HOPE could benefit from video poker
More money could flow to the HOPE scholarship program under legislation given key committee approval Thursday.
House Bill 478, sponsored by Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, would give control and enforcement of legal video poker machines to the Georgia Lottery Corp. and direct that a share of the profits go to the lottery-funded HOPE program.
It’s not yet known how much money the change could bring to HOPE.
The proposal has the blessing of the Department of Revenue, which currently enforces the video poker program, the lottery and law enforcement.
Video poker machines are legal if they are registered and taxed. Stores are only allowed to award vouchers for merchandise in the store, not cash or tobacco or alcohol.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
Measures offering tax breaks move forward
A key House committee backed a series of tax breaks Thursday, setting them up to pass the full chamber before next week’s deadline.
Bills generally must pass one chamber by the 30th day of the session, which may come next week.
One of the most closely watched of the tax break bills would continue an exemption on parts and equipment used to repair and maintain aircraft registered outside of Georgia. Gulfstream and other companies that do such repairs pushed to make the exemption permanent.
“We are competing with other states,” said Rep. Alex Atwood, a Republican from Brunswick and the bill’s sponsor. “Until other states stop giving these exemptions, Georgia has to compete with them.”
Leaders of the House Ways & Means Committee, however, decided against making the tax break permanent. So, if approved by the General Assembly, the tax break would be reconsidered again in 2015. It would cost state and local governments $8.9 million next year.
— James Salzer
Senate panel blocks ‘breeder’ deer bill
“Breeder” deer won’t step hoof in Georgia anytime soon.
Members of the Senate Natural Resources and the Environment Committee voted down a bill 4-2 Thursday that would have allowed the importation of white-tailed deer for breeding.
Supporters of Senate Bill 230, introduced by Sen. Tyler Harper, R-Ocilla, cheered the move as an economic opportunity for breeders and rural farmers who could house the deer on private property for sport.
The animals would not be released in the wild, supporters said, nor could they be slaughtered at the breeding facilities. The deer, however, would be hunted in captivity.
But opponents, including representatives from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, said the risk of contaminating the state’s wildlife population is too great. They pointed to the spread of chronic wasting disease in other states with similar operations. Further, opponents said, the bill wades in murky waters as wildlife creatures are considered state property and cannot be used for private profit.
— Katie Leslie
Alteration to state’s immigration law advances
A bill aimed at preventing massive backlogs in state license renewals for thousands of nurses, insurance salesman and other professionals passed a key legislative committee Wednesday.
House Bill 125 would tweak Georgia’s sweeping immigration law so that people who have presented identification proving U.S. citizenship would not have to do so again when reapplying for such licenses and other public benefits.
The legislation — sponsored by Republican state Rep. Dustin Hightower of Carrollton — has cleared the House Judicial Non-Civil Committee.
Officials in the Secretary of State and Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner offices say Georgia’s immigration law has bogged down the processes they use to issue licenses.
— Jeremy Redmon
Panel backs changes to HOPE Grant requirements
A bill that would allow more Georgia technical college students to qualify for the HOPE Grant passed a House budget subcommittee for higher education Wednesday morning.
House Bill 372 would make students eligible for the award if they maintain a 2.0 grade-point average. The current mandate is a 3.0, but the change would mark a return to what existed before lawmakers overhauled HOPE in 2011 to prevent it from running out of money.
Gov. Nathan Deal has endorsed the change, which responds to criticism that the higher requirement caused too many students to drop out or not enroll in the Technical College System of Georgia.
The HOPE Scholarship, which is mainly used by University System of Georgia students, would keep the 3.0 GPA requirement.
— Laura Diamond
Trafficking signs legislation clears House
Strip clubs, bars, hotels and other businesses would have to post signs that provide victims of human trafficking information on getting help under legislation adopted in the state House on Wednesday.
House Bill 141, sponsored by Majority Whip Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, was approved 171-1. Rep. Charles Gregory, R-Kennesaw, was the lone no vote.
Lindsey and supporters beat back a proposed amendment that would have made it voluntary for businesses to post the signs.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
House OKs easing of rules for some landfills
House lawmakers approved a bill Tuesday that would loosen the rules on landfill regulation, clearing the way for more Georgians to maintain small inert landfills, which contain yard debris, tree clippings or asphalt.
House Bill 320, introduced by Rep. Buddy Harden, R-Cordele, would exempt landfills with a total capacity of 250 cubic yards or less from permit requirements.
Current law backed by the Environmental Protection Division is too stringent in its oversight of inert landfills, Harden said, and thus private property owners are subject to fines if not permitted for acts such as cutting down trees and storing cuttings in an inert landfill.
An earlier version would have reduced fines for landfill owners who violate environmental regulations. The fines, however, were kept in place in the final bill.
Harden said the bill also would exempt current inert landfill operations from new regulations, providing they are certified by a professional engineer to be in compliance with former rules as they existed in January 2012.
The bill passed 159-8 and now heads to the Senate.
— Katie Leslie
House gives due to Tift County namesake
Georgia lawmakers have at long last given Henry Harding Tift his due. House representatives passed Wednesday a resolution recognizing him as the proper namesake of Tift County.
Rep. Jay Roberts, R-Ocilla, said Tift County was originally named in honor of Tift’s uncle Nelson as Henry Tift was still living when the county was created in 1905.
But there was just one problem, Roberts said: “(Nelson Tift) was a good man, but he was from Dougherty County, not from Tift County.”
House Resolution 281 is intended to properly recognize Henry Tift, a former mayor of Tifton who helped shape the area, for his contributions.
The resolution passed unanimously, a move that Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, light-heartedly said “has rectified one of the great errors in Georgia history.”
— Katie Leslie
Lawmaker: Vogtle overruns shouldn’t fuel profits
Consumer and environmental advocates packed a House subcommittee meeting Tuesday to support a measure barring Georgia Power from earning its allotted 11.15 percent return off any cost increases from expanding Plant Vogtle.
Cost increases for the $14 billion project to build two nuclear reactors are looming, as the project has faced delays tied mostly to site preparation and initial construction work. Rep. Jeff Chapman, R-Brunswick, told the House subcommittee that oversees legislation related to utilities that Georgia Power should forgo earning a profit off any additional Vogtle costs.
“It incentivizes costs overruns,” Chapman said.
Consumers already are paying for Georgia Power’s $6.1 billion share of Vogtle, which it is building with a group of municipal and cooperative utilities. John D’Andrea, the utility’s legislative affairs manager, said the bill is unnecessary because state utility regulators routinely review the project’s schedule and budget.
The panel did not vote on the bill. At the end of the meeting, Chapman offered up a list of amendments that would cap Georgia Power’s profits if the project’s costs increased by $100 million, $200 million, $300 million or $400 million.
— Kristi E. Swartz
