Georgia Senate passes bill regulating Uber, Lyft
The state Senate gave its approval Thursday to a bill that would provide regulations for ride-sharing services, such as Uber and Lyft, including requiring background checks for drivers.
House Bill 225, which passed the Senate by a 48-2 vote, is the culmination of efforts to require the app-based transportation industry to meet the same standards that apply to other transportation providers, such as taxis and limousine companies.
Industry leaders Uber and Lyft initially resisted the regulation. As a concession, the bill would allow the ride-sharing companies to conduct their own private background checks for drivers, instead of having them done by the state.
HB 225 also would require that drivers be at least 18 years old, have state-mandated liability insurance and have completed an extensive driving history report. The bill also would require the companies to either pay state sales taxes or an annual fee for each car in its network.
The bill now returns to the House for approval of changes made in the Senate.
— Janel Davis
Georgia House passes strengthened marsh buffer bill
The Georgia House on Thursday unanimously approved a revised bill to re-establish a 25-foot buffer around the state’s marshes.
Senate Bill 101, which passed 164-0, was amended in the House to give the state power to review projects that gain federal permits. More importantly to environmentalists, however, is that lawmakers have received a promise from the state’s Environmental Protection Division to prevent property owners from building make-shift bulkheads — small sea walls designed to limit erosion — along the marsh.
“SB 101 as presented exempted from the 25-foot buffer protection any time there was a shore stabilization project, such as a bulkhead,” Rep. Jeff Jones, R-Brunswick, said. “In my mind and the mind of others this was unacceptable.”
The commitment from EPD to write regulations preventing that, however, made the bill acceptable.
Because it was amended in the House, however, the bill must still go back to the Senate for consideration.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
Georgia Senate passes bill affecting agency that just fired director
Sweeping changes to the state’s Soil and Water Conservation Commission won passage Thursday from the Senate, a day after the commission’s board fired its executive director for the past seven years, Brent Dykes.
Deputy Executive Director Dave Eigenberg has temporarily been tasked with leading the agency, which drafts the state’s manual that outlines how to control erosion and prevent more dirt and runoff from seeping into Georgia’s waterways.
The Senate’s 31-19 vote sends House Bill 397 back to the House, despite environmentalists’ objections that it gives Gov. Nathan Deal too much control over the commission and could affect how it makes decisions affecting the state’s water quality.
Under the governor’s plan, the commission would shift from a stand-alone agency to one that’s overseen by the Department of Agriculture. It also would allow the governor to appoint whomever he chooses to its five-member board, rather than limiting his picks to the elected supervisors of the state’s 40 soil and water districts.
— Kristina Torres
Panel backs craft beer legislation
The House is expected to vote Friday on Senate Bill 63, which would allow breweries to charge customers for tours and then give them — as a free souvenir — the equivalent of a six-pack of beer to take home in one or more containers. Visitors would also be able to drink up to 36 ounces of free samples at the breweries.
The House Regulated Industries Committee unanimously approved the bill Tuesday.
Additionally, the bill would allow distilleries to charge for tours and allow visitors to take home a container of up to three-quarters of a liter. Distilleries would be permitted to serve up to three half-ounce samples to visitors on site.
SB 63, however, does not allow brew pubs to offer take-home beer. But the bill’s sponsor — Sen. Hunter Hill, R-Atlanta — said other lawmakers have discussed amending the bill on the House floor to allow that in some form.
— Jeremy Redmon
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