs they impose on the health care system.
“All it says is: If you are here illegally, and you seek to transfer money out of the country by wire, you will be asked to pay,” Rice said. “We’re not going to send you to jail or get the immigration bus after you.”
He said estimates show that about $1 billion is wired out of Georgia each year to Mexico.
The fee would not apply to anyone who can prove they are in this country legally by presenting one of more than a dozen documents, including a driver’s license or passport.
The bill was amended on the House floor to exempt the fee if the illegal immigrant can produce a pay stub or a tax return that shows they’ve paid taxes in Georgia.
Democrats lead the floor fight against the bill. But state Rep. Austin Scott (R-Tifton) was an exception.
Scott declared the need for immigration reform because of the impact that illegals are having on crime, public schools and even his personal comfort level. “It bothers me that the children of an illegal immigrant in this country will have the same rights to citizenship as my child,” he said.
But Scott said he believes Rice’s bill would “tax people who are doing the best they can to provide for their families.
“I’ve got a moral problem with that,” he said.
Scott said illegal immigration should be addressed at the federal level and said he feared, with Rice’s bill, the state is “headed down the road with piecemeal immigration reform, instead of meaningful immigration reform.”
Rep. Al Williams of Midway was one of several Democrats to denounce the bill as punishing those who are struggling to make a living and “good enough to pick our onions, gather our straw, wash our dishes.
“You cannot be a persecutor of the least of God’s people, and convince your people back home you love the Lord,” Williams said.
The bill now goes to the state Senate, where a comprehensive bill dealing with immigration, has been introduced.
Permalink | | Categories: Breaking news
Child-care tax credit headed to governor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s working families will get a break on their income taxes this year under a child-care tax credit approved by the General Assembly.
Gov. Sonny Perdue announced his intention to help working families with their child-care expenses through a tax reduction during his State of the State speech in January.
State lawmakers moved quickly on the governor’s initiative. House Bill 1080 passed the House earlier this month with a unanimous vote, and cleared the Senate on Tuesday by a vote of 50 to zero. Perdue is expected to sign the measure into law soon.
“Child care is a critical need for many families in Georgia,� Perdue said in a statement. “Assisting hard working parents with these costs is a practical step government can take to help create conditions for economic prosperity and improve the safety and well-being of our young people.�
Sen. Casey Cagle (R-Gainesville) said the measure will save many Georgia families about $50 to $150 per year, depending on their child care costs and income level.
Permalink | | Categories: Breaking news
Smoltz a big hit at Legislature
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz got a hero’s welcome as he stopped by the Georgia House of Representatives today enroute to spring training.
Lawmakers gave him a standing ovation and lined up to have photos made with him.
A House resolution, sponsored by Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta), pays tribute to Smoltz for his 19 years with the Braves, as well his involvement with the Alpharetta Police Athletic League, the Atlanta Community Food Bank and other community groups.
Burkhalter said Smoltz’s success on the baseball field “pales to what he does off the field. He is a man of God, and he lives by the Word of God.”
Smoltz said Alpharetta would be his lifelong home and vowed to try to be a good role model to children.
Permalink | | Categories: Breaking news
Brook trout may swim into state law books
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Southern Appalachian brook trout could go from the frying pan into the state law books.
The House Rules Committee took the bait today and passed on to the full House a bill to make the Southern Appalachian brook trout the official state cold water game fish.
The Legislature already has designated dozens of official state symbols, including the green tree frog as the official state amphibian; the peanut as the state crop; the honeybee as the state insect; grits as the state prepared food; and knobbed whelk as the state seashell.
The largemouth bass already claims the title of official state fish.
State Rep. Bobby Reese (R-Sugar Hill) told Rules Committee members that the Southern Appalachian brook trout is worthy of symbol status as the state’s only native trout.
“They’re tasty, too,” he said.
Permalink | | Categories: Breaking news
When the death of one is the death of two
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Let’s get a bit serious. Say a woman buys a home pregnancy test kit, uses the paper strip, and finds out she is — in the phrasing used by mothers-to-be everywhere — just barely pregnant. She walks out her front door, and is felled by a bullet. Is the shooter guilty of one murder — or two? Two bills now sit in the legislature which would allow for the prosecution of anyone who caues the death of an unborn child, regardless of the stage of pregnancy. One of them is House Bill 243, sponsored by state Rep. Sue Burmeister (R-Augusta). No prosecution could arise from an abortion, according to H.B. 243. But abortion-rights advocates still say the bill threatens a woman’s right to choose because it assigns legal rights to a fetus. Would this bill errode abortion rights or give prosecutors an important tool to charge someone who attacks a pregnant woman?
