Five key bills that failed to meet Crossover Day deadline
Georgia’s House and Senate passed dozens of bills this past Friday as the rush to beat the Crossover Day deadline approached.
Crossover Day is the 28th day of the 40-day session and is typically the last day for a bill to move from one chamber to the other.
While many high-profile issues did cross over on Friday, there were many that never got a vote. Here are five of them.
You can keep up the status of every key bill in the Georgia Legislature with our handy 2017 bill tracker, which will update daily.
HOUSE
House Bill 54: Rep. Geoff Duncan's bill to increase to 90 percent the value of tax credits for donors to rural hospitals. Duncan, a Cumming Republican, created the tax credit program a year ago. His original bill set the credits at 90 percent, a figure that was lowered to 70 in the Senate. It turns out the lower credit has not been as successful as some hoped.
House Bill 145: Introduced by Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, HB 145 would give Delta Air Lines a tax credit for fuel it buys in Georgia. While the state in the past has offered similar credits to the Atlanta-based travel giant, many lawmakers this year were wary of giving tax credits to a company that posted $4 billion in profit last year.
House Bill 158: When House leaders scheduled a last-minute meeting of the Regulated Industries Committee on Crossover Day there was just one bill on the agenda: HB 158, Rep. Ron Stephens' casino bill. The Savannah Republican was to make a late push to do what his counterpart, Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, was unable to do: Get a casino bill past the Crossover Day deadline. Ultimately, Stephens pulled the plug, and the bill never got a vote.
SENATE
Senate Bill 17: Senate Health and Human Services Committee Chairwoman Renee Unterman, R-Buford, does not drink, but had called SB 17 her "mimosa mandate" to correct what she considers a fairness issue: While privately owned restaurants in Georgia are banned from serving alcohol before 12:30 p.m. on Sundays, government-owned buildings — such as the Georgia World Congress Center — are free to pour. The bill would allow restaurants to start booze sales at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays. It's popular much of the public, but has faced staunch opposition from yet another powerful GOP colleague. Senate Majority Leader Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, has blocked similar efforts over the past two years, saying it would upset what he has called a "fragile compromise" between legislative leaders and the faith community over allowing any alcohol sales on Sunday mornings.
Senate Bill 118: Legislation to raise the mandatory age cap for autism insurance coverage from 6 to 21 years of age won the backing of Senate leadership, led by Unterman, but has faced an uphill battle against insurance and business advocates have long opposed expanding mandates they say can be costly. The Senate two years ago won a compromise with passage of the state's original mandate requiring private insurers to cover autism services for children up to the age of 6 but decided not to force a fight over this broader expansion effort, leaving it until next year.
