Governor signs midyear budget
Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law a midyear budget plan that includes a $276 million increase in state spending over the next months that will help fuel local school districts grappling with a surge in enrollment.
The budget for fiscal 2015, which ends June 30, does not guarantee that the state will continue providing health insurance to 22,000 part-time school employees such as bus drivers and cafeteria workers. But it urges the Department of Community Health to study ways to continue providing the coverage under the State Health Benefit Plan.
The move represents pushback in response to Deal’s proposal to eliminate state insurance support for the employees under the plan, which covers about 650,000 teachers, state employees, retirees and legislators.
That tricky question will likely be resolved over the next month as state lawmakers begin debating the $21.8 billion budget for the next fiscal year. The smaller midyear budget typically features stopgap measures, such as rising education costs and health care concerns.
Also in the budget plan is nearly $50 million to pay for increased Medicaid costs in the wake of the federal Affordable Care Act, $40 million for economic development grants aimed at sealing the deal with corporate prospects and $35 million to expand broadband Internet connections in local school districts. An additional $4.9 million would begin medical marijuana trials.
— Greg Bluestein
Bill would protect police dogs, horses
Bad guys who hurt or kill police dogs, horses and other animals used in the line of duty by Georgia law enforcement agencies could be fined as much as $20,000 and jailed as many as five years under legislation passed Friday by the state Senate.
The penalties in Senate Bill 72 escalate depending on how badly the animal is injured. The biggest penalty, of course, is reserved for when they die as the result of an attack.
Anyone convicted under the proposal would additionally have to pay restitution to whichever agency owned the animal, as well as veterinary expenses. Senate Rules Chairman Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, sponsored the bill, which passed on a 46-3 vote and now goes to the state House for consideration.
— Kristina Torres
House backs legal trapping of raccoons
Georgia’s raccoons will lose their safe North Georgia haven under legislation approved in the state House on Friday.
The House voted 144-18 to send House Bill 160 to the Senate.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Emory Dunahoo, R-Gainesville, said the bill strikes the ban on trapping raccoons “in that area north of and including Carroll, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Barrow, Jackson, Madison, and Elbert counties at any time during the year.”
Dunahoo said the bill comes at the request of the Department of Natural Resources, which wants to make it legal for residents to take care of the pesky, masked marauders without fear of being ticketed.
More than half a century ago, raccoons were popular among trappers and furiers, leading the DNR to protect raccoons in part of the state to maintain the population. Now, however, the critters are a nuisance to many.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
House panel takes no action on Uber bill
A House committee heard nearly two hours of testimony Thursday but took no vote on a bill that would require drivers for Uber and Lyft to submit to fingerprinting and state background checks.
The Regulated Industries Committee will meet again next week on House Bill 224, sponsored by Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell.
Powell wants all drivers for the popular ride-sharing services to follow the same rules as limo drivers.
Rep. Tom Taylor, R-Dunwoody, said he doesn’t understand the aversion to fingerprinting drivers. He had to be finger-printed to coach youth soccer and basketball.
“To have that done once in five or 10 years is not an onerous process,” he said.
But Lyft driver Armand Saramout said if he had to pay for fingerprinting and a proposed registration fee of several hundred dollars, he never would have gone through the hassle.
As it is, he said, Lyft has “helped me become financially independent.”
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
Cheaper options for medication approved by Senate
The Senate approved legislation Thursday setting up a system for prescribing substitutions for costly biologic drugs that could help Georgia patients save money.
Senate Bill 51 creates rules for pharmacists to follow when distributing these similar medicines, which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Dean Burke, a Bainbridge physician, requires pharmacists to notify a patient’s doctor when substituting medications and include information about the drug on the prescription label.
Biologic drugs are specially engineered drugs used to treat conditions including arthritis and psoriasis, and they can be expensive.
SB 51 now moves to the House for consideration.
— Janel Davis
Families of crime victims could get more state help for funerals
Georgia would provide more money to victims’ families to help them pay for funerals under a bill passed by the state Senate.
Senate Bill 79 would increase the amount available to families to $6,000, and it would also expand who is eligible to apply for money to include stepchildren and stepparents.
Victim compensation decisions are overseen by the state Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and generally involve major crimes such as murder. The state fund gets its money via fines and fees paid by convicted offenders in the state parole system.
The fund, which collected $17.5 million last year, can help families for things such as lost wages, counseling and financial hardship. It can also help with funeral expenses, but the maximum award is currently $3,000 and hasn’t changed in 20 years.
The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, said that’s a problem because the average cost of funerals is now much more than $3,000.
SB 79 passed Wednesday on a 50-3 vote and now goes to the state House for consideration.
— Kristina Torres
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