April 10, 2003

For more information contact:

Stanley S. Jones, Jr.

404-817-6133

Greetings from the Gold Dome!  Days are winding down now; tempers are flaring as well.  Debates over the Flag and taxes are heated.  Today, Sen. Mary Squires went to the Well in disgust, and in tears, over the Flag debate in the House.  She even called the Governor a racist.  Needless to say, all were shaken by this turn of events.  Some question the actual healing taking place.  

          Here are some other highlights from Day 35:  

Floor News  

          Other than personal points of privilege – such as that by Sen. Squires, the Senate also made its day rather short. Here are a couple of the bills it passed:  

·        HB 54, Rep. Childers’ bill relating to who may operate an eye bank (basically a non-profit entity), cleared the Senate by a vote of 47 to zero.  

·        HB 177, the bill which amends provisions concerning real estate appraisers and brokers, also cleared the Senate by a vote of 43 to zero.  

The House did its business rather quickly.  

·        SB 37 which proposes to establish guidelines for the operation of electric personal assistive mobility devices (EPMADs) (i.e. the Segway and other electric driven devices which average an output of around one horsepower) cleared the House by a vote of 152 to 4.  These vehicles would be allowed on all sidewalks which are able to accommodate persons with disabilities.  Speed limits would be imposed: 7 mph.  Additionally, operators would be required to yield the right of way to any pedestrians.  These EPMADs would only be allowed on roadways with a designated bicycle lane or which have a maximum allowed speed of 35 mph or less. When riding EPMADs on roadways, the operators must travel with traffic and be limited to a maximum speed of 15 mph.  Rear reflective gear must be part of these vehicles equipment.  

·        Another bill dealing with the practice of optometry has cleared the House.  Persons practicing optometry without a license, if SB is passed by the Senate, will face greater penalties.  The House raised the penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony.  The bill passed by a vote of 142 to 6.  This is the same penalty for some other professions – such as the practice of medicine, dentistry, and podiatry.  

·        HR 261 passed which proposes the formation of a House Study Committee to look at Georgia ’s Tax Code.  It will examine the collection of sales taxes on products sold over the internet and via mail.  The Committee will be composed of 15 persons, appointed by the Speaker.  Eight of these will be House Members; the remaining seven will be from the Georgia Municipal Association, the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, the Georgia Electronic Commerce Association and others.  There was discontent over this proposed Study – it could possibly be seen as an intrusion on free enterprise.  It passed by a vote of 91 to 50.  

New Legislation  

SR 416 – Sen. Levetan and others have proposed creating the Senate Hospital Indigent Care Funding Study Committee.  This will look at the State’s community hospitals which provide indigent and charity care and incur bad debt charges from the care rendered.  It will look at the payments provided by Medicare and Medicaid which do not cover the costs of treating patients.  The Committee will look at sustained funding of indigent care through a variety of revenue sources such as county funding, fees, and special taxes and other revenue sources.  It will also look at the PeachCare for Kids Program in an effort to find ways to cover Georgia ’s uninsured citizens by expanding this program to capture others.  It will be composed of five Senate Members.  A report will be made on or before December 31, 2003 .  

Committee News  

Senate Insurance and Labor Committee  

HB 598 was reported out by Substitute.  This amends O.C.G.A. § 33-1-9 so as to provide that a person is committing insurance fraud when, as an agent or representative, he or she solicits, negotiates, procures, or effectuates insurance coverage on behalf of an insurer who is not authorized to do business in Georgia or takes certain actions with regard to such insurance.  Such things would include soliciting, negotiating, procuring or effectuating any contract relating to benefits or services; disseminating information as to coverage or rates; forwarding applications; delivering policies or contracts; etc.  

House Insurance Committee  

·        SB 166 was presented by Sen. Lamutt and passed without changes or discussion.  This provides for a minimum non-forfeiture rate of 1 1/2 % on individual deferred annuities.  There is also a sunset provision for this provision.  

·        SB 96, a bill by Sen. Unterman and being handled by Rep. Graves, also passed by Committee Substitute without additional changes and little questioning.  This bill requires that health plans pay for off-label drug use for life threatening and chronic diseases or conditions.  A new Code Section is inserted in O.C.G.A. § 33-24-59.11.  

·        SB 329 by Sen. Seabaugh would create a Consumer Driven Health Plan.  This would allow the establishment of a spending account of first dollar spending for coverage.  There would be a secondary benefit for co-pays, deductibles, and stop-loss.  There were a number of questions as to whether such policies were an effort to write health insurance without including the insurance mandates (for things such as mastectomy, cancer clinical trials, etc.).  There were also questions concerning its portability if an employee leaves his or her job with this type of coverage.   Rep. Keen explained that these plans are currently being marketed.  James Purcell, with the Georgia Healthcare Leadership Council, rose in support of this legislation as big employers do this routinely.  This, per Mr. Purcell, will allow small employers to also offer this as a benefit. Aubrey Villines, another lobbyist for a number of groups including the Georgia Optometric Society, opposed the bill.  Linda Lowe raised concerns about the section relating to stop-loss coverage and covered mandated benefits.  Tom Bauer rose with concerns over the bill and asked that the Committee move cautiously.  Chairman Lord asked if any opposition had been raised on the Senate side; there had not.  This did not please Chairman Lord.  The bill passed without changes.  

·        SB 156 also cleared out of the Committee without changes.  Sen. Shafer presented this bill which relates to insuring employees with life insurance – ‘key man’ insurance.  Corporations have resorted to insuring more than just key persons in a corporation.  Thus, this bill states that if an employer purchases insurance on an employee, then the corporation must get the employee’s consent.  Additionally, if an employer is purchasing life insurance on employees’ children, this will be prohibited.  

·        SB 282 by Sen. Cheeks also passed.  This provides that if a person working for the State is eligible for the State’s health plan but does not immediately take such because of being covered by a federal plan (such as because of military service) and sometime later the federal plan ceases to operate or function, then that employee may be covered by the State’s plan.  Proof of eligibility would be required.  This too passed.  

Senate Judiciary Committee  

          HB 770, the Speaker’s bill on indigent defense, cleared out of the Senate Committee by Substitute.  

House Committee on Governmental Affairs  

          This Committee passed by Substitute SB 71, which amends O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-7 relating to the exemption from licensure for persons who are helping with disaster relief services.  Such persons who get the exemption will be professional counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists who are currently licensed to practice a specialty in another jurisdiction and who are practicing just to alleviate the impact on the persons affected by the disaster.