The Senate took up several measures. Among them were the following:

HB 994 – Rep. Jimmy Lord’s bill, to amend the law passed in 2000 concerning the Dept. of Motor Vehicles’ database to track licenses and insurance coverage for vehicles, was on the Senate Floor. The problem, giving rise to the legislation, is that the Dept. of Motor Vehicles has not been able to implement the necessary database to track insurance on vehicles as mandated by the law. Thus, Rep. Lord proposed to give the Department a time extension until February 1, 2003, which is how the bill appeared before the Senate. A Floor Amendment by Sen. Guhl was adopted, which would take the time back to July 2002, giving the Department basically only another four and one-half months to accomplish the task. Sen. Tim Golden argued that the pressure was already on the Department and the amendment was not necessary; further, he argued that the expenses involved to make this database operational were high, and if the private sector accomplished the task, it would be $8 million. The Senate agreed with Sen. Guhl and passed his amendment and changed the effective date of the database to July 2002 by a vote of 31 to 15. Once this was passed, the Senate then adopted the Committee Substitute with the Guhl Amendment by a vote of 41 to one and then passed the bill by a vote of 45 to 3.

SB 307 – Sen. Doug Haines carried this bill which he claimed to be making "more effective government" and would be "taking out the middleman." The bill proposes to "transfer ministerial functions of the Department of Administrative Services relating to the payment of salaries, benefits, fees, and expenses of district attorneys, personnel of district attorneys, and solicitors or solicitors-general of the state courts to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of the State of Georgia." There was no discussion or debate on this Bill and it passed, after adoption of the Committee Substitute, by a vote of 46 to zero.

SB 313 – One of the more interesting discussions involved this Bill. Sen. Eric Johnson brought the Bill to the Floor which deals with cities’ incorporations and boundaries. In explaining the issue, Sen. Johnson noted that this was really a Chatham County concern at the "Landings" on Skidaway Island. Currently, an entity cannot incorporate within a three-mile limit of another incorporated body. At Skidaway, the island with 8,000 inhabitants, is three miles as the "crow flies" from its next nearest incorporated body, but it is 10 to 15 miles away by car. This bill would apply to saltwater islands. Sen. Johnson noted that both GMA and ACCG have concerns about the Bill and will look at it more closely once it reaches the House. Sen. Rusty Paul attempted an amendment on behalf of Sandy Springs residents as Sandy Springs, as Sen. Paul described, desire to "have their freedom." Sen. Paul explained that Sandy Springs would like to have its own local government and is thus, against SB 313 as it believes it impacts its negotiations on its "liberation." Sen. Donzella James queried Sen. Paul about the benefits that Sandy Springs would have. Sen. Paul explained that it would have more local control including more zoning control, more police and fire protection, and etc. Sen. James also asked if the residents knew the costs associated with such (noting personnel for the city, schools, fire, police, etc .). Sen. Paul agreed that it would be something that a referendum to the people should decide. Sen. Tom Price also jumped into the fray and asked if Sandy Springs’ citizens had not worked on this issue for twenty years. Sen. Paul agreed. After such discussions, Sen. Paul finally withdrew his amendment, and the bill then passed by a vote of 46 to 1 (with Sen. Regina Thomas against the bill).

SB 385 – The bill has a number of Code provisions including Chapter 1 of Title 4 and Chapter 12 of Title 31. This is an administration bill and carried by the Governor’s Floor Leaders. This has been dropped to help create a bioterrorism plan. The bill defines both "bioterrorism" and "public health emergency" in Chapter 12 of Title 31:

"1)'Bioterrorism' means the intentional use of any microorganism, virus, infectious substance, or any component thereof, whether naturally occurring or bioengineered, to cause death, illness, disease, or other biological malfunction in a human, animal, plant, or other living organism in order to influence the conduct of government or to intimidate or coerce a civilian population.
2) 'Public health emergency' means the occurrence or imminent threat of an illness or health condition that poses a substantial risk of a significant number of human fatalities, serious illnesses, or permanent or long-term disabilities, whether or not arising from natural causes."

Among the bill’s many provisions include the requirement of the Department of Human Resources to create a bioterrorism plan and to implement such plan in the event of an emergency and coordinate with GEMA, FEMA and the Centers for Disease Control. Further, providers are to report any ‘reportable’ diseases to the Department of Human Resources and the Department may invoke isolation or segregation of persons with communicable diseases and/or conditions which are likely to harm others. An interesting addition, is that pharmacists are to notify the Department of Human Resources of any unusual or increased prescription rates or trends. The Governor may also compel a healthcare facility to provide services or use of the facility in the event of an emergency. Further, the Department of Human Resources may be transferred such facility’s management/supervision in such emergency.

SB 394 – Another administration bill, this reorganizes the Department of Human Resources Board in Chapter 2 of Title 49. Specifically, a person will be appointed from each of the Congressional districts in the State (these appointments will remain as they are under current law) and there will be four at-large positions which will be appointed by the Governor and then approved by the Senate. The Congressional districts are those defined in O.C.G.A. § 21-1-2 and as amended by 2 EX11 of the second Extraordinary Session of 2001 (and as thereafter amended by law). Seven of the Board’s members will have to be engaged in the rendering of health services.

Rep. Georganna Sinkfield will hold a hearing on Monday, February 4, 2002 to hear from the public about the Budget proposals. On Wednesday, February 6, 2002 at 1:30 p.m., the Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hold a hearing on HB 498, Speaker Murphy’s bill concerning the delivery of home and community based services through the Community Service Boards and Regional Service Boards as created by HB 100. Hearings were held over the summer and fall concerning the lack of accountability involved and quality of services to clients. From those hearings, a recommendation was set forth to pass Speaker Murphy’s bill out of the Senate and work on fine tuning it in a Conference Committee.

The Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s General Business and Transportation Subcommittee met this morning to discuss SB 214 which deals with the selling of databases created by companies. SB 214, authored by Sens. Mike Polak and Robert Lamutt, was introduced in 2001 and carried over to the 2002 Session. The bill, in its present form, raises concern with potential conflicts with current intellectual property and copyright laws. No action was taken by the Subcommittee on making a recommendation to support or oppose the Bill to the full Governmental Affairs Council of the Georgia Chamber. Rather, the Subcommittee agreed that members should watch for a new draft and take up the issue at that point.