After a long ride, the Georgia General Assembly closed around 11:55 p.m. Wednesday night, after the Governor made his address to both Chambers, complete with papers flying and a myriad of bills being both passed and killed in the process. The end followed long lists of "agrees and disagrees" to changes made by both the Senate and House. The House even entertained additional legislation on a supplemental House Rules calendar. Many Legislators appeared exhausted, ready to return home or just plain elated to have the Session come to a close. Some reveled in victories, while others moaned their defeats.

Education still prevailed as the major topic of the Session. The General Assembly approved the State’s FY 2001 $14.4 billion budget. The child, Terrell Peterson, will not be forgotten. An Act named in his honor will be created in the Georgia Code to help prevent further harm against children due to a lack of oversight by the Department of Family and Children’s Services. The motor vehicle emissions legislation finally passed after great debate – emissions will be checked annually. The optometrists did not prevail in gaining prescriptive rights.

Some of the last day’s events were:

SR 788 – Sens. Hill, Jackson, and Marable have introduced this Resolution to list the goals and outcome measures for state policy on childhood care and education and for urging state agencies to comply with such goals and outcome measures.

SR 794 – This Resolution was authored by Sens. Hill, Madden, Jackson, and Perdue to create the Senate Study Committee on Rural Hospitals. This was referred to the Senate Committee on Rules.

HB 1760 – This bill, introduced by Reps. Teper and Reichert, would amend Chapter 1 of Title 51 regarding torts. This would extend certain immunity to resident physicians and hospital authorities, medical facilities, and academic institutions employing or utilizing "resident" physicians. The bill also allows for waiver of immunity. This was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

HB 1761 – Reps. Hudson, West, and Parham authored this bill amending O.C.G.A.§ 43-34-103 concerning physicians’ assistants. This would change provisions in the law concerning the supervision of such physicians’ assistants and provide that physicians’ assistants could distribute "professional samples" (drugs and medical devices) to patients. This bill has been sent to the House Health and Ecology Committee.

HR 1425 – In an effort to create increased awareness of the State’s water problems and concerns, Reps. Smith, Powell, Harbin, Barnard, Lane, and others introduced this Resolution for the protection of the ground waters and aquifers in Georgia. This Resolution urges the Department of Natural Resources and the Water Well Standards Advisory Council to "use every provision in the law available to them to enforce aggressively the 'Water Well Standards Act of 1985' and prohibit unlicensed drillers from operating in violation of the law and stop them by whatever means available in the law."

HR 1429 – This Resolution was introduced by Reps. Pelote and others to create the House Ovarian Cancer Study Committee made up of three members of the House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

HR 1432 – Speaker Murphy introduced the House version of the Study Committee on Rural Hospitals. This Resolution states that "health plans are required, under O.C.G.A. § 33-20B-3, to negotiate with rural hospitals to provide health care services in such plans but these rural hospitals are still at a substantial competitive disadvantage in actually becoming participating providers in these plans." This Committee would be comprised of five members of the House, appointed by the Speaker, to study the issues concerning delivery of healthcare services by hospitals in rural areas of the state.

The House passed SR 556, the Resolution creating the Joint Hospital Indigent Care Funding Study Committee originally introduced by Sen. Walker. The House also passed the following bills:

• SB 76 (by a vote of 144 to 21) to change the Sports Hall of Fame Authority’s membership;
  

• SB 338 (by a vote of 155 to zero) regarding how service of citations and ordinance violation trials are conducted in Magistrate Courts (authored by Sen. Kemp);
  
• SB 356 (by a vote of 166 to 2) concerning the Crime Information Center which audits crime reporting practices (authored by Sen. Meyer von Bremen);
  
• SB 401 (by a vote of 157 to zero) - the bill concerning local school systems’ authority concerning student suspension and when injuries are inflicted upon a teacher (authored by Sen. Starr);
  
• SB 436 (by a vote of 167 to zero) - the bill concerning changes made to the civil practice act relating to delivery of notices by certified or registered mail to also authorize overnight mail delivery or overnight delivery services (authored by Sen. Eric Johnson);
  
• SB 465 (by a vote of 156 to 5 by a Floor Substitute with Floor Amendments made) - the bill which was a part of the Governor’s package dealing with technology and which would create the Georgia Technology Authority (carried by Sen. Thompson);
  
• SB 483 (by a vote of 147 to zero) which would require the Board to provide a summary of information regarding complaint investigations of chiropractors to be given to those chiropractors in order to allow them an opportunity to respond (authored by Sen. James);
  
• SB 524 (by a vote of 155 to 11) which would provide for an Erosion/Sediment Control Overview Council (authored by Sen. Streat);
  
• SR 491 (by a vote of 163 to one) that would create the General Assembly’s Commission on Juvenile Gangs (authored by Sen. Starr); and
  
• SR 519 (by a vote of 148 to zero) which would provide for indemnification for those employees killed or disabled in the line of duty (introduced by Sen. Tate).

The House finally got through the animal cruelty bill – this bill had been before the House previously and finally a Conference Committee had to work out the differences. Sen. Brown from Macon authored this bill. The House approved the Conference Committee report by a vote of 164 to one and the Senate by a vote of 53 to zero. This would increase the penalties levied against a person convicted of cruelty to animals in felony matters – one could get a sentence from one to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000. If the case was a misdemeanor, the person could get up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.

The House agreed to an amendment to Title 31 concerning end-stage renal disease facilities (dialysis clinics) as authored by Rep. Buddy Childers. This is HB 646 which would require licensing and regulation for dialysis clinics.

The House agreed to amendments made to HB 818 by the Senate. This bill, authored by Rep. Ben Harbin, adds additional language to existing law regarding Medicare supplement insurance policies as well as requirements that health maintenance organizations must be domesticated in Georgia and must also adhere to risk-based capital requirements. Attempts were made to add the craniofacial insurance mandate to this bill by Rep. Sharon Trense (carrying the bill for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta). Various entities weighed into the debate over the additional insurance mandate – including the Department of Community Health which has numerous children covered in the State Merit Health Plan, the state’s Medicaid plan, and PeachCare for Kids.

The House has agreed to the changes made in the Senate to HR 850 creating the Joint Long-Term Care Industry Study Committee. This Committee will look at ways to solve problems in the recruiting, training, and retaining of long-term care services’ workers in nursing homes, personal care homes, home health agencies, and other long-term care services. It will look at issues relating to training, qualifications, salaries, benefits, recruitment, etc. This will be composed of 15 members: one member from the Senate (to co-chair the Committee); four other additional appointments made by the President of the Senate (one from personal care homes, community care service providers, registered professional nurses, and a long-term care ombudsman); one member from the House (to also co-chair the Committee); four additional members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives (one from a consumer of long-term care services or a family member of such consumer and one from a nursing home, home health agency, and one certified nursing assistant). Also, the State School Superintendent or the designee thereof and the Commissioners or their designees of the following state departments shall also serve on the Committee: Department of Labor, Department of Human Resources, Department of Community Health, and Department of Technical and Adult Education.

By a vote of 25 yeas to 30 nays, the Senate failed to pass the Safe Place for Newborn Baby Act (HB 1365), the bill which would allow a parent to drop their child off at a medical facility if the baby was a week old or less and showed no signs of physical abuse. The votes were mixed among the political parties. Many seemed to fear that this would encourage "child abandonment." Last week the Senate had tabled this bill and Wednesday a motion was made to take the bill from the table, which passed. The Senate debated the bill again with Sen. Rene’ Kemp re-emphasizing the merits of the legislation. The Senate passed several amendments proposed on the bill Wednesday night. One amendment would have dealt with the issue of physical custody of the infant once received by a medical facility. Once notified that the child was being held in a medical facility, the Department of Human Resources would have to immediately initiate legal custody proceedings. Once the child was medically ready for discharge, the medical facility would notify DHR that the child is no longer eligible for inpatient admission or is medically ready for discharge, provided that the child has been placed in the legal custody of DHR, then DHR would have to take physical custody of the child within six hours of being so notified. Another amendment dealt with the information about the mother and immunity to be granted to the mother – in order to receive the immunity, the "mother must inform the employee, agent, or member of the staff of the medical facility when leaving the child with the medical facility of the date of birth of the child, the place of birth of the child, and the identity and last known address of the biological parents of the child." Further, this information would be "kept confidential except in proceedings involving termination of parental rights, adoption, or criminal matters."

The Senate passed out Speaker Murphy’s bill on motor safety, HB 1441, which creates the new Department of Motor Vehicle Safety. This bill was voted out of the Senate with various changes made in the Transportation Committee and then on the Senate Floor. The bill had to be approved by the House. The bill creates stiffer requirements to obtain a driver's license - for example, a 16 year-old will be required to take a driver’s training course or get 50 hours of driver training from his or her parents. Additional attempts were made to make fingerprinting optional - this amendment on the fingerprinting issue failed to get added to the bill in the Senate. The bill goes to the Governor for his consideration.

The Senate took up the Resolution pushed by Lt. Governor Mark Taylor on the replacements of General Assembly members who are convicted of felony charges. This legislation came as a result of the most recent incident involving Sen. Diana Harvey Johnson from Savannah who was convicted last year in federal court. Lt. Governor Taylor had initially wanted the Governor to appoint a replacement for such members. In the version that passed the Senate, after being amended in the House, the replacements will be made by special election. Arguments were made that these ‘special elections’ were actually more costly than just having a member appointed.

The Senate agreed to the House changes to SB 479. This bill, authored by Sen. Eddie Madden, would create an ombudsman program and a state ombudsman to oversee the delivery of mental health, mental retardation, and substance abuse services through the Community Service Boards and Regional Boards. One of the key changes relates to the contracting of non-profit corporations rather than "corporations" for community ombudsmen oversight services.

The Senate also approved the Governor’s OneGeorgia Authority. This bill came to the Senate with the House changes made to the bill. This legislation is to help rural or under-developed areas of the state.

The "day trading" bill, SB 444, also a piece of legislation which the Secretary of State had proposed in an attempt to amend Title 10 by adding a new Article 2 at Chapter 5, failed to pass this year. This bill would have defined "day trading" and "day trading firm."

You will still be able to purchase cigarettes from vending machines. The bill that would have required these vending machines to be destroyed failed to be heard and thus died this Session. The bill had been introduced as a method of curbing underage use of tobacco products.

Next year the debate over the State’s flag will probably reappear as neither bill introduced made it through the legislative process. Two pieces of legislation were introduced this year regarding the flag’s design. These bills were introduced by Rep. Kathy Ashe and Sen. Mike Egan in the House and Senate, respectively.

Rep. Nan Orrock tried at the 11^th hour to get the "credentialing" bill attached to some legislation. In the end, her legislation and the legislation authored by Sen. Madden (SB 38) to create the Advisory Committee on Pain Management for the Terminally Ill and a piece of legislation authored by Sen. Walker and Rep. Robin Williams to create a new licensed group of professionals known as "mental health therapists," died. Attempts by Rep. Orrock and Rep. Williams to get both credits attached failed to pass in the House on HB 814. SB 38 became overloaded with proposed amendments and neither the House nor the Senate chose to agree to the changes.

Several Legislators made their last speeches on Wednesday. Sen. Mike Egan, a Republican from Buckhead (Atlanta), will be retiring. In a presentation ceremony, the Senate gave Sen. Egan a rocking chair. Sen. Egan was also given the privilege of presiding over the Senate – a privilege few Republicans are ever given. Others that will not be returning include Sen. Clay Land, Rep. Henry Reaves, Rep. Dan Ponder, Rep. Dorothy Felton, Rep. Sharon Trense, Rep. Mike Evans, Rep. Larry Smith, and Rep. Vernon Jones.

A full Report on the bills reported in this year’s Gold Dome Reports will be prepared and available after the Governor has given consideration to the bills passed during this year’s Session. This Report will be available in May.