AJC Gwinnett Opinions asked each of Gwinnett's state representatives and senators to tell readers about the 2008 legislative session that recently ended. What were the highlights? What were the disappointments? What did they accomplish? The following are the comments of those who responded:

SEN. DAVID J. SHAFER (R-Duluth)

Senate District 48

We took important first steps in helping fund a statewide trauma network and addressing our medium- and long-term water needs.

I was disappointed that we were not able to address tax reform or transportation funding.

I was happy to play a role in securing funding for Gwinnett Technical College's new life sciences building. It is a vitally important project for meeting the health care needs of our community.

I am proud of my legislation to encourage competition in the telecommunications industry. The Telecommunications Competition Act of 2008 eliminates barriers to marketplace entry and levels the playing field for all telecommunications companies.

SEN. GLORIA BUTLER (D-Stone Mountain)

Senate District 55

Best moments: Voting against the proposed $14 million cut in funds to Gwinnett County schools contained in the Senate's budget. It was a bittersweet moment —- the GOP continues to shortchange our families by cutting education funding, creating the biggest back-door tax increase by forcing property taxes higher.

I voted against a gun bill that would allow gun owners to carry guns in public places, such as restaurants, churches, parks and our transit systems.

Biggest accomplishments: Saving Jekyll Island for Georgia families was a great win. For years now, developers have been after the last (yes, the last) public access beach in the state. We were thrilled to fight alongside Sen. Jeff Chapman (R-Brunswick) to maintain that beach for all Georgians. I was able to create a Senate study committee (Senate Resolution 1093) (MethCheck Data Base) in regard to creating an electronic log to record medication purchases made that contain ingredients that make methamphetamine.

Biggest disappointments: It's hard to say. No progress on education. Not enough progress on trauma care funding, We should have passed House Bill 1158, which would have created a 15-hospital trauma care network and a $10 vehicle registration tax to help fund the hospitals. No progress at all on transportation; House Bill 845 would have given the citizens the opportunity to decide whether they would agree to give a penny toward solutions to alleviate traffic congestion. Think about that the next time you're sitting and waiting for traffic to move on Ga. 316, I-285 and other expressways.

SEN. RENEE UNTERMAN (R-Buford)

Senate District 45

The 2008 session was definitely contentious and frustrating, but it also resulted in numerous victories for Georgia families and those interested in consumer issues.

Major aggressive agendas such as taxes, water, transportation and health care were tackled early in the session, with only a few emerging as winners in the end. Those that failed in the final minutes will show up at the top of the agenda next session. After serving several terms, I have found this not to be uncommon.

This year, I passed legislation I have worked on for four solid, long years. As an elected official, perseverance is definitely an attribute, along with tenacity.

Unfortunately, the main idea that many of us have worked on diligently for years —- tax reform —- failed because of fighting in the political leadership. We were all disheartened that our No. 1 issue will have to wait another year.

Regional water planning and reservoirs —- our other goal —-did succeed, along with $30 million in bond infrastructure development.

Transportation legislation did pass with two successful initiatives —- to create infrastructure banks for building and legislative oversight —- but the most important part —- development of regional districts for road improvement funding —- fell short in the Senate by three votes.

Three major bills to which I contributed: ones involving trauma care, a credit freeze and the "Certificate of Need" process for health care providers, did emerge as real winners.

Having served on the Joint Trauma Study Committee and traveled the state for two years, I have developed an understanding of our grossly inadequate emergency health care services. Trauma care emerged in the spotlight, even though legislation failed. It has taken this amount of time just to reach floor debate and attract media attention to focus on our dire needs. We did receive an appropriation line item, funded Grady for emergency money, and increased Medicaid reimbursement fees for hospitals, keeping them in solvency. Next year we will be successful in a permanent revenue stream to improve our ranking as one of the worst states in the nation in which to have a major accident.

The credit freeze bill, to help address identity theft, successfully passed, allowing consumers to place a security freeze on the issuance of credit reports and credit scores. The freeze carries a $3 charge instead of the proposed $10 amended fee in the Senate. That higher fee would have resulted in a cost of $120 for a couple to enact a freeze on all three major credit vendors. A freeze for seniors, 65 and older, will be free.

This bill is a huge, major victory for Georgia consumers. It has required the hard work of a whole stampede of legislators to pass after many years. The archaic Georgia "Certificate of Need" health care regulatory process was amended —- a giant victory for health care consumers, reforming an industry to make it more competitive, cost-effective and easily accessible for all Georgians. This especially helps our Gwinnett Medical Hospital System, which has been stymied, with its needed medical expansion roadblocked for years. Open-heart surgery and access to advanced medical technology has been severely limited by these outdated, obscure, protectionist provisions.

The agenda of Gwinnett County local governments was easily advanced by our united Gwinnett legislative delegation. We were successful in acquiring funding to build a new life science building at Gwinnett Technical College. Conservation districts were established, with developer exchange rights. Tax allocation districts were reworded for another constitutional amendment on the ballot. We successfully placed the drug Ecstasy in the appropriate Superior Court status as felony offenses, and $90 million was added in new equalization funding.

One of my most important jobs at the state Capitol is serving as the subcommittee chairwoman on Appropriations to write —- with my committee —- the Senate version of the state's $40.1 billion budget for the Department of Human Resources (DHR), veterans affairs, and the Department of Labor.

Three quarters of my time during the session is spent in work related to passing an annual balanced budget for my division. Hours are spent on writing, attending hearings, negotiating, debating, and passing the budget plan. This represents accountability for more than $3 billion and is a tremendous task that requires a great deal of institutional knowledge. The DHR is responsible for 34 programs, such as the DFCS (Department of Family and Children Services), child and adult protective services, aging, developmental disabilities, mental health and public health, to name just a few.

In addition, bills that I wrote and passed this session and which are awaiting the governor's signature include:

> Senate Bill 88 —- Care of a Grandchild and Child Legitimation. Grants grandparents and great-grandparents standardized form for power of attorney so they may enter children into school, provide medical care, etc. for an absentee parent. Legitimation allows simple form for fathers to claim paternity of their child.

> Senate Bill 453 —- Controls drug trafficking in state parks, authorities and municipalities.

> Senate Bill 357, Senate Bill 55 and House Bill 393 —- all related to control of the wine industry. They involve direct shipment of certain wines, wine ordered in restaurants and regulation of vineyards in the North Georgia mountains.

> Senate Resolution 445 —- Joint Commercial Exploitation of Minors Study Committee. The House and Senate will examine the child trafficking and prostitution of children in Georgia. In the budget, $560,000 was appropriated for a Georgia Regional Assessment Center for victims of child prostitution, enforcement of laws governing this and therapeutic services.

REP. ROBERT MUMFORD (R-Conyers)

House District 95

The General Assembly did some good things this year.

A few highlights:

The 2008-2009 budget restored $50 million in austerity cuts to education, raised teachers salaries 2.5 percent, provided $30 million for equalization grants, $210 million for Quality Basic Education growth, $1.3 million for math mentors, $5 million for equipment for career schools, increased operational funds to preschool providers, provided for Georgia's first dental school and expanded libraries.

House Bill 1209, Investing in Educational Excellence, allows our school system greater flexibility. A proposal for vouchers had insufficient support in the House to pass.

A water plan and reservoir funding and enabling legislation passed. Both could have been stronger from an environmental perspective, but they make a good beginning in dealing with the drought and our general water problems.

The Transportation Regional Funding proposal failed in the Senate by three votes. An opportunity missed.

The Department of Transportation will be required in the future to provide the costs, funding sources and time lines for all projects to the governor, lieutenant governor, House and Senate.

Indigent defense will be funded with increased accountability. Gwinnett is not in the system, having opted out two years ago. Rockdale and Newton are both in the system. I represent parts of all three counties.

Credit freeze legislation passed, empowering consumers to freeze their credit reports for a nominal fee. This will help people victimized by identity theft.

It has been my honor to serve the citizens of the 95th District.

REP. BROOKS COLEMAN (R-Duluth)

House District 97

As chairman of the House Education Committee, I was pleased with most of the education legislation passed this session. We were able to pass House Bill 1209, the governor's "IE2" initiative, which allows a local school system to receive more flexibility for additional accountability by entering into a contract with the state Department of Education to receive more local control over spending, class sizes and many other Title 20 laws.

House Bill 157, which allows a school system to rehire the best retired teachers, was also passed. There is a teacher shortage in our state and this will allow us to ensure that we have highly qualified teachers in every classroom.

I was also happy we were able to provide a 2 1/2 percent pay raise for teachers and also increase the retirement benefits for our lunchroom workers, custodians and bus drivers.

We also established a joint House and Senate study committee to look at teacher training and education in Georgia. I will lead the committee along with Sen. Dan Weber (R-Dunwoody). The committee will explore how teachers are trained and educated at the university level, certified at the state level and look at ways to encourage the "best" to enter the profession. We have a teacher shortage in Georgia and need to do a better job of identifying, training and retaining teachers.

I felt like we had a pretty good year.

REP. HUGH FLOYD (D-Norcross)

House District 99

The talk of the 2008 legislative session, from beginning to end, was tax relief. A number of proposals to reduce Georgians' property taxes, automobile tag taxes and income taxes were discussed and passed by either the House of Representatives or the Senate. But when all was said and done, much more was said than done.

Because House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle could not agree on a final form of tax relief legislation by the end of the session, Georgians will continue to pay their automobile tax each year on their birthday and the full amount of their state income tax. Nor will there be a property tax valuation assessment freeze.

Another major issue the Republican leadership failed to address is Georgia's transportation funding crisis. Although the House approved an amended version of Senate Resolution 845, which would authorize counties to join together and implement a 1-cent transportation sales tax on a regional basis, if approved by the voters in those counties, the Senate failed to agree to the measure. Georgians will continue to sit in traffic longer or wait on much-needed road and bridge improvements to be completed because of this failure.

A third victim of the infighting between House and Senate Republicans was Georgia's trauma care system, which faces a severe funding shortfall. An agreement on details of a $10 car tag renewal fee that would have provided $74 million in revenues for trauma care could not be reached before midnight on the 40th and final day of the session.

It is worth noting that Gov. Perdue had expressed his strong opposition to all tax cuts and the transportation funding proposal, which did not help either proposal. After the session ended, there was plenty of finger-pointing going on between House and Senate leaders, as well as the governor, but the real losers were the people of Georgia.

Both the House and Senate did agree on the final version of a $21.2 billion annual state budget for fiscal year 2009, which begins July 1, 2008. House Bill 990 includes a 2.5 percent pay raise for educators and other state employees, $1 billion in school construction projects, $98 million to fully fund PeachCare for Kids and $30 million in bonds for reservoirs.

The budget reflects a $90 million reduction in state funding for local schools, bringing the six-year total cuts under the Perdue administration to $1.5 billion. These cuts hurt both our students and local property owners, who are forced to shoulder more of the tax burden. But at least the Legislature was able to restore $50 million of the $140 million the governor had proposed to cut this year.

Also approved on the final day of the session was a major revision of the state's Certificate of Need (CON) law, which regulates the construction of new health care facilities. Senate Bill 433 allows some ambulatory centers to operate without a CON if they meet certain criteria and treat indigent patients. The legislation also allows for a Cancer Treatment Center of America to open in the Atlanta area.

Lawmakers also adopted Senate resolution 822, which seeks to correct the state's northern boundary, which was incorrectly surveyed in 1818. The original border with North Carolina and Tennessee was about 1 mile north, which would put a portion of the Tennessee River in Georgia and give our state another source of drinking water. The resolution seeks to create a boundary commission to look into correcting the error, but the Tennessee Legislature has already voted against participating in such a process.

Other legislation approved by the House during the final week of the session includes:

> Senate Bill 1, which prohibits registered sex offenders from intentionally photographing a minor without the consent of the minor's parent or guardian. The legislation also states that no registered sex offender may reside or work within 1,000 feet of any child care facility, church, school or areas where minors congregate —- unless they resided, owned property or worked at the location before a child care center, church or school was built.

> Senate Bill 196, which provides scholarships to University System institutions for children of military personnel who are killed or disabled as a result of combat wounds.

> Senate Bill 417, which requires the state Department of Transportation to submit an annual report to the governor and House and Senate leaders, detailing the progress on every construction project valued at $10 million or more.

> Senate Bill 169, which authorizes the Georgia Student Finance Authority to provide direct loans to students at an annual interest rate of 1 percent.

> Senate Bill 466, which would exempt permanent outdoor carwashes that recycle their water from outdoor watering restriction. The use of water to fill swimming pools would not be in violation of watering restrictions if failure to maintain the pool would create unsafe, unsanitary or unhealthy conditions.

> Senate Bill 55, which would allow people who purchase a bottle of wine in a restaurant but don't finish it during their meal to recork it and take the remainder home.

> House Bill 301, which increases the prison sentences and fines for those convicted of dogfighting and makes betting on the illegal sport a crime.

> House Bill 130, which requires credit reporting agencies to create an Internet-based system for consumers to block identity thieves from obtaining their credit histories.

> Senate Resolution 342, which builds more public reservoirs to provide Georgians more drinking water.

> House Bill 89, under which gun owners with concealed-weapon permits may carry weapons into restaurants, state parks, MARTA trains and workplace parking lots with the company's permission.

> Senate Resolution 996, relating to tax allocation districts. This bill calls for a statewide referendum in November to allow cities and counties to tap school property taxes on the redevelopment site to help pay for redevelopment. This is a very important bill. In my district, we are talking about the OFS site at the intersection of Jimmy Carter Boulevard and I-85. The Gwinnett Village CID (Community Improvement District) is currently working to revitalize and upgrade this area into an Atlantic Station-type development.

> House members defeated Senate Bill 174, which would have required weight-loss mandates for state employees, and Senate Bill 183, which would have allowed insurance agents to charge additional fees.

REP. CLAY COX (R-Lilburn)

House District 102

I hate the politics of finger-pointing. But after reading the coverage of this year's session, I do think that some clarity is needed.

I have received numerous e-mails from constituents expressing disappointment in the Legislature's failure to pass tax cuts, "do something" about transportation and fully fund education.

Here are the facts:

Tax cuts: The House of Representatives passed legislation to eliminate the car tag tax and cap property taxes while guaranteeing local governments their loss in ad valorem revenue —- THREE TIMES. The Senate would not even vote on the measure. It simply "disagreed" (a procedural motion) each time, citing a slowing economy. Hello? We are Republicans! I thought we believed that in a sluggish economy, families need more of their money, and that cutting taxes stimulates the economy and INCREASES revenue to the treasury?!

Transportation: After much work, the House passed a monumental transportation plan. It created regions that could self-impose a penny sales tax to fund local or regionwide projects. The Senate? It voted it down.

Education: Each year, much ado is made about austerity cuts and equalization money reductions in education. The governor proposed a budget that failed to restore this money again, in spite of a $2.6 billion reserve. The House passed a budget that fully restored both of these items. The Senate (that great deliberative body) removed them completely, and the final budget only partially restored the money.

So, yeah, I join my constituents in their frustration. But I hope that frustration is appropriately targeted.

REP. BRIAN THOMAS (D-Lilburn)

House District 100

While some important issues were addressed during this legislative session, I am afraid that it will be most remembered for what we failed to do and for the acrimony displayed among the leaders in the House and Senate and the governor.

The session started off on a confrontational foot, with the House overriding a number of the governor's vetoes from 2007. When the Senate refused to take up the veto overrides, the tensions and sniping increased. By the end of the session, an apparently angry and frustrated speaker of the House publicly called for Georgians to elect a new lieutenant governor. All this among Republicans, so partisanship wasn't a factor.

On some of the key topics that I believe Gwinnett residents feel are important, here's my take on how we did:

Traffic: Unfortunately, we did nothing to help solve the gridlock we face on our roads and highways. The Department of Transportation is in a funding crisis, although it appears to have a strong leader in new Commissioner Gena Abraham, and I'm confident in her ability to right the ship. There were several bills aimed at providing funding for transportation as a way to tackle some very real and pressing transportation needs in our region, but these ultimately failed, which was a great disappointment.

Water: We passed a statewide water management plan that, although it has some inherent weaknesses, will hopefully provide a framework for better water planning and use in the metro region and around the state. While not an immediate fix for the drought we are currently experiencing, hopefully it will help us to better manage our resources and avoid problems when faced with future shortages. I supported the plan but remain disappointed that we failed to pass any meaningful measures or incentives for water conservation.

Trauma care: Although identified as a critical need statewide, efforts to provide a funding source for a statewide trauma network failed —-primarily because of arguments between the House and Senate leadership over this and other tax-related issues. Thoughtful and purposeful leadership should have been able to ensure this important need was met.

Education: The budget for fiscal year 2009 addressed some of the austerity cuts to education, although not as much as was needed. A teacher pay raise of 2.5 percent was passed, which is helpful, although it would have been nice to do more.

Consumer Protection: An important bill was passed that will allow consumers to freeze their credit reports with the three major credit tracking companies, which should help prevent identity theft. There is a fee for this service ($3 per credit report), but it is well worth the peace of mind that comes with protecting consumers from this growing problem.

REP. MELVIN EVERSON (R-Snellville)

House District 106

The 2008 session is now history. The debate has begun as to what was and was not accomplished. As with all things, much was on the agenda and much was accomplished. But for some, including myself, many top-priority items were addressed but not resolved.

A few accomplishments:

> The city of Snellville will receive some much-needed funding for the police, parks and recreation, and information technology departments —- totaling more than $20,000.

> The Snellville Revitalization Act, better known as tax allocation district (TAD), was passed. If approved by the voters, this will allow revitalization in needed areas without a tax increase.

> At my request, State School Superintendent Kathy Cox paid a visit to three schools in District 106. She saw firsthand the quality of students, faculty and staff at Shiloh Elementary, Brookwood High and Snellville Middle School.

> Once again, teachers will receive a much-deserved pay increase.

Disappointments:

> Transportation was a top priority for everyone, but while we were able to make some headway for the short term, when the last gavel came down, Georgia was still left lacking a true comprehensive statewide transportation plan that would move the state into the next century. In my opinion, when it comes to transportation, Georgia is stuck in "neutral."

> House Bill 924 —- better known as the "Billy Foulke Seat Belt Act" —- was legislation crafted and designed to save many young drivers from dying. If passed, the law would increase the penalty for drivers from age 15 to 18 cited by law enforcement for not wearing their seat belts. We are losing too many young drivers on Georgia highways in accidents because of their failure to wear seat belts. It was disappointing the legislation got derailed.

> The Legislature was not able to agree upon real tax reform for Georgians. In the off-season, I urge all parties to work together to once again address this very important matter. I am optimistic that in 2009 some form of tax reform will be passed and signed into law.

> I was disappointed that more progress was not made toward a statewide trauma care plan. The Legislature did approve $59 million for the short term, but more expansive, long-term legislation addressing a statewide trauma care plan failed.

REP. LEN WALKER (R-Loganville)

House District 107

There were a number of things accomplished in the 2008 session that will benefit all of Georgia. There were two major charter school bills passed that will have a positive impact on education. House Bill 831 allows the state Board of Education to establish a grant program to provide dollar-for-dollar matching funds for private contributions made to qualified charter school projects. House Bill 881 enacts the Georgia Charter Schools Commission. This legislation removes some of the more difficult barriers for the implementation of charter schools.

House Bill 1209 establishes a funding formula to provide schools with greater flexibility, accountability and consequences for poor performance.

I sponsored House Bill 1160, which clarifies existing law concerning transferable development rights. This is an extremely valuable tool in the conservation of open land. It was requested by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, and I believe it will assist our county in the management of all the issues associated with our massive population growth.

I was also honored to co-sponsor House Bill 1159, which provides a $2,000 per year income tax credit for families who adopt a child in Georgia's foster care system. Department of Human Resources Commissioner B.J. Walker believes this will have a significant impact on placing our foster children in adoptive homes.

I sponsored House Bill 1044, which relieves respite care service providers from burdensome and costly state regulations. Most of these providers are volunteer-based and primarily serve our older adult population.

At the request of one of our Superior Court judges, along with local law enforcement, I sponsored House Bill 960, which addresses the trafficking of the drug Ecstasy.

I was disappointed to see some significant tax relief measures fail to pass both houses. In the House, we eliminated the dreaded ad valorem tax on vehicles. This is also known as the birthday tax. Unfortunately, in the final hours of the session it failed to pass the Senate.

Although a number of sales tax exemptions passed the House, I am hopeful we can return in 2009 and re-visit the need to pass meaningful tax relief legislation for the benefit of all Georgians.