The Follow Up: Georgia gun rights bill advances

Thomas Weaver, a gun rights activist from Cherokee County, addressed what he sees as a conundrum in the law regarding shooting in self-defense vs. trying to de-escalate a contentious situation.

“If you shoot someone dead and legally claim self-defense and you prevail in that, you’re off scot-free," he told the committee. "But if you show someone that you’re armed and you don’t shoot them ... it’s aggravated assault and a 20-year felony.”

Sen. Harold Jones, a Democrat from Augusta and a lawyer, said it's not that simple. Under current law, he said, prosecutors must prove murder is the intent of someone showing or pulling a gun before he or she can be found guilty of aggravated assault.

SB 224 would require someone who displays or pulls a gun to aim that weapon at the person — or otherwise use it “in a threatening manner” — before he or she could be charged with felony aggravated assault.

The debate over aggravated assault, however, is just one aspect of the bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Tyler Harper of Ocilla.

Two other key parts of the legislation deal with places of worship and courts.

The bill would allow all licensed gun owners to carry their weapons into places of worship, unless the congregation adopts a policy forbidding them. Current state law allows parishioners to carry weapons only if the place of worship’s governing body lets them.

The measure also would permit gun owners to bring their weapons into court buildings when there are no judicial proceedings and officers of the court are not conducting official business. Guns still would not be allowed in court buildings that require visitors to go through security, Harper said. Current law bans guns from courthouses at all times.

SB 224 would also halt five-year suspensions of weapons permits for gun owners convicted of misdemeanor drug possession.

“With possession of marijuana charges — that doesn’t disqualify a person from becoming a police officer, becoming the clerk of the court, becoming a sheriff’s deputy, a district attorney or a member of the armed services,” Harper said. “So why should we prohibit those individuals from being able to garner a weapons carry permit?”

Gun bills tend to be polarizing in the General Assembly, and that was true in this case, too.

"My colleagues refuse to acknowledge the danger and violence posed by guns and by the proliferation of guns," Democratic Sen. Elena Parent of Atlanta said in a tweet. "Instead they want to treat all guns as though they are sacred objects that are to be worshiped."

Plan targets maternal mortality with Medicaid extension

New moms could see their coverage under Medicaid grow under a House plan to battle Georgia's high maternal mortality rate.

House Speaker David Ralston said this past week that work is underway to seek a federal waiver to expand the health care program from two months to six months after childbirth.

The U.S. ranks last among industrialized nations for maternal mortality, with a rate of 17 deaths for each 100,000 live births. Georgia's rate is even worse, at 26 deaths. (For the sake of comparison, Finland and the United Arab Emirates, according to the World Health Organization, both have rates of 3 deaths per 100,000 live births.)

Pregnant women in Georgia households that earn less than 200% of the federal poverty level — about $34,000 for a family of two and $52,000 for four — are eligible for Medicaid. But only for up to two months after they give birth.

A bipartisan House study committee recommended extending Medicaid to a year after birth.

But it’s a tough year for budgeting, with Gov. Brian Kemp ordering a 6% reduction in spending for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

House Health and Human Services Committee Chairwoman Sharon Cooper responded with the four-month plan, and that eventually grew to six months. Ralston estimates it could cost $19 million.

“I think it’s completely unacceptable for the No. 1 state in the nation in which to do business to have one of the highest maternal mortality rates of any state in the country,” Ralston said.

Proposed ride-sharing fee gets a smooth ride through Senate

It looks like you may have to cough up a couple of more quarters for that ride to the airport on Uber or Lyft.

Under House Bill 105, which the Senate approved this past week, ride-share customers would have to pay fees of 50 cents per trip or 25 cents per pooled ride. Taxi and limousine passengers would pay the same fees.

The charges are in lieu of sales taxes set under House Bill 276, a piece of legislation Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law earlier this year to collect levies from customers of internet- and app-based businesses such as Uber and Lyft. If HB 105 becomes law, it would take effect April 1, the same as HB 276.

Republican Sen. Steve Gooch of Dahlonega, who pushed for the ride fee, said that without HB 105, customers in Atlanta would pay the highest sales taxes in the country for Uber and Lyft rides.

While it could be good for customers, the new fee would put a hardship on local governments that now receive sales tax money on taxi rides and would have gotten a share of the collections from Uber and Lyft under HB 276. They stand to lose $26.5 million next year if the new fees become reality since taxi customers will no longer pay the sales tax.

Kemps’ efforts against human trafficking gain ground

Gov. Brian Kemp and first lady Marty Kemp started the legislative session pressing an agenda targeting human trafficking.

They scored successes this past week when three pieces of legislation each cleared one of the Legislature's two chambers.

The Senate voted 35-19 along party lines to approve Senate Bill 393, which would allow district attorneys to request assistance from GBI lawyers in prosecuting crimes related to sex trafficking and gangs.

The chamber also approved Senate Bill 435, which aims to create a way to vacate prior convictions for offenses committed by people who were charged while they were a victim of human trafficking.

The House passed House Bill 823, which would bar anyone convicted of human trafficking from getting a commercial driver's license if his or her conviction involved driving a commercial vehicle. It mirrors a federal law that established a similar ban.

Marty Kemp made human trafficking an issue shortly after her husband’s election. Her involvement led to a new training program to teach state employees how to recognize and help trafficking victims.

House Republicans make push for paid parental leave

Nearly 250,000 state employees could become eligible for three weeks of paid parental leave under a plan House GOP leaders are pushing.

Rep. Houston Gaines — with Speaker David Ralston and about a dozen House committee chairmen at his side — unveiled House Bill 1094, which would extend the benefit to k-12 teachers, University System of Georgia staffers and other state workers.

It’s a matter of keeping up, Gaines said.

“We must remain competitive with the private sector and keep our best and brightest employees,” the Athens Republican said.

The House and Senate have already weighed in favorably on paid parental leave, although not at such a grand scale. Two months ago, the House awarded the benefit to about 95 full-time employees. The Senate followed up with a similar initiative.

Gaines’ bill would not affect private companies.

Changes to dual enrollment now in Kemp’s hands

Georgia’s dual enrollment program — which allows high school students to take college courses, with the state picking up the tab — saw its rolls nearly double during a recent four-year stretch, from about 27,000 students in fiscal 2016 to nearly 52,000 in fiscal 2019.

The popularity came at a price. Spending on the program out of the state’s general fund increased by more than 325% over five years. In fiscal 2019, the program had a budget of about $105 million.

The House this past week passed legislation that would try to cap that spending. House Bill 444 would restrict students to a total of 30 college credit hours that would be paid through state funds. Anything more would be billed to the students. Also, with some exceptions, the program would be limited to only 11th- and 12th-grade students.

HB 444 now heads to the desk of Gov. Brian Kemp, who has voiced support for the bill.

Critics said the changes would discourage some lower-income students from seeking a college degree since they may have to pay for some dual enrollment courses.

Bill seeking fewer exams passes Senate test

True or false?

Senate Bill 367, which the Senate approved this past week on a 53-0 vote, would cut the number of standardized tests that Georgia public school students are required to take.

The answer is “true.”

The lead author of the bill, Senate Education Chairman P.K. Martin, told his fellow senators that high-stakes testing has been the top complaint he has heard since taking the reins of the committee last year.

“This places too much pressure on our students and our teachers,” the Republican from Lawrenceville said.

Gov. Brian Kemp, state School Superintendent Richard Woods and the largest education advocacy groups in the state all back the bill, apparently believing that subtracting tests could add to education.

SB 367 would cut four standardized tests for high schoolers and one for fifth grade. That follows work that began in 2016 when lawmakers cut eight science and social studies tests for elementary and middle school students.

The newest round of cuts could drop the state’s total number of tests to 19, just two more than what’s mandated by the federal government.

SB 367 now heads to the House.

STAT OF THE WEEK

$765,000

What is it? That's how much the state Department of Driver Services thinks it could save each year if it were allowed to scrap the use of certified mail when it notifies people it's about to revoke their driver's licenses.

Why is it relevant?House Bill 890 would allow the agency to use regular mail to send out such notifications, although the option of using certified mail would still be available. The DDS says certified mail costs the agency about $1 million a year, and almost half of it is never delivered, returning to the agency.

"This is money that's being wasted," said Rep. Sam Watson, a Republican from Moultrie and the bill's sponsor.

Some Democrats and defense attorneys oppose the bill, expressing worry that without certified mail, some people won’t find out they’re going to lose their license until it’s too late.

The House Motor Vehicles Committee approved HB 890 and sent it to the House Rules Committee.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"We've been fighting, or discussing, this bill for five years," Rep. Lee Hawkins, R-Gainesville, talking about passage in the House of his measure, House Bill 888. The goal of the legislation is to prevent people from receiving high hospital bills when they're unknowingly treated by out-of-network doctors in an emergency situation.

It was one of two bills that the House approved this past week that take aim at surprise billing, which occurs when a properly insured patient goes to a hospital or other health care provider and winds up with a big bill from someone involved in his or her care who was not in the patient's network. HB 888 would require patients under such conditions to pay no more than their deductible, co-pay or other in-network payment level determined by their plan.

The second measure, House Bill 789, would help patients check which doctors in the four most common independent specialties — anesthesiology, pathology, radiology and emergency medicine — are covered by their insurance. It would be up to insurance companies to keep an online directory of these specialists and mark whether each doctor accepts their insurance plan.

LEGISLATIVE COVERAGE

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