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AJC.com > Legislature > Georgia Beat > Archives > 2005 > March > 31
Thursday, March 31, 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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