Immigration activists and a pro-English group will target Senate Rules Chairman Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, and other key members of that chamber in a last-ditch effort to block a bill that would allow corporate executives from foreign countries quicker access to driver’s licenses in Georgia.

H.B. 475, a long-sought goal for many business organizations, would permit the state commissioner of driver’s license services to establish reciprocal agreements with other countries that would waive the written and driving tests for legal foreign residents here.

Visual examinations would remain in place.

From an email alert sent by Phil Kent, a board member and spokesman for ProEnglish:

“HB 475 is an assault on the people’s sovereignty to allow a foreign country to decide who can receive a license to drive in Georgia, without testing the driver’s ability to speak or read English—the universal language of all U.S. roads and road signs.”

H.B. 475 passed the House earlier this month with only two dissenting votes, and is now in the Senate Rules Committee. A vote could come as early as Wednesday.

Kent said his group will direct robocalls to the districts of Mullis and other Senate leaders.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. B.J. Pak, R-Lilburn, says the issue is economic competitiveness. The measure targets corporate executives who are routinely rotated into and out of Georgia. State law requires anyone who resides in Georgia more than 30 days must get a state driver’s license.

“Georgia is one of the few states that don’t allow the executive branch to agree to a waiver program,” Pak said. The state Department of Economic Development has backed the legislation, which was drafted by the state Department of Driver Services.

In other words, H.B. 475 has Gov. Nathan Deal’s seal of approval.

Pak said 28 states have waiver agreements, including Alabama, South Carolina and Florida. “They’ve been using this as an example to say that Georgia is less business friendly. It’s become a competitive issue,” he said. “It’s as if the KIA chairman can come here and build a car, but he can’t test drive it on the road.”

Such agreements would also benefit Georgians abroad, the lawmaker said. “It costs a lot of money to get a German driver’s license. It costs about $1,300.”

One important note: The second signer on H.B. 475 is state Rep. Matt Ramsey, author of H.B. 87 – the measure passed by the General Assembly several years ago to address illegal immigration.

“It’s important to remember that this does nothing to modify the requirements that we put in place over the years, that an individual must establish lawful presence in the United States to get a driver’s license,” Ramsey said Monday. “This is about reciprocity agreements – just as we have reciprocity agreements with other states.”

“I don’t view this in any way as connected to the illegal immigration issue,” Ramsey said.

The above bill also has nothing to do with H.B. 125, another immigration bill passed by the House but sponsored by state Rep. Dustin Hightower, R-Carrollton. Driver’s license provisions in that bill, according to my AJC colleague Jeremy Redmon, would put the state in violation of a federal anti-terrorism law.

***

Today's a big day in the life of this newspaper. Our subscriber website, MyAJC.com, is now live. Check it out.

***

So far, we have yet to see a single Georgia Republican rise in public defense of the Republican National Committee post-mortem on the 2012 presidential election, which listed a number of reforms designed to dampen the influence of movement conservatives.

A note sent out last night by Seth Harp, a former state senator and candidate for state GOP chairman, has been more typical. It includes this:

Regardless of the intentions, this report is dead on arrival with the grassroots. Many in the grassroots see it as an effort by establishment donors to control the nominating process. This report is a validation of the very charges the report purports to correct.

A shorter primary season and fewer debates are exactly opposite what the Republican Party needs. Republican candidates benefit from earned media and an informed electorate. As opposed to having fewer primaries and debates, the RNC should welcome more debates and more grassroots events. Most voters are not establishment donors, they are hard-working people who, in many cases, are exposed to their candidates only via free debates and grassroots events.

The concept of a regional primary cluster, in the beginning of the process, will give an inappropriate advantage to wealthy, self-funding candidates. The fact is, to cluster multiple states early in the process is to artificially drive up the cost of running a national campaign. Grassroots candidates will suffer a disadvantage imposed on them by the RNC.

...The pattern throughout the Growth and Opportunity Project is clear - it appears the RNC is trying to control the entire Republican political process from Washington D.C.

***

We don’t often post the daily Facebook thoughts of Joe McCutchen, the voice of Elijay, but the movements of unannounced Senate candidates – especially when they travel so far -- can’t be ignored:

“Just got a call from Representative Jack Kingston who is a powerful member of Congress and serves on the very influential Appropriations Committee.  Jack wanted to come to Ellijay and have lunch with me, George, Oscar and other community leaders at Oscar Poole’s Barbecue.

“Jack, told me that he had made some real spending cuts and would send a list of those cuts to George Winn. He also promised me that he would be a super taxpayer champion if elected to the Senate….”