AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2007 > April > 16
Monday, April 16, 2007
Children could face misdemeanor for seeking cigarettes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Children could face a misdemeanor for attempting to buy cigarettes under a law that narrowly won approval in the Georgia House today.
Critics complained a misdemeanor charge is too severe for the crime, however. And they signaled they would ask the House to reconsider its vote as soon as tomorrow.
Rep. Jim Cole (R-Forsyth), who carried Senate Bill 95 on the House floor, said children can already be prosecuted for attempting to buy cigarettes under current law.
SB95 clarifies the law, Cole said, allowing vendors to advertise that it is illegal for children to attempt to purchase cigarettes from them. The law says children convicted of the crime could face up to 20 hours of community service.
“Under current law, the attempt to purchase can be prosecuted,” Cole told the House before it voted 95 to 50 in favor of the bill. “What we are trying to do here is allow the vendors to publish ‘attempt to purchase’ can be a misdemeanor.”
Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (D-Atlanta) said she opposes underage tobacco use but is concerned about the bill.
“I just don’t want them having an arrest record that carries with them for life,” Benfield said after the House vote.
Benfield said she also worries the law could apply in cases where parents ask their children to buy cigarettes for them. And she questioned whether there is any corresponding punishment for vendors who sell cigarettes to minors.
Moments after the vote, Rep. Jeanette Jamieson (D-Toccoa) said she plans to ask the House to reconsider its decision on Tuesday.
SB 95, sponsored by Sen. Joseph Carter (R-Tifton), also bans businessmen from selling tobacco-related products in the same vending machines with non-tobacco items such as gum. Cole said those machines exist in other states but not in Georgia.
“It is a very preemptive strike,” Cole said, “that is geared toward protecting our young people.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: politics
Senate committee approves spending plan
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Senate Appropriations Committee this afternoon approved a spending plan for next year that includes $45 million for land preservation and all $19 million Gov. Sonny Perdue wanted for fishing tourism.
The full Senate is expected to vote on the $20.2 billion spending plan Tuesday, and Senate and House negotiators will then work to hammer out a compromise on the budget before the session is scheduled to end Friday.
As expected, the Senate stripped or slashed many of the pet projects inserted into the budget by the House and added its own. The winners in that process were Southeast Georgia lawmakers who help run the Senate and funneled more money to their areas. The loser was the Augusta area, home to House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin (R-Evans).
For instance, the Senate cut money Harbin wanted to prop up the Golf Hall of Fame in Augusta, stripped money designated for the Charlie Norwood dental school in Augusta and supported money to begin creating a medical school in Athens. Harbin had wanted the medical school money to expand the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.
The Senate gave Perdue more of what he wanted than the House. For instance, Perdue got all the money he requested for “Go Fish Georgia,” which would build fishing facilities and a fish hatchery. The governor got nearly all of the $50 million he requested for land preservation. The House had approved no money for the program.
The Senate also put more money into adult literacy programs. The agency that runs adult literacy programs feared it would have to furlough teachers next month because of a funding shortfall.
And the Senate rejected a plan by House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) to force thousands of Atlanta-area residents in Medicaid’s elderly, blind and disabled programs into managed care. Richardson had estimated the shift to cheaper managed care programs would save state and federal taxpayers $80 million a year. The agency that runs Medicaid opposed the change.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: politics
House puts off decision on private development districts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s House has put off a decision for a day on a proposal that would allow private development districts to tax homeowners because proponents are still trying to round up several more votes for the measure.
Senate Resolution 309 is a proposed Constitutional amendment, meaning supporters need to secure votes from two-thirds of the House membership, or 120 votes.
Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) said this morning that he and other proponents are seeking between two and five more votes for the measure.
A House vote was scheduled today for the bill and companion legislation — Senate Bill 200. But House Republican leaders decided this morning to table it for a day to give supporters more time to secure votes.
Stephens said some opponents might be under the mistaken impression that the legislation would give the development districts the power to seize property through eminent domain. SB200 specifically blocks the districts from having that power.
Similar legislation died in the General Assembly last year partly because of concerns that the districts would have the power to condemn private property.
“We want to make sure people understand what the bill does,” said Stephens, chairman of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee, which endorsed the proposal last week. “There is a lot of misinformation.
“This is a way for developers and homeowners to tax themselves for expensive infrastructure without taxing the rest of the county. That is the whole essence of the bill.”
The legislation — which would also have to be approved by voters — would grant the districts the power to issue tax-exempt bonds to raise money for roads, sewers and other infrastructure needed to support their planned communities. The districts could then tax the homeowners in their communities to help pay off those bonds.
Supporters say the measure could boost economic development in Georgia and help cash-strapped counties and cities that are struggling to keep up with the state’s growth.
Nicknaming the districts “private cities,” critics say the legislation would create taxation without representation and could lead to suburban sprawl.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: politics
