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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2007 > March > 01
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Health care study group gains consideration
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously approved a resolution today to set up an eight-person study committee on health care.
Sen. Judson Hill (R-Marietta) said health care is in crisis with 1.7 million Georgians uninsured.
His resolution would set up the Joint Study Committee on Health Care Transformation, made up of four members of the House and four from the Senate.
Permalink | | Categories: Health Care
Bill boosts protection of foster parents
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A bill that would give foster parents additional protection and rights cleared the Senate today by a unanimous vote of 56-0.
The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Steve Thompson (D-Powder Springs), gives foster parents the ability to request an administrative hearing if they believe their rights have been violated by the state.
Senate Bill 188, which now goes to the House, also gives the same protection to foster parents who are caring for privately-placed children.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: politics
Charter school systems bill moves forward
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Senate Bill 39, which would allow school systems to convert to charter status, passed today in the House Education Committee and now goes to the Rules Committee.
The legislation could greatly increase the number of charter schools because one application would cover multiple schools.
Permalink | | Categories: Education
Crackdown on dog fighting advances
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Senate lawmakers today approved a proposal by Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) that cracks down on people who engage in various aspects of dog-fighting.
Senate Bill 16 expands current law to prohibit Georgians from raising and training dogs for the purpose of dog-fighting.
It also bans people from betting on dog-fights and organizing such events.
A person who receives a first conviction for breaking the law could face between one and five years in prison, a minimum fine of $5,000, or both.
SB 16, which passed 54-0, now heads to the House for approval.
Permalink | | Categories: politics
Bill allowing reviews of teen sex offenses moves forward
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A bill that would allow judges to re-visit the sentences of certain teenaged sex offenders got approval in a Senate committee today.
Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Atlanta) sponsored Senate Bill 37 after meeting with Genarlow Wilson, a Douglasville man serving a 10-year prison sentence for aggravated child molestation after having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old when he was 17.
The bill would allow judges to modify the sentences of some 1,100 young people convicted of certain felony consensual sex crimes between teenagers that the Legislature last year deemed as misdemeanors under a so-called “Romeo and Juliet” provision in the law.
But the bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, because Sen. President Pro Tempore Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) has come out strongly against it.
Permalink | | Categories: politics
Burkhalter moves to phase out car tax
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A high-ranking House Republican leader filed a major car tax cut measure this week that would save taxpayers $600 million annually when fully phased in.
House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter’s (R-Alpharetta) bill would exempt motorists from paying the auto tag tax on up to $7,500 of the fair market value for their cars and trucks starting in 2009. Over half of the vehicles in Georgia would be totally exempt from the tax at that time, Burkhalter said.
The exemption would steadily rise over the next few years until the tax is fully phased out in 2012.
The taxes motorists pay are based on 40 percent of a vehicle’s value and the local tax millage rate. The state would reimburse local governments for their lost revenue under House Bill 585.
Burkhalter announced on the first day of this year’s 40-day legislative session that he would be filing the legislation.
“To me, this is the most tangible, immediate tax relief we can give taxpayers,” Burkhalter said in an interview today. “They will notice it right away, particularly since it is paid on their birthday.”
His bill has been assigned to the House Ways and Means Committee.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: politics
Bill banning red light cameras stopped
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A legislative committee gutted a proposal to ban red light cameras in Georgia this week, signaling the traffic devices are here to stay for now.
The House Motor Vehicles Committee revised the bill Wednesday to continue allowing the stoplight cameras while placing new restrictions on them.
Under the revised House Bill 77, counties and cities would keep money to cover the costs of operating the cameras and less than 25 percent of the remaining money raised, and the rest would go to the state’s general fund to support Georgia’s trauma care system.
The legislation would also require cities and counties to perform traffic engineering studies before installing the cameras. Those studies could help them come up with alternatives to the cameras, such as redesigning intersections, the bill suggests.
Several state lawmakers and privacy advocates, including former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, have argued the cameras are unconstitutional. Critics have also alleged the devices are nothing more than revenue generators for local governments.
The proposal faced major opposition, however, from Gov. Sonny Perdue’s Office of Highway Safety, municipal leaders and police, who say the cameras are making Georgia’s roads safer.
The revised bill is now headed to the House Rules Committee, which sets the agenda for House floor votes.
Meanwhile, one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Cassville), is sponsoring new legislation that would lower the maximum fine cities and counties can charge red light runners caught by the cameras, from $70 to $35.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Categories: politics
Bill would require seatbelt use in trucks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Almost every year in recent memory, a state legislator has floated a proposal to require adult passengers to wear seat belts in pick-up trucks.
And every year, those proposals quietly disappear - leaving safety advocates shaking their heads in frustration.
Not this year. The Georgia Senate on Thursday voted 45-10 in favor of a bill that would get rid of the state’s seat belt exemption for pick-up trucks.
“There’s a time to buckle up and there’s a time to unbuckle,” said Sen. Don Thomas (R-Dalton), the bill’s sponsor. “The time to buckle is before you start the engine. The time to unbuckle is after you stop your engine.”
There are more than 1.5 million pickup trucks on Georgia’s roads, but both Democrats and Republicans for years have stifled attempts to require adults who ride in pickup trucks to wear seat belts, arguing that such a law would infringe on the personal freedom of Georgians.
House and Senate lawmakers who represent rural areas also have argued such a measure would be a hassle for farmers, who use pick-up trucks for agricultural work.
“If you are driving a vehicle and going from field to field….this would require that every time you get into your vehicle you have to buckle a seat belt,” said Sen. John Bulloch (R-Ochlocknee), a pecan farmer, who opposed the bill.
Thomas said that Georgia and Indiana are the only two states that allow the seat-belt exemption for adults in pickups. If Georgia gets rid of the exception, the state likely would be eligible for a one-time allocation of $20.7 million in federal funds.
Several groups have expressed their support of SB 86 this year, including the American Automobile Association, Ford Motor Company and the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Freshman Sen. Jack Murphy (R-Cumming) said that as a conservative and a person who values personal freedom, he had concerns about the bill. But he spoke in favor of it, saying that Georgia either has a seat belt law, or it does not.
“We need to send the right message to our young folks that whatever we’re required to do, they’re required to do,” Murphy said. Minors are required to wear seat-belts in pick-up trucks under current law.
SB 86 now heads to the House for approval, where it likely will face a tougher battle. Last year, a similar seat belt measure passed a House committee but did not make it to the floor for a vote. At the time, House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) said he was not a fan of mandating seat-belt use in pick-up trucks.
So far this year, Richardson has not voiced opposition to getting rid of the seat-belt exemption for pick-up trucks, but he has not come out in support of such measures either.
Would you like to share your opinion on this proposed legislation with capitol reporter Sonji Jacobs? If so, please e-mail her at sjacobs@ajc.com.
Permalink | Comments (80) | Categories: Public safety
Senate votes to ease grandparents’ path to custody
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Senate voted today in favor of a measure that would allow grandparents to care for their minor grandchildren without court approval. Instead, the child’s parents could give the grandparents authority by simply signing a legal document.
The bill also would establish a subsidy program, managed by the state Department of Human Resources, to help low-income grandparents who have legal custody or guardianship of their grandchildren and participate in programs designed for grandparents raising grandchildren.
Grandparents who have an annual income of less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $40,000 for a family of four, would be able to use the subsidy to purchase items such as food, books, clothes and medicine and cover living expenses such as rent, car repairs and gasoline.
Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford), the bill’s sponsor, said lawmakers should not be concerned about creating another government-based subsidy program.
“If these children did not go to their grandparents, they would be going into foster care,” Unterman said. “This is a pro-family bill that allows these families to stay together.”
Senate Bill 88 passed by a vote of 55-1. Sen. Bill Heath (R-Bremen) cast the only dissenting vote against the bill. He questioned whether grandparents who have raised children who have made poor life choices should be entrusted to care for their grandchildren.
Unterman and several other lawmakers countered that parents can not control their children and that even people raised in good homes can grow up and make bad decisions.
The effective date of the bill, if it gains final approval, is July 1, 2007. Unterman said the DHR budget already has $1.2 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds set aside for the program.
In addition:
— A bill that would give foster parents additional protection and rights cleared the Senate by a unanimous vote of 56-0. The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Steve Thompson (D-Powder Springs), gives foster parents the ability to request an administrative hearing if they believe their rights have been violated by the state. Senate Bill 188 also gives the same protection to foster parents who are caring for privately-placed children.
— The Senate voted 49-6 for a proposal by Sen. John Douglas (R-Social Circle) to amend Georgia’s Constitution to allow members of the state Senate to serve for four years. Under Senate Resolution 279, senators from even-numbered districts would be elected to a four-year term beginning in 2010. Senators from odd-numbered districts — such as Douglas — would be elected to four-year terms beginning in 2012.
The proposal is silent on terms for House members. State Rep. Mike Keown (R-Coolidge) has filed a similar proposal in the House. That resolution proposes four-year terms for all legislators.
SR 279 now goes to the House. It also would need final approval from Georgia voters, who have twice rejected attempts to lengthen the terms of their state representatives and senators, most recently in 1988.
Permalink | | Categories: politics
House wrestles with women sports programs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
State Rep. James Mills made an unusual admission on the House floor this morning. “I hope I never have to wrestle a woman,” Mills (R-Gainesville) declared, prompting laughter from fellow House members.
He made those comment while talking about his resolution urging Georgia’s university system to start up intercollegiate wrestling programs.
Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (D-Atlanta) rose on the House floor and reminded Mills that females wrestle, too.
“This is gender-neutral,” Mills responded about House Resolution 246. “It would be my hope that any athlete who wants to excel in this area would have the same opportunity. At the same time, I hope I would never have to wrestle a woman.”
None of the 35 institutions in the state’s university system offer competitive wrestling programs, the resolution says.
“Georgia is blessed with a number of outstanding high school wrestling programs which produce extraordinarily talented young wrestlers,” the resolution says.
“The lack of opportunity for competition in intercollegiate wrestling and the lack of scholarship opportunities result in talented student-athletes leaving the State of Georgia to pursue their sport in colleges and universities in other states.”
The House passed the resolution without a fight.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Miscellaneous
House OKs tax break for Georgia Aquarium
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Aquarium could receive a tax break of about $7 million for its planned expansion under a bill that passed the state’s House of Representatives today.
House Bill 148 would waive sales tax on construction materials for the aquarium over the next four years.
That could amount to about $7 million in savings on $100 million of steel, mortar and other materials, said the bill’s sponsor, House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta).
The aquarium, which had plans to expand even before it opened in 2005, has 1.5 acres of land on its western edge that officials are eyeing for expansion. They estimate that the tract could accommodate about 180,000 square feet of construction — roughly one-third of the aquarium’s 550,000 square feet. The aquarium has not yet identified any new animals or proposed exhibits for the expansion.
The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
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