Legislative briefs

House passes bill renaming tech college system

Georgia House members approved a bill Tuesday that would change the name of the state’s technical college network despite concerns from former school presidents that the renaming would not benefit the system.

House Bill 315, sponsored by Rep. Chad Nimmer, R-Blackshear, renames the Technical College System of Georgia as the Georgia Career College System. The change is a priority for Gov. Nathan Deal, who proposed the move earlier this year as a way to rebrand and better market the system to students.

A group of 20 former technical college presidents wrote Deal last month asking that he withdraw the bill. The money required to complete the change could be better spent on educating students, they said.

HB 315, which passed the House 122-40, now moves to the Senate for consideration.

— Janel Davis

Push for digital learning passes Georgia Senate

A revamped effort encouraging Georgia’s public schools to go all digital by 2020 passed the Georgia Senate on Tuesday, despite concern some schools wouldn’t be able to afford it.

Senate Bill 89 is not a mandate, although its sponsor, state Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, originally wrote it that way. Instead, the bill now says local school boards over the next five years “are strongly encouraged” to buy digital instructional materials and provide students with laptops, tablets or other wireless devices to read it on. It also encourages the state school board to help pay for that effort, although it makes no guarantee of funding.

That led some Democrats to point out the effect of state budget cuts on local systems, as well as the struggle of some parts of the state to emerge from the recession.

Albers has dubbed the bill the “Digital Classroom Act,” and he said it was inspired by watching his son struggle to board a school bus with 20 pounds of books in his backpack. SB 89 passed on a 45-8 vote. It now goes to the House for consideration.

— Kristina Torres

Senate committee endorses school takeover plan

A proposal to create a new state-run school district for failing schools cleared its first hurdle Monday, gaining approval in the Senate Education Committee.

Senate Bill 133 and its companion piece, Senate Resolution 287, lay out Gov. Nathan Deal’s vision of a statewide “Opportunity School District” with authority to seize control of schools deemed to be perennially failing. The state would have total authority over the schools put into the special district, and it could remove principals, transfer teachers, change what students are learning and control the schools’ budgets.

After some discussion about what will happen to teachers displaced by the state takeover of failing schools, the proposed legislation passed and now heads to the Senate floor for a vote. Only minor revisions were made to the legislation, including one that would give Senate lawmakers the right to confirm the governor’s choice for superintendent. Another would require public hearings at risk of intervention and proposed interventions before a school is taken over.

Deal’s office estimates 141 schools would be eligible for takeover, including more than 60 in metro Atlanta. The plan would allow the state to run schools, close them, partner with local school districts to run them or convert them into charter schools. The special district would be overseen by a new superintendent who would report directly to the governor.

Opponents to the legislation say it’s an overreach of state power and doesn’t address the larger issues of poverty, which challenges students at many failing schools.

— Jaime Sarrio

House votes to tighten civil forfeiture rules

Law enforcement officials and prosecutors would face new restrictions and reporting requirements for seizing an individual’s property under legislation unanimously approved Monday in the state House.

The House voted 154-0 to approve House Bill 233, which “brings more due process, brings reporting, brings definitions to what can be used and it puts some rules in place,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Alex Atwood, R-St. Simons Island.

House leaders have tried for years to create guidelines and limitations on when an individual’s property can be seized as part of a criminal investigation. But sheriffs, police chiefs and prosecutors have always managed to block the bills.

Atwood said HB 233 is a compromise that has the support of former opponents and acknowledged the state’s civil forfeiture system has “come under fire” in recent years.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in 2013 that many Georgia law enforcement agencies aggressively pursue civil forfeiture claims to boost department funding and to buy equipment. The AJC also reported that Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard used thousands of dollars seized in civil forfeiture proceedings to pay for wrought-iron security doors for his house and for football tickets, and he gave $6,000 to a lawyers group that inducted him into its Hall of Fame.

— Aaron Gould Sheinin

25-foot buffer rule passes Senate, but environmentalists unhappy

Legislation requiring a 25-foot buffer around the saltwater marshes of Georgia’s coast passed the state Senate on Monday, despite concerns from environmental groups that it carves out too many exemptions for development.

Senate Bill 101 remains a work in progress as it now heads to the state House after senators approved it 46-4. It’s already been shaped by negotiations among developers, regulators, environmental groups and local governments.

The bill follows a decision made last year by Jud Turner, the director of Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division, to remove a long-standing directive requiring buffers for marshlands along most of the Georgia coast. Turner said in April that the state would no longer apply a 25-foot buffer to new coastal development. The problem stemmed from what Turner viewed as a conflict between the interpretations of two state laws: the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act and the Sedimentation Act.

Turner had said he wanted lawmakers to clarify their intentions about how the buffer should be applied, which they are doing with SB 101. It sets new rules for when the buffer rule should be applied and how some exemptions may be made.

The exemptions allowed by the bill, however, include new seawalls — which environmentalists say could clear the way for new development along pristine parts of the coast.

Business leaders including the Georgia Chamber of Commerce say it will reduce costs and ease permitting for new projects or maintenance.

— Kristina Torres

New gun bill filed in state House

New legislation dealing with guns and weapons possession was filed Monday in the state House.

House Bill 492, by Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, cleans up language from last year’s major gun bill, which allowed permit-holders to carry weapons in most public places, including government buildings without active security.