The big news: elections relating to the State's Department of Transportation Board.  David Doss was ousted from the Board and former State Representative Jeff Lewis was elected. Two others were elected: Don Grantham from 10^th Congressional District and Emily Dunn from the 9^th Congressional District.

The other big news of the day was that the House will tackle the FY 2011 Amended Budget tomorrow on the Floor.  Lawmakers otherwise churned forward today tackling the business of the people.

Floor News

House

Today, the House began some serious work as you will see below.  However, prior to taking up the Rules Calendar, the House Members took up a number of other business matters, including points of personal privilege and privileged resolutions.  Among the points of personal privilege included the fiery statements made by Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates) concerning her eleventh year at proposing "renewable energy legislation."  In those eleven years, the House had never passed any proposal, but this year, Rep. Drenner had received a letter from the Committee Chairman where her Bill is residing noting that the Bill would be taken up in Committee. This moment in the Well of the House has since led to discussions on ways in which Georgia, and the Georgia, can perhaps move away from being dependent on foreign oil – look at other energy such as nuclear, coal-fired, wind, and other forms.

Leadership groups from Bartow and Forsyth Counties were also in the House to be recognized.

Two members of the House are on the ailing list: Lynmore James (D-Montezuma) and Rusty Kidd (I-Milledgeville). Both gentlemen have been hospitalized here in Atlanta.

Among privileged resolutions included several "outstanding" college scholars from around Georgia.

HB 39, by Rep. Tommy Benton (R-Jefferson), was taken up by the House.  It dealt with unexcused absences of students.  Last year, the House passed a similar initiative but it became "stuck" in the Senate in the waning days of the Session.  Rep. Benton explained that a number of School Superintendents were in favor of this initiative as it would eliminate the requirement of a registered letter to be sent to parents when students had unexcused absences.  Rather, it would make the "registered" letter an option.  It is very costly for school districts to send the registered letters, and in many instances, it can cost a system several thousand dollars.  HB 39 will permit the letters to also be sent via first class mail.   Rep. Bobby Franklin (R-Marietta) posed a question regarding possible violations wherein the parent might not be made aware of the absences even though he or she may have been mailed a letter because violations can lead to imprisonment.  Rep. Benton explained that a parent did not have to "sign" for a registered letter now; so, the process would essentially be the same and the "risk" would remain. The legislation passed 153 to 15 without changes.

HB 72, by Rep. James Mills (R-Gainesville), caused a good bit of debate.  The Bill came up last year and was amended in the last minute after passing both chambers but was not resolved before Sine Die.  The underlying legislation attempts to address requirements for testing for driver's licenses for permanent residents which would require those individuals to take the test in English. An individual on a visa could pick one of 14 languages in which to be tested and that could be cumulative for ten years; after that point, Rep. Mills stated the person would be required to take the examination in English. The House was reminded that English was the official language of Georgia and had been named such in 1996.  Rep. Mills argued that the requirement was a public safety issue – he noted the use of digital signs with messaging which were now used. Further, he stated that fed motor carrier-administers are now required to have a proficiency to speak and read English. International airports are also now requiring air traffic control to speak English.

Rep. Stacey Abrams (D-Atlanta) opposed the Bill and noted that the ACLU was also against the Bill. There was discussion that there are also illiterate individuals who cannot speak English or read English and those individuals are also a "danger" on the roads.

Rep. Wendell Willard (R-Sandy Springs) also opposed HB 72. He mentioned in his remarks that the new Commissioner for Economic Development Chris Cummisky also opposed the legislation.  Rep. Willard noted that if this proposal had been law in 1990, then Atlanta would not have been considered as the site for the 1996 Olympics. He told his colleagues that passing HB 72 would be a black mark on our State.

Freshman Rep. Scott Holcomb (D-Atlanta) also opposed the Bill stating that the legislation was proposing a solution without a problem.

Rep. BJ Pak (R-Atlanta) also spoke to the merits of the Bill. He supported the "intent" but opposed the way it was delivered in the legislation.  Rep. Pak offered an amendment to help address the public safety concerns altering the "sign test" rather than the entire test to be issued in English. He also reminded colleagues that speed limit signs were numeric-not in written word form. 

There were a number of others who made remarks in today's debate in HB 72.  Three amendments were offered with two of them failing.  The House adopted Rep. Pak's amendment but the Bill was later tabled.

Senate

Today's Chaplain of the Day was Paul Voorhees and he gave the Senate a memorable speech about the importance of marrying the right person.  Both the adult and youth groups of the Leadership Forsyth were formally recognized in the gallery.  It was also declared Georgia State University Day and members of the Senate recognized some of the GSU administrators as well as the Head Football Coach, Bill Curry.  It was announced that February 12, 2011 will be Georgia Day and Georgia's copy of the Declaration of Independence will be on display at the Capitol for people to see.  Sen. Brown (D-Macon) briefly addressed the Senate with a plea to look for ways to strengthen law enforcement in the State without depriving the GBI of funds.

New Legislation

HB 204 – Rep. Billy Mitchell (D-Stone Mountain) proposed creating the "Protecting Georgia Homeowners Act of 20111" in O.C.G.A. § 44-14-310 et seq. The proposal is an effort to help home owners with unfair practices relating to foreclosure rescue schemes. It defines who is considered a "foreclosure-rescue consultant" and "foreclosure-rescue transaction."  The Bill outlines in O.C.G.A. § 44-14-311 the services which these foreclosure-rescue consultant must not engage in (such as engaging in such services without first executing a written agreement with the homeowner for foreclosure related rescue services).  The contents of the agreements are also outlined in the proposal.  It further permits that in any foreclosure-rescue transaction, the homeowner is provided the right to re-purchase the residential real property and has a 30-day right to cure any default of the terms of the contract with the equity purchaser.  Violations of the provisions would be subject to $30,000 per violation as a violation would be considered an unfair and deceptive trade practice.

HR 185 – Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica) proposed this Resolution which commends the emergency medical services professionals in Georgia and recognizes February 16, 2011 as "Emergency Medical Services Recognition Day" at the Capitol.

HR 186 – Rep. Harry Geisinger (R-Roswell) proposed this Constitutional Amendment for Article I, Section II, Paragraph VIII, of the Constitution to provide by law for pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing with the proceeds to fund tuition grants, scholarships or loans for citizens of Georgia to attend colleges and universities located within the State regardless if they are operated by Board of Regents.  It would also fund voluntary pre-kindergarten and trauma care services provided by public and private hospitals and medical facilities in the State.

SB 59 – Sen. Barry Loudermilk (R-Rome) introduced this Bill that addresses the need to change several different parts of the Code Section in the O.C.G.A. related to driver's license requirements.  The Bill would modify penalties for driving without a license, require drivers to surrender prior licenses when getting a new one, and for a driver to provide a sworn statement when applying for tag renewal.

SB 60 – Sen. Barry Loudermilk (R-Rome) proposed this amendment to Title 40 of the O.C.G.A. which would change the inference for identifying the driver in cases involving traffic-control signal monitoring devices.  It would provide a punishment for submitting a false statement in a red light camera form.

SB 61 – Sen. Barry Loudermilk (R-Rome) offered this initiative which would make it so that incandescent light bulbs manufactured in the State of Georgia that are not exported out of the State not be subject to federal regulation.

Committee News

Tuesday:

House Governmental Affairs Committee - General Government Subcommittee

The House General Government Subcommittee convened mid-Tuesday morning to discuss two bills.  The first was HB 68 and was authored by Rep. Hamilton (R-Cumming).  The Bill deals with a municipality's authority to annex unincorporated islands.  According to Rep. Hamilton, the Bill would not go into effect until January 2013.  He presented the opinion that local governments have had too much unchecked authority when it comes to avoiding due process during annexation proceedings.  Several members of the Subcommittee including Majority Leader O'Neal (R-Bonaire) voiced concern that constituents had been negatively impacted by annexations in the past as they relate to increased property taxes that must be paid.  HB 68 was voted on and it passed with no opposition.  The second initiative offered to the Subcommittee was HB 124.  It simply addressed a small provision of Title 36 of the O.C.G.A which would give members of the arbitration panel $115.00 per diem plus mileage for travel for their service on the committee.  The Bill was voted on and it passed without any comments from the audience.

House Economic Development and Tourism Committee

Rep. Rusty Kidd (R-Milledgeville) presented HB 76 to the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee on Tuesday morning.  The Bill would create the Georgia Certified Retirement Community Program and would hope to bring economic development to Georgia by recruiting retirees.  Committee members spoke at length about issues they had with the cost of a retirement community program.  The primary concern was that such a program would require a diversion of resources from one area of the budget to another during economic times that are already challenging. 

House Governmental Affairs Committee - Elections Subcommittee

Members of the House Elections Subcommittee spent the majority of their time on Tuesday morning discussing HB 92.  This Bill deals with the length of time in which a county is required to provide access to advanced voting.  Currently the State of Georgia starts its advance voting period 45 days before election day.  HB 92 seeks to change this length of time to 20 days and provide a mandatory Saturday when people can vote in advance on the weekend.  Rep. Hamilton (R-Cumming) explained that the main reasons for proposing this Bill were to cut election costs and alleviate the administrative burden of the election process.  Several members of Georgia organizations that spoke in support of the Bill include the ACCG, the Secretary of the State's Office, and the Voter Registrar's Association of Georgia.  The only organization present that was in opposition to the Bill was the ACLU.  They cited a lack of uniformity throughout the State as their main issue.

Senate Transportation Committee

Chairman Mullis (R-Catoosa) opened the Senate Transportation Committee meeting with news that he was sending SR 26 to Subcommittee. The Bill honors Charlie Will Stapleton and dedicates a bridge in his memory.  The Committee members then discussed SR 30 and SR 31 briefly before voting on and passing both.  These Resolutions deal with urging the Georgia Department of Transportation to prepare a list of contractors to be utilized during weather emergencies and to preauthorize local governments to clear state roads when necessary.

Wednesday:

House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee

There were four bills addressed during the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee meeting on Wednesday afternoon.  Rep. Roberts (R-Ocilla) summarized HB 26 by saying that it would give judges in the State more discretion when it comes to allowing an individual to receive a driving permit.  Currently Georgia law requires that a citizen between the ages of 16-21 lose their license for six months without question after certain violations of the law.  HB 26 would seek to give more leeway depending on individual cases.  Committee members passed the Bill without hesitation.  Rep. McKillip (D-Athens) proposed the next two bills which both dealt with bicycle law.  Rep. McKillip believes these bills will update laws in Georgia that have become quite dated as they relate to using bicycle lanes.  After several questions from Committee members, both bills were voted on and passed.  The final bill of the day for the Committee was HB 91 and was introduced by Speaker Ralston.  It basically would make it so that any person convicted of a felony offense would have that conviction demarcated on his or her driver's license.  Many members of the audience spoke to the Committee in favor and in opposition to the HB 91 and more amendments are forthcoming.

House Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight Committee

The House Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight Committee met today to discuss a single bill on the agenda.  Rep. Allison (R-Blairsville) proposed HB 33 which would be an amendment to Title 45 of the O.C.G.A. and would be known as the Budget Act.  The Bill would primarily be involved with applying zero-base budgeting to the budget process.  All Georgia agencies and departments would be required to undergo zero-base budgeting at least once during a four year cycle.  Rep. Allison suggested that the Department of Education be the first target, but Committee members rejected the idea.  Rep. Hill (R-Canton) suggested that smaller agencies such as the Secretary of State's Office and the Department of Agriculture be some of the first.  Section 2 of the Bill would also create a Joint Legislative Budget Office.  Several amendments were required to fix dates and specific language.  As a result, the Committee will reconvene at a later day after those changes have been made.

Senate Judiciary Committee

The Senate Judiciary Committee met late Wednesday afternoon to discuss HB 39.  The Bill was proposed by Sen. Grant (R-Milledgeville) and would officially create guidelines for the establishment of mental health courts in Georgia.  Proponents of the Bill spoke about how these mental health courts could alleviate the burden of overcrowding in our prison system and could provide mental health patients with a better type of care.  The District Attorney Office's representative brought up several points of contention regarding a potential the potential treatment of violent mental health patients.  Members of the Committee asked questions about how the Bill would affect the security of a patient's private medical records.  They were also concerned about what criteria there was for making certain that Federal money would be available to fund the courts.  The Bill will be amended and voted on at a later date.  SB 47 which deals with a required amount of training hours for magistrates was voted on and passed.  The agreed amount of hours in the Bill was between 12-20 hours. 

House Insurance Committee

Today, Chairman Richard Smith led a discussion on the proposal, HB 47, to permit cross-state selling of health insurance policies. The proposal was presented by Rep. Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City) who explained that if passed, the proposal would allow an individual to purchase a product which was authorized in another state to be given a list of coverages.  This list of coverages, per Rep. Ramsey, would allow the consumer to know what was actually contained in the policy.

Rep. Rahn Mayo (D-Decatur) inquired about what was contained in the legislation to address the concerns previously outlined by the female members of the House.  Rep. Ramsey noted that the products would be comparable products sold in other states and that the "mandates" would still be available to individuals if they chose to make purchases of those products.   Rep. Ramsey stated that Georgia needed to trust constituents to make rational, reasonable decisions.

Rep. Ramsey received support from David Raynor, the lobbyist for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and from the lobbyist representing NFIB.  Bother organizations supported the Bill because it would allow access to affordable options.  Opponents of the Bill included Cindy Zeldin, with Georgians for a Healthy Future, and Andy Lord, with the American Diabetes Association.  Both argued that the State would essentially move towards policies without any base-level protections (without the mandates).  Rep. Carolyn Hugley (D-Columbus) noted that the State did have a responsibility to "balance" policy and that this legislation was placing a big burden on the State's insurance commissioner (with the review of these products).  HB 47 was then postponed until next week.

House Health and Human Services Committee

The House Health and Human Services Committee, under the leadership of Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta), met and took up two proposals.  Rep. Ben Watson's (R-Savannah) Bill , HB 147 and to be known as the Patient Right to Know Act of 2011, dealing with medical malpractice and required disclosures to be made by physicians concerning their coverage, cleared the Committee with some dissent.  The other Bill, HB 145 by Rep. Matt Hatchett (R-Dublin), adding dry needling to the Physical Therapists' Scope of Practice Act, also passed out of the Committee.

Senate Health and Human Services Committee

A subcommittee of this Committee, chaired by Sen. William Ligon (R-Brunswick), took up SB 36 by Sen. Buddy Carter (R-Savannah).  The initiative would establish an electronic program to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of Schedule II, III, IV, and V controlled substances.  Schedule I drugs are the illicit drugs such as LSD.  Schedule II drugs are the more dangerous in the remaining scheduled drugs.  This proposal would allow the State Board of Pharmacy to oversee this electronic database.  Currently, the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency can look at prescriptions filled – the proposal now will allow this process to be done electronically.  Sen. Carter argued that it was a patient safety initiative, noting that 30 percent of the drug abuse in the nation now is due to abuse of prescription medications.  Every state has a prescription monitoring program except Georgia. Sen. Carter mentioned the 2009 deaths due to prescription overdoses (including deaths combined with illicit drugs).  Since 1908, there has been a paper trail of these medications issued. The Bill addresses the need for confidentiality of tecords; these records would not be subject to open records requirements as found in Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50. The Committee was presented a substitute; addressing some concerns raised by the Attorney General, and had two amendments made concerning the use of subpoenas (they would have to be issued by a superior court) and language to address prescriptions filled by a hospital retail clinic. The Bill passed with the changes.

House Judiciary Committee (Civil) – Jacobs' Subcommittee

Both proposals before this Subcommittee received clearance to move to the full Committee.  HB 64, the Bill dealing with the payment of attorney's fees in O.C.G.A. § 13-1-11, passed by Committee Substitute.  HB 64 caused some debate over the permission of attorney's fees in matters that would be collected by individuals who are "non-lawyers" essentially violating the State Bar of Georgia's governance of lawyers (no fee splitting with non-lawyers). HB 160, the proposal amending O.C.G.A. § 5-6-48(b) adding an additional ground for a dismissal of an appeal, also passed.