Take Action! The 2014 Georgia Legislative Break Down

March 29, 2014 0 Comments

As part of my year of local I have been watching the Goergia 2014 Legislative Sessions online at http://www.legis.ga.gov/Streaming/en-US/Both.aspx. You can play catch up at http://www.gpb.org/lawmakers. This year was full of issues including the right to carry guns pretty much everywhere, a medical marijuana bill, an English only drivers examine, the privatization of foster care programs, and the funding of our schools. Aaron Gould Sheinin and Kristina Torres over at the Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote up a great break down of what happened this year. Their full legislative session break down is below.

Budget:

HB 744: The 2014-15 annual state budget
Did it pass? Yes. It’s the only bill lawmakers are required to adopt.
Drugs/Alcohol:

HB 772: It would subject some food stamp recipients to drug testing.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? Yes, the original bill would have required everyone who receives food stamps to be tested. The final version would require state employees to determine whether an individual must be tested.

Health care:

HB 707: It would bar any state or local government or agency from operating a health care exchange or navigator program allowed under the Affordable Care Act. It would make it illegal for any public employee or agency to use state resources or time to advocate for the expansion of Medicaid.

Did it pass? No, but a watered-down version was added to HB 943, which passed. HB 943 would require insurance companies to provide coverage for new cancer drugs taken orally.

HB 885: It would allow the use of a marijuana derivative to treat certain seizure disorders.
Did it pass? No. After the Senate added language requiring insurance companies to cover treatment of autism in young patients, the bill never received a final vote in the House.

HB 990: It would require an act of the Legislature before Medicaid could be expanded via the Affordable Care Act.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? No

SB 98: It would bar abortions from being covered by insurance policies offered through health care exchanges; it would ratify Gov. Nathan Deal’s decision to eliminate abortion coverage from state employee health insurance policies.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? No

SB 292: It would create a statewide Alzheimer’s disease registry to gather data on the disease. The House amended it to include language from HB 707, making the bill more controversial.

Did it pass? No, but the Alzheimer’s registry language was added to HB 966, which did receive final passage.

Local government:

HB 346: It would make the Fulton County tax commissioner an appointed position, instead of elected, starting in 2017. Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, and others proposed it last year to stop current tax chief Arthur Ferdinand from earning fees off city bills that make him the highest-paid elected official in the state. But Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, strongly opposed the measure, saying the choice should remain with the people.
Did it pass? No

HB 704: It would allow a referendum to create the city of South Fulton.
Did it pass? No

HB 819: It would stop Ferdinand, the Fulton tax chief, from personally profiting when he sells delinquent tax bills to private collectors. His biggest buyer of tax liens, Vesta Holdings, lobbied heavily, and a provision that would have prevented such companies from collecting a 10 percent penalty, at the county’s loss, was removed.
Did it pass? No

HB 891: It would allow cities and towns to seek local legislation authorizing them to scale back early voting from three weeks to one week.
Did it pass? No

HB 960: It would broaden and clarify existing urban redevelopment laws to give projects such as the Atlanta Beltline the option of using a public-private partnership to build out its transit system.
Did it pass? No

SB 270: It would allow a referendum to create the city of Lakeside.
Did it pass? No

Courts/Law enforcement:

HB 845: It would ban the release of police mug shots unless the person requesting them signs a sworn statement the photos will not be published on a website that charges for their removal.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? No

K-12 education/Higher education:

HB 697: It would pay full tuition for the state’s highest achieving technical college students.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? No

HB 788: It would allow the University System of Georgia to privatize and pass along tax breaks for the construction of student dormitories and parking decks on the campuses of the state’s colleges and universities.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? No

HB 810: It would lower the SAT/ACT requirement for home school students (and those graduating from unaccredited high schools and GED students) to receive HOPE scholarship funds.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? No

SB 167: It would prohibit Georgia schools from testing students on material tied to any set of national academic standards such as Common Core.

Did it pass? No

Taxes:

HB 153: It would allow local governments to levy a special local option sales tax at rates less than a penny.
Did it pass? No

HB 257: It would cap tax credits for low-emission vehicles.
Did it pass? No

HB 933: It would make permanent a tax exemption on parts and equipment used to repair and maintain aircraft registered outside of Georgia.

Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? No
HB 958: It would grant and extend several tax breaks. Among them, tax exemptions for video game developers and sales tax holidays for back-to-school shoppers Aug. 1-2 and for energy- and water-efficient appliances Oct. 3-5.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? No

Other:

HB 1: It would subject law enforcement and district attorneys to more scrutiny when they seize property during investigations.
Did it pass? No

HB 449: It would bar the release of audio recordings of 911 calls when the caller dies.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? No

HB 516: University System of Georgia employees who initially — and irrevocably — chose to participate in the Regents Retirement Plan would be given a one-time option to switch to the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia. This bill initially passed the House on a close vote (92-70) but was reconsidered and tabled.
Did it pass? No

HB 541: Last year’s bill to double the Fulton County property tax homestead exemption to $60,000.
Did it pass? No

HB 714: Bus drivers and other seasonal school workers who work for private firms would lose unemployment coverage when school is not in session.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? No
HB 715: It would spell out how land on Jekyll Island may be developed.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? No
HB 837: It would make changes to the private probation industry in Georgia.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? Yes. A late amendment would block key information about the industry from public view.

HB 875: It would lift restrictions on guns in churches and bars and allow school boards to arm employees. Churches would have to “opt in,” meaning they would have to decide to allow guns, a switch from the original version that would have required them to opt out.
Did it pass? No, but see HB 60.

HB 60: Originally written to allow more judges to carry weapons, it was amended in the House to include much of HB 875.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? Yes. Churches are “opt-in,” and it now allows hunters to use silencers.
HB 907: It would require car-service companies such as Uber and Lyft to pay sales taxes, have insurance and conduct background checks.
Did it pass? No, although a study committee was approved to examine the issue this summer.

HB 913: It would bar anyone who works in health care from serving on the board of the Department of Community Health. Critics claimed it was designed to punish Rick Jackson, a board member who has championed tort reform and foster care bills. Its original language was deleted by a Senate committee, which added the governor’s foster care privatization bill to it.
Did it pass? No

HB 923: It would require greater transparency from the Division of Family and Children Services in cases of child deaths and move the Child Fatality Review Panel to the GBI. It was one of the governor’s priorities.
Did it pass? No, but its language was added to SB 365, dealing with offender re-entry programs. SB 365 passed.

HB 935: It would make secret many documents related to local governments and school systems’ retirement systems.
Did it pass? No

HB 1023: Supporters said it would protect individuals’ religious freedoms against government intervention, but critics worried it would allow private business owners to cite their religious beliefs in declining to serve people they believe are gay or having premarital sex.
Did it pass? No

HB 1080: It would allow for a monument of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the grounds of the state Capitol.
Did it pass? Yes

Significant changes? No

SB 283: It would allow students and school staff to offer “traditional greetings” such as “Merry Christmas.”
Did it pass? No

SB 350: It would require the Division of Family and Children Services to bid out to private firms some functions, such as case management, family preservation and independent living.
Did it pass? No

SB 397: It would require insurance companies to provide coverage for autism-related disorders.
Did it pass? No

SB 377: Same language as HB 1023.
Did it pass? No

SB 404: It would deny Georgia driver’s licenses to immigrants who don’t have legal status in the U.S. but have been granted “deferred action,” or permission to temporarily stay and work here for humanitarian reasons.
Did it pass? No

SR 1031: It would mandate that state driver’s license exams be given only in English.
Did it pass? No

Bills that passed before Thursday night:

HB 310: It moves primary elections for state and local offices from July to May 20. The governor has already signed it.
HB 702: It would allow for a monument containing the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state Capitol.
HB 774: It would allow a maximum speed limit of 70 mph on interstates in urban areas with populations of more than 50,000.
HB 908: It would extend the $1 tire disposal fee for five more years.
SB 213: It would address how the state protects threatened wildlife when drought hits the Flint River basin.
SB 296: It would spell out how land on Jekyll Island may be developed.
SB 299: It would give local authorities leeway in adopting watershed protection standards for buffer areas along streams and reservoirs.
SB 318: It allows bars to sell alcohol on Sundays that fall on the St. Patrick’s Day weekend. The governor has already signed it.