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January 29, 2004
Legislators
returned to work today after taking a recess on Wednesday. A number of Committee
meetings were held, however, and are reported below.
As for news, it would appear that some of the tort reform measures may be near
death unless it is somehow resuscitated. Supporters lost a procedural vote to
keep the ER immunity and caps bill out of the Judiciary Committee. Many have
joked that it is on "life support" at the present. Some Legislators feel that
they dealt with tort reform measures last Session and do not wish to hear the
issue again; others remain interested. Perhaps some type of reforms can be made
once interested parties gather some direction. Today, there were a number of
"white coats" (Doctors) in the hall to stress to Legislators their displeasure
over placing the tort reform bills back in the Senate Judiciary Committee rather
than in the committees where the bills were originally referred. They also were
stressing that Georgia did have a crisis on getting medical malpractice
insurance coverage, which was impacting access to care.
Floor News
In the House, there were a couple of bills which cleared the Floor and now are
on their way to the Senate.
New Legislation
HB 1210 – Rep. Lucas and others bill amending Chapter 4 of Title 50 changes
provisions relating to requirements for certain privatization contracts, notice
requirements, and competitive bidding for proposals for those contracts has now
been referred to the State Institutions and Property Committee.
HB 1212 – Reps. Heard and McBee's bill amending O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.12 so as to
change the manner of calculating the base amount on qualified research expenses
for some tax credits, has now been referred to the House Ways and Means
Committee.
HB 1214 – The House Special Judiciary Committee will deal with Reps. Crawford's
and Jenkins' proposal to amend O.C.G.A. § 16-11-130 so that there will be an
exemption provided for the Clerks of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals to
carry concealed weapons without a license.
HB 1215 – Rep. Richardson's bill on amending O.C.G.A. § 5-6-35 changes
provisions so that those appeal requirements shall not apply to appeals of cases
involving zoning or land use issues. This will now be heard in the House
Judiciary Committee.
HB 1218 – Rep. Borders' bill amending Article 15 of Chapter 1 of Title 10
requires employees at an inbound call center to disclose the employee's name,
the name of his or her employer, and the physical location of such employee. If
such is not disclosed, this would be considered a deceptive or unfair business
practice. This has been forwarded to the House Public Utilities and
Telecommunications Committee.
HB 1220 – Rep. Stephens and others' proposal amending Chapter 5A of Title 31
provides that certain prescription drugs sold in Georgia for use with humans and
subject to a maximum manufacturer's price schedule established by the Public
Service Commission shall not be subject to prior approval requirements has been
forwarded to the House Industrial Relations Committee.
HB 1222 – Reps. Oliver and Stokes proposal to amend O.C.G.A. § 9-15-11
concerning what "costs" to be considered in the costs in a judgment has been
referred House Judiciary Committee.
HB 1224 – Reps. Dollar and others' bill concerning changes to the ways in which
a Conference Committee of the General Assembly can make changes to an
appropriations bill as found in Article 1 of Chapter 5 of Title 28 is now in the
House Rules Committee.
HB 1226 – Rep. White's proposal to amend the Tax Code at O.C.G.A. § 48-7-27 so
that the computation of Georgia taxable net income may exclude applicable
military income has now been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.
HB 1227 – Rep. Westmoreland's bill amending O.C.G.A. § 15-12-1 to allow for an
exemption for a primary caregiver of a child who is four years of age or younger
from jury duty and to also allow for an exemption for a primary teacher of
children in a home study program has been forwarded to the House Special
Judiciary Committee.
HB 1229 – Rep. Barnes' proposal amending O.C.G.A. § 16-5-70 concerning cruelty
to children and adding a non-merger provision for the offense of cruelty to
children in the second degree has been sent to the House Special Judiciary
Committee.
HB 1232 – Rep. Beasley-Teague and others' proposal amending Chapter 24 of Title
33 prohibits accident and sickness insurers from limiting the availability of
such insurance based upon geographic location or zip code and has now been sent
to the House Insurance Committee.
HB 1234 – Rep. Black's bill amending O.C.G.A. § 26-2-411 to change the license
expiration dates for those entities licensing and inspecting of mobile meat,
poultry, or seafood sale vehicles has been referred to the House Agriculture and
Consumer Affairs Committee.
HB 1239 – Rep. Royal and others are proposing to add O.C.G.A. § 48-2-35.1 to the
Tax Code:
"If a certificate or exemption determination letter issued by the commissioner
certifying that the purchaser is entitled to purchase tangible personal property
or taxable services without the payment of sales and use tax has not been
obtained and used prior to purchasing such tangible personal property or taxable
services, a refund of sales and use taxes shall be made without interest."
HB 1240 – Rep. Royal and others have proposed adding O.C.G.A. § 50-5-82 to add
more vendor requirements. The Dept. of Administrative Services and any other
state agency shall not enter into a contract for goods or services, or both,
with a non-governmental vendor if the vendor or an affiliate of the vendor is a
dealer as defined in O.C.G.A. § 48-8-2(3) or meets one or more of the conditions
there under but fails or refuses to collect sales or use taxes levied under
Chapter 8 of Title 48 on its sales delivered to Georgia. There are emergency
conditions when this does not apply.
HB 1250 – Rep. Teilheit has proposed legislation to help educate the elderly
about crimes committed against them as well as ways to protect themselves. This
legislation would be added as Chapter 19 in Title 17 and would be known as the
Senior Protection Advisory Council. It would have the Attorney General as its
Chair, six additional Members appointed (two by the Governor, two by the Speaker
of the House, and two by the Lt. Governor).
HB 1252 – Rep. Douglas and others are proposing adding O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3.2
concerning sales and use taxes. This would state: "Notwithstanding any other
provision of law to the contrary, no transaction which would otherwise
constitute a retail sale for purposes of this chapter shall be subject to sales
and use taxation if such transaction occurs through the Internet." Currently,
the law is not clear on Internet sales; technically, Georgians are to report and
pay taxes on items purchased through the Internet.
HB 1255 – Rep. Lewis and others have offered amendments to the Tax Code
concerning income taxes to provide that Georgia taxable net income of any
taxpayer shall not include income which is attributable directly to a capital
gain resulting from certain involuntary conversions of real property because of
condemnation or eminent domain. This would apply to taxable years beginning on
or after January 1, 2005.
HB 1256 – Rep. Westmoreland and others propose adding a new Code Section at
O.C.G.A. § 9-15-16:
"In any civil action in any court of record of this state, all attorney's fees
and court costs shall be assessed against the plaintiff in such action if
judgment is rendered against such plaintiff at trial. If the plaintiff is unable
to pay such attorney's fees and court costs, or any portion thereof, in any such
civil action, such attorney's fees and court costs or such portion thereof which
the plaintiff is unable to pay shall be assessed against and paid by the
plaintiff's attorney. Subsequent reversal of such judgment on appeal shall not
affect assessment of such attorney's fees and costs."
HB 1260 – Rep. Beasley-Teague and others have proposed amending O.C.G.A. §
50-5-69 so that the Dept. of Administrative Services shall provide for the
advertisement of bid opportunities valued at $10,000.00 or more via the Georgia
Procurement Registry by a municipality, county or local board of education
without cost to such local government or board of education. This advertisement
would be in the Georgia Procurement Registry.
HB 1261 – Rep. Burmeister and others are proposing changes relating to the
restrictions on sales or dispensing of contact lenses as found in O.C.G.A. §
31-12-12. One of the changes is that if a person who sells, dispenses or serves
as a conduit for the sale or dispensing of contact lenses to the ultimate user
of the lenses and is not licensed and regulated by Chapter 29, 30, 34 or 43,
then that person, upon conviction, will be guilty of a felony and may be
punished by imprisonment for one to five years or by a fine not to exceed
$10,000.00 or by both such fine and imprisonment. Another one of the provisions
is that "all sales and prescriptions for contact lenses in this state shall
conform to the federal Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act, P.L. 108-164, 15
U.S.C.A. Section 7601, et seq. The provisions of this Code Section shall be
construed in aid of and in conformity with said federal act."
HB 1262 – Rep. Beasley-Teague and colleagues have proposed adding O.C.G.A. §
21-5-13 to require that the State Ethics Commission, when it receives for filing
any disclosure report or statement or other document required to be filed under
this chapter, to maintain with the filed document any envelope, package, or
wrapping in which the document was delivered for filing.
HR 1037 – Rep. Beasley-Teague's Resolution urging the Board of Regents of the
University System of Georgia to lower its student fees (in an effort to preserve
HOPE) has been forwarded to the House Higher Education Committee.
HR 1040 – Rep. Mills and others have proposed urging the United States Congress
to enact a permanent ban on Internet access taxes.
HR 1063 – Rep. Graves and others have offered this Resolution urging the United
States Congress to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment.
HR 1065 – Rep. Rogers and others have proposed amending the State's Constitution
to provide new limits on State taxation and spending powers. It amends Article
III, Section IX of the State's Constitution and adds a new Paragraph IV. Some of
its proposals includes that the General Assembly shall not appropriate funds for
any given fiscal year, which, in aggregate, exceed the total treasury receipts
from existing revenue sources anticipated to be collected in the fiscal year,
less refunds, as estimated in the budget report and amendments thereto. It also
proposes that any excess State revenues over expenditures at the end of a fiscal
year shall be transferred to a Budget Reserve Fund. Appropriation from this Fund
may be made only upon the total depletion of all other available funds in the
event of such state emergencies as natural disasters, budget shortfalls, and
other unforeseen circumstances and such appropriations can only occur on a
two-thirds' vote of all elected members to each house of the General Assembly.
Income earned on the Budget Reserve Fund shall accrue to the fund. Except as
noted above, in fiscal years where there is excess of revenues over
expenditures, those shall be refunded on a pro rata basis on the annual income
tax returns. The General Assembly shall also reduce state tax rates for the next
tax year to reflect the excess of revenues over expenditures.
SB 439 – Sen. Seabaugh's proposal amending Article 3 of Chapter 8 of Title 16
and amending Article 4 of Chapter 7 of Title 51 relating to detention or arrest
on suspicion of shoplifting to add for immunity for detention due to suspicion
of film piracy has been sent to the House Judiciary Committee.
SB 443 – Sens. Adelman and Seabaugh's proposal to prohibit the imposition of
nonuse, handling, dormancy, or maintenance fee on gift cards and gift
certificates issued by merchants or persons acting on behalf of merchants has
now been referred to the Senate's Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee.
This would be added in O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.
SB 446 – Sen. Cheeks and others have offered this change to Article 4 of Chapter
5 of Title 21to make it unlawful for any state government organization, officer,
or employee to expend public funds for lobbying and to make it unlawful for any
person or organization to expend funds appropriated by the General Assembly for
lobbying. It also makes it unlawful for any lobbyist to accept such monies. This
would not apply to the payment of salary or other compensation to a full-time
officer or employee of the state who is a lobbyist as that term is defined in
this article but who also performs other duties of office or employment in
addition to lobbying.
SR 624 – Sen. Price and others have authored a Resolution urging Governor Perdue
to issue an executive order requesting EdGeorgia, LLC to establish an
educational loan secondary market in Georgia. This has been referred to the
Senate Higher Education Committee.
Committee News
House Industrial Relations Committee
Yesterday, the House Industrial Relations Committee, under the leadership of
Rep. Channell, met to send bills to Subcommittees. Two bills relating to
prescription drugs, HB 1061 and HB 1220 (concerning pricing controls and prior
approval respectively), were assigned to a Subcommittee comprised of Reps.
Barnes, Bannister, Drenner, Maddox, and Ralston. This Subcommittee will meet
next Wednesday and hear more from the Dept. of Community Health, the Public
Service Commission, and the author regarding how the bills are intended to work.
Additionally, HB 1001 was assigned to the Committee's Subcommittee on Employment
Security and HB 1091 was assigned to the Subcommittee on Labor Management
Relations.
House Health and Human Services Committee
On Wednesday, the House Health and Human Services Committee had a guest speaker
from Canada on drug pricing. He made comparisons on drug prices between the
United States and Canadian markets. He also noted several pricing differentials
– a United States citizen will pay $800 more for hospital care than a Canadian;
a United States citizen will pay $900 more for physician care than a Canadian;
and a United States citizen will pay $200 more for prescription drugs than a
Canadian. In Canada, there are different ways a drug company may launch a new
drug – one way is to average the price between the United States and six other
countries. The importation of drugs from Canada would be one of the biggest
issues for Americans. There is no such thing as "FDA-approved" drugs with
Canadian pricing. Drugs are usually manufactured elsewhere; thus, there is no
guarantee that the drug will be safe.
After this presentation, the Committee took up HB 760 which repeals the sunset
provision on the Statewide Committee on Newborn Hearing Screening. A number of
questions were raised; the author of the bill, Rep. Harrell, stated she had
concerns over the need to amend the Committee's mission and goal as problems had
been found in further testing of newborns and referrals to additional testing.
Additionally, she believes that there are questions concerning what health
insurance plans cover on the additional testing and hearing aids.
The Committee also passed out HB 1055 which will help those with visual
impairments access telecommunications' programs to get access to news across the
State.
Senate Appropriations Committee
The Senate Appropriations Committee began work today on the Budget. Some of the
Subcommittees met to take up some portions of the Budget. The Senate's Human
Development Subcommittee of its Appropriations Committee heard today from the
Georgia Cancer Coalition and Department of Human Resources.
The Georgia Cancer Coalition's dollars for FY 2005 remain unchanged from what it
receives in FY 2004. It does have more dollars placed in cancer screening by
$400,000. In total, in FY 2004, it has a $700,000 reduction; $345,000 of that is
in tobacco prevention.
Dept. of Human Resources Acting Commissioner Maria Green spoke to the
Subcommittee this morning. She provided an outline to Senators addressing some
questions already received. She provided more information on the fee proposal
for the Office of Child Support's Orders and Child Support Enforcement proposal
concerning health insurance. If a child's parent has health insurance available
and its cost is not more than 5% of his or her gross salary, then that parent
must purchase insurance coverage for the child.
Ms. Greene also talked about the numbers of vacancies and turnovers in jobs –
especially in the Division of Family and Children Services. Further, she noted
the six different levels of care for the Foster Care program with the varying
reimbursement levels. Ms. Greene also mentioned the Division of Mental Health,
Development Disabilities, and Addictive Diseases implementation of HB 498 and
the regional office structures and the roles of the Community Service Boards.
There will be nine of seventeen Community Service Boards which will get
reductions (an explanation and impact to those providers was provided to the
Senators). She also mentioned the reductions to Public Health (on average, a
county's cut is $10,000.00). Additionally, the Dept. of Human Resources will see
an overall reduction in its staff (many of these job slots are vacant but many
are currently filled).
Ms. Greene mentioned that the Department is refinancing as much as possible the
use of State monies with federal monies. Reductions with the biggest impact are
to the grants-in-aid to the Public Health Department.
There are cuts to the unified transportation system which will not only impact
the administrative staff which deal with the contracts but in FY 2005 also
impact clients served.
Other areas mentioned:
• Closure of the medical surgical unit at Central State Hospital (currently, the
Department is working on negotiations for Oconee Regional Hospital to take care
of these persons)
• The transfer of 65 State level positions to the county level in DFACS
• The severe cuts to teen programs (this apparently will eliminate all but five
of the 39 programs statewide). Those remaining will be funded with TANF monies.
• Closure of Craig Nursing Home was also mentioned (the Department has used the
past year for attrition but is now meeting with families to see how they may
serve persons in another way (either through the community or another
facility)). If a family does not wish for that individual to be moved, then he
or she will remain on that campus.
• There are a number of additions to child protective services.
• Persons with developmentally disability diseases will see a transfer of 20
persons to the community (this relates to the closure of the facilities at
Savannah and Columbus). It was noted that three persons could be served in the
Community Care Services Program for every one person in a nursing home. (Sen.
Tommie Williams inquired about the SOURCE program, administered by the Dept. of
Community Health; additionally, he asked how transfers were occurring from
hospital emergency rooms to mental health facilities. Apparently, currently a
hospital emergency room must contact a Community Service Board to locate the
facility with availability of bed space before a sheriff may transport.)
A number of persons got to make a few remarks about the Budget, although it was
not indicated that public testimony would be allowed. Some argued for keeping
the additional Community Care Services Program monies in the budget; restoring
monies to the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Office; finding dollars for suicide
prevention; dealing with transportation costs; addressing the waiting lists;
keeping the level of care placement system in place for foster care; etc.
Other News
The House will reconvene on Friday at 10:00 a.m.; the Senate will reconvene at
9:00 a.m.
If you have any questions regarding this Report, please contact Stanley S.
Jones, Jr., Jeffrey C. Baxter, or Helen Sloat.
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