Legislative notebook

By Special

For the AJC

Murphy's seat belt
exemption in peril

One of the last vestiges of the late House Speaker Tom Murphy (D-Bremen) could vanish this year if state Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) is correct.

The Senate majority leader on Tuesday predicted the state’s exemption of pickup trucks from Georgia’s mandatory seat belt law could be eliminated this session.

“If you’re going to have a seat belt law, it ought to apply to everyone equally,” Rogers told reporters during a briefing. He added: “I think it will probably pass this year.”

Of course, lawmakers have tried and failed before to get pickup truck drivers to buckle up. Critics of the state’s current exemption argue that it leads to increased crash injuries and has cost the state federal highway dollars.

Murphy, who ruled over the House for 30 years before Republicans took control of the chamber, exempted pickups from the seat belt law because he hated constantly buckling and unbuckling them when getting out of his truck.

If Rogers’ prediction comes to pass, there is a certain irony. Just this session, the House unveiled a portrait of the late House speaker, who would be scowling down on lawmakers if he knew what they were up to.

Jim Tharpe

Chief justice: Budget cuts
take toll on judicial branch

Budget cuts are making it increasingly difficult for Georgia courts to fulfill their constitutionally mandated duties, Chief Justice Carol Hunstein told state lawmakers Tuesday.

“The need for justice does not diminish with a shrinking economy,” Hunstein said in the annual State of the Judiciary address to a joint session of the House and Senate. “Indeed, as our caseloads attest, it grows.”

The caseload in the state’s superior courts has jumped 20 percent in five years, and the creation of new judgeships has not kept pace, Hunstein said.

Nancy Badertscher

Bill would end use of
gas chambers for animals

After the lengthy debate, the Georgia House passed a bill Tuesday that would prohibit animal shelters from using gas chambers to kill unwanted cats and dogs.

Most shelters in the state use lethal injection, but about 10 jurisdictions still operate animal gas chambers, said Rep. Tom Knox (R-Cumming) .

“We know that lethal injection is a better method, a less expensive method and a more humane method," Knox told House members. “I urge you to listen to your constituents, dog and cat owners, and vote for this bill.”

Rep. Gene Maddox (R-Cairo), a veterinarian for 50 years, called it a "bad bill" and called a carbon monoxide chamber the safest and cheapest way to end a stray's life.

"I've gotten more calls from my constituents to get rid of the oven than I have the budget," said Rep. Al Williams (D-Midway).

A push to send HB 788 back to committee failed, and the measure cleared the chamber 115-46. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Nancy Badertscher

Bills targeting
tax cheats pass

The Georgia House approved legislation Tuesday that would allow the state Revenue Department to use certified law enforcement agents to go after tax cheats.

The bill’s sponsor, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Larry O’Neal (R-Bonaire), said the bill will help the department “change that terrible subculture where people think they can cheat our tax code.”

Some lawmakers voiced reservations about having eight certified law enforcement officers working in the Revenue Department on tax fraud and tax theft cases.

“We don’t want to see taxes collected at the point of a gun,” said Rep. Mark Hatfield (R-Waycross).

The bill passed 97-69.

House members also supported O’Neal’s bill that would make garnishment of delinquent taxpayers' wages more of an administrative function than a court process.

The Revenue Department currently has to pay about $160 in court fees to file a garnishment and so has pursued only a fraction of a potential 20,000 garnishments, O’Neal said.

Taxpayers can still go to court and have other appeal options. But by avoiding the court fees, the Revenue Department could save as much as $1 million if it only goes after half of the 20,000 cases where garnishments are possible, O’Neal said.

Nancy Badertscher

Senate backs alert
aimed at cop killers

A bill that would create a statewide alert system similar to an Amber Alert that would help track down cop killers is halfway toward becoming a state law.

The Georgia Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved SB 397 to create the Blue Alert, which would help track criminals who have killed or assaulted a police officer.

The Blue Alert would be broadcast across the state on Georgia Department of Transportation message boards and other state messaging systems.

Detailed descriptions of the offender’s car and tags would be posted.

Senate Transportation Chairman Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) originally proposed the bill in February, the same week that a Chattahoochee Hills police officer was killed in an ambush.

The bill passed 48-0 and now moves to the House of Representatives.

Ernie Suggs