HB 1065 – Rep. Reichert’s bill amending the Civil Practice Act, Section 9-11-4, concerning the expansion of current law so that private detectives may serve a summons, has now been placed in the House Judiciary Committee and was heard in Committee this afternoon (more below).

HB 1066 – Rep. Powell’s bill concerning an amendment to Chapter 1 of Title 51 in order to provide for a limitation on the liability of certified child safety passenger technicians and associated sponsoring organizations was referred to the House Judiciary where it also was heard this afternoon.

HB 1069 – Rep. Snelling’s amendment to O.C.G.A. § 40-8-76 concerning safety belts required as equipment and safety restraints for children four years of age or younger, has now been forwarded to the House Motor Vehicles Committee.

HB 1072 – Rep. Snelling’s proposal to amend Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 18 (Garnishment Code) so that changes may be made on when the summons of garnishment is to be served on the Defendant, has now been forwarded to House Judiciary Committee for review.

HB 1078 – Rep. Hugley’s amendment to Chapter 26 of Title 33 of the Code concerning industrial life insurance providing that policyholders who are 65 and older shall have an option to provide for an additional contact person who shall be notified by the insurer prior to the lapse, termination, or cancellation of any industrial life insurance policy has now been forwarded to the House Insurance Committee.

HB 1079 – Rep. Jennings and others' proposal amending O.C.G.A. § 16-8-12 and providing that information and pictures of any person convicted of a theft offense against an elderly or disabled person shall be provided has now been referred to the House Special Judiciary Committee.

HB 1089 – Reps. Squires, Unterman, and Davis' bill amending O.C.G.A. § 13-8-2 concerning contravening public policy and to declare as contrary to public policy certain contracts between a hospital which is a provider of obstetric services and certain insurers has now been forwarded to the House Health and Ecology Committee.

HB 1090 – Rep. Bordeaux and others' bill amending law pertaining to claims against the State, found at O.C.G.A. § 50-21-26, which requires that notice be sent and attached to subsequent complaint filed with a court has now been forwarded to the House Judiciary Committee.

SB 351 – Sens. Butler, Walker, Starr, Ragan and Thomas have authored this proposal to amend Part 3 of Article 16 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 concerning student health so as to change provisions relating to the rules and regulations for nutritional screening and eye, ear, and dental examinations of students so that such eye examinations shall be performed by ophthalmologists or optometrists.

SB 353 – Sen. Cheeks has dropped this amendment to Chapter 1 of Title 7 which is known as the Financial Institutions Code of Georgia so that it includes objectives of the chapter for entities under the supervision of the Department of Banking and Finance that are not financial institutions. Among other provisions, it places restrictions on investments by certain employees of the Department and restrictions on the receipt of gifts and business activities by certain employees of the Department.

The House Judiciary Committee met today with several bills on its agenda.

Rep. Powell’s bill, HB 1066, concerning an amendment to Chapter 1 of Title 51 in order to provide for a limitation on the liability of certified child safety passenger technicians and sponsoring organizations, was heard. Rep. Powell presented a Committee Substitute. David Tatum with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta rose in support of the bill and explained the need for providing child restraint seats to persons who could not otherwise afford them. The issue is providing proper training to persons on how to use the seats and that such be done by someone who is an actual trained technician (it takes four days to complete such training) and who is affiliated with a not-for-profit organization. Some of the entities where this training takes place are on properties owned by for-profit entities such as Wall Mart. Questions arose about provisions that these entities would not be held liable for the training done on their premises. In some of the massaging of this bill, language was inserted to make clear that manufacturers would not be exempt from liability. After much discussion, the bill was sent to a Subcommittee for some further work.

Additionally, HB 1065 was on the Committee’s agenda and was debated by the Committee. Rep. Reichert explained that he initially had reservations about introducing this bill.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education also met this afternoon:

This Subcommittee had an ambitious agenda about nurse training. The meeting lasted into the evening. There were a number of presenters to explain what types of uses monies targeted as ICAAP dollars could be used. In the FY 2002 Budget, there were monies included in the amount of $1.53 million in the FY 2003 Budget. Today, Area Health Education Centers, Registered Nurse First Assistants, Darton College, Chancellor Meredith, Ken Beverly with Archbold Health System, and others explained work being done in Georgia now in an effort to recruit and retain nurses and other allied healthcare professionals. There were many suggestions offered to supplement current efforts. Chancellor Meredith noted that 7 of 10 nursing programs in Georgia were filled but Ken Beverly argued that was not correct. Many were also concerned that not enough was being done to retain the current teaching staff for these types of nursing and allied healthcare programs.

Senate Insurance and Labor Committee also met today and took up one bill.