Lawmakers were feted by many different groups today at the Capitol: one group was from Columbia County and another was the Georgia Bankers Association.

Sheriffs from across the State also were plentiful under the Dome this morning. They came to Capitol to lobby lawmakers on various issues, including State funding and the need for additional resources. Many are interested in obtaining additional State mental health resources due to the high numbers of inmates that become repeat offenders and require local jurisdictions to provide for their care and treatment.

House

The House made their Session relatively short this morning, turning instead to Committee meetings. However, an Emergency Department Physician from St. Francis Hospital in Columbus, Michael Hagues, M.D., was introduced by Rep. Richard Smith (R-Columbus) as "Doctor of the Day."

Delta Air Lines was taken to task by Rep. Al Williams (D-Midway) because of his frustration over the high cost of airfares from Savannah to Atlanta. He reminded his colleagues that the General Assembly had routinely done what Delta Air Lines had requested over the years; it was time that they were fair with their rate structure.

Rep. Ed Rynders (R-Albany) took a moment of personal privilege and explained to his fellow House Members that HB 977 would address local school jurisdictions which were paying their superintendents and other administrators more when at the same time they were furloughing other school personnel (such as teachers). His Bill would prohibit such practice unless a public hearing was held on the issue.

The House honored Dennis Kelly this morning. Mr. Kelly is the outgoing president and CEO of Zoo Atlanta. Mr. Kelly will be leaving Atlanta to become the Director of Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Senate

The Senate recognized is former members today, especially Speaker David Ralston upon his rise in the House. Before running for Attorney General and serving in the House of Representatives, Speaker Ralston was a member of the Senate. Today, the Senate lauded Speaker Ralston on becoming the first former Senator to be elected to serve as Speaker of the House.

New Legislation

HB 997 – Rep. Howard Maxwell (R-Dallas) authored this Bill amending Chapter 18 of Title 47. His Bill would provide that the Employees' Social Security Coverage Group would be under the jurisdiction and control of the State Personnel Administration rather than the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia as it presently is. The Bill has been certified by the Department of Audits and Accounts as being a "nonfiscal retirement bill."

HB 1001 – Rep. Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta) offered this initiative amending Article 2 of Chapter 7 of Title 48 providing for an income tax credit for certain qualified investments for limited period of time. The investment would be in a "qualified business" which would be a corporation, limited liability company, or a general or limited partnership in Georgia; organized no more than three years before the qualified investment in question; maintain is headquarters in Georgia at the time of the investment in question; employs 20 or fewer employees in Georgia; had gross annual revenue of $500,000.00 or less on a consolidated basis; has not obtained during its existence more than $1 million in aggregate gross cash proceeds from the issuance of its equity or debt investments; has not utilized a tax credit under O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.26; is primarily engaged in manufacturing, processing, warehousing, wholesaling, software development, information technology services, research and development, or a business providing services other than those outlined in the Bill (retail sales, real estate/construction, professional services, gambling, natural resource extraction, financial/brokerage/investment activities or insurance, or entertainment/amusement/recreation/or athletic/fitness where membership or admission is charged.

HB 1003 – Rep. Jill Chambers (R-Atlanta) offered and amendment to Article 2 of Chapter 12 of Title 16, repealing Part 2, to allow persons to participate in and offer bingo games without requiring a state issued license.

HB 1004 – Rep. Doug Holt (R-Social Circle) proposed a change to O.C.G.A. §10-1-916. This change would make it illegal for the State or its political subdivisions to require the use of an individual's social security number or any portion of it as a username or user identification for access to computers, computer networks, software, webpages, and similar electronic files.

Committee News

House Rules

Today marked the Rules Committee's maiden voyage with new Chairman Bill Hembree (R-Winston) at the helm. The Committee's first order of business was placing Speaker Ralston's (R-Blue Ridge), HR 1168, on the calendar for tomorrow. HR 1168 is the Bill that would change the "Rules" of the House, particularly eliminating the "Hawk" positions on Committees.

House Judiciary Committee

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee reported out a Substitute to SB 131. This Bill, initially dropped in 2009, comprehensively revises Georgia's Title 53, the laws relating to wills trusts and estates, and specifically trusts, charitable trusts, trustees, and trust investments.

House Appropriations Committee – General Subcommittee

A hearing was held this afternoon, chaired by Rep. Carl Rogers (R-Gainesville), to learn more about the various budget entries relating to the Georgia Technology Authority in the FY 2010 and FY 2011 Budgets. Patrick Moore, the Authority's Executive Director, provided an overview of "GTA's" operations highlighting some of the changes. One major change which has taken place since Mr. Moore became the Executive Director is the move of the State's "print shop" from the State Archives Building to a new state-of-the-art facility in Smyrna. Additionally, GTA has undertaken a complete inventory of the State's assets and made improvements to laptop and desktop "refreshes." The billing system has been updated aligning it with the new solution and the State is now deploying management tools (software) so that more management of technology may be done remotely. GTA is now resolving service complaints more quickly.

GTA has experienced challenges including invoicing issues with the various agencies and service order completions. They have also received complaints that it takes GTA too long to answer calls relating to service.

Mr. Moore noted that the reserves for GTA were $60 million while $48.5 million of that was encumbered. GTA only maintains one month of operating reserves.

Rep. Austin Scott (R-Tifton) asked several questions about past-due accounts and requested that GTA provide the Subcommittee those which were 30-day and 60-day "past due." Rep. Scott also asked the average monthly payments being made on the IBM and AT&T contracts which are $10 million and $6 million respectively.

Rep. Doug Collins (R-Gainesville) asked additional questions on the IBM and AT&T contracts and their lengths of time. IBM's contract with Georgia is an eight-year contract with two one-year options for renewal; AT&T's contract is a five-year agreement with two one-year options to renew. Each of the contracts are "consumption based" and include triggers to either lower or raise the amounts of the pricing agreement.

House Appropriations – Subcommittee on Education

The Subcommittee heard presentations from The Department of Early Care and Learning, and The Governor's Office of Student Achievement on the Amended FY 2010 Budget.

Dr. Holly Robinson, Commissioner of The Department of Early Care and Learning, or "DECAL", addressed the Subcommittee, highlighting some of the steps that "DECAL" has taken to reduce its budget. The staff of DECAL will have six furlough days total, three have already been taken and an additional three will be taken. The per diem given to the Board of "DECAL" has been reduced, and savings that were experienced by the use of federal funds last fiscal year, approximately $2 million, will be used to support critical field staffing. Lottery reductions include furlough days for Pre-K Teachers, and a $53,000 reduction in central office employees; however there is still a 99 percent filler rate in the Pre-K program. Sixty percent of this rate is in private schools and forty percent in public schools.

Kathleen Mathers, Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Student Achievement, updated the Subcommittee on the tasks of the Office. The Governor's Office of Student Achievement, or "GOSA", has been working fervently in the "Race to the Top" competition which is a federal completion to bring money down to the state levels based on achievement. Additionally, GOSA is charged with the accountability side of education and generating the scorecards for school systems. In money saving effort the small office has stayed even smaller by keeping vacant positions unfilled, as well as furlough days.

Margaret Ciccarelli, spoke on behalf of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators during the public comment portion of the meeting, conveying her worry to members of the Subcommittee that in light of the budget cuts to education and mandatory furlough days, that Georgia will begin to loose teachers to other states or professions.

Senate Veterans, Military and Homeland Security Committee

Sen. John Douglas (R-Social Circle) chaired this Committee meeting this afternoon. HB 674, by Rep. Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus), was on the Committee's meeting agenda. This initiative would transfer the responsibility for the regulation of bingo games and issuance of bingo licenses from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to the Department of Revenue. The Bill passed by the Committee in 2009 but stalled before getting to the Senate Floor; thus, it was back before the Committee to get moved forward again this year. However, at today's meeting, Rep. Smyre asked that the measure be delayed because of some questions which were raised about cash prizes and licensure of the bingo games operators as proposed in the Bill. Thus, HB 674 was held with no action taken.

SB 216, by Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur), did not appear for the meeting today. However, his bill, SB 216, was essentially "killed" in Committee by receiving a "do not pass" recommendation which passed. SB 216 proposed that State employees who are spouses of military personnel would be able to obtain up to 30 days of personal leave with pay and an additional 60 days of leave without pay if their military spouse was wounded in combat and disabled. The Chairman and Sen. Jack Murphy (R-Cumming) expressed problems with the Bill.

SR 626 cleared the Committee this afternoon. This Resolution, by Chairman Douglas, expresses opposition to a federal proposal requiring private health insurers to pay for the treatment of veterans' service-connected injuries and disabilities. This Resolution now moves to the Senate Rules Committee.

House Health and Human Services Committee

A lengthy hearing was held this afternoon in the Committee, chaired by Chairwoman Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta) on the issues with hospice care in Georgia. Specifically, owners of Altus Healthcare and Hospice, Drew and Marcia Anderson, came before the Committee expressing their problems with getting a home-based hospice service licensed. Altus also offers inpatient hospice care in Altus House in Atlanta.

Altus was frustrated due to the length of time that it took them to obtain licensure for their hospice program while at the same time three competitors became licensed. They suggested perhaps a certificate of need was needed for hospice and a fee for licensure should be paid.

Doug Colburn with the Department of Community Health was also on hand in the meeting to explain the Department of Community Health's procedures for licensing hospice facilities in Georgia through the Department's Facility Regulation Division. Mr. Colburn also told the Committee that the Department proposed to amend the Hospice Rules which could be an opportunity to address some of these concerns raised.

Georgia presently has 170 licensed hospices with a concentration of these programs in the Atlanta area; there have been instances where licenses have been revoked or where facilities have voluntarily turned over their licenses (if problems are found upon inspection, plans of corrective action are required). Hospice services are almost all (98 percent) covered by Medicare which pays 100 percent of the cost at the Medicare rate.

Rep. Ron Dodson (D-Jonesboro) stated that perhaps a certificate of need, much like what is required to operate a "LTAC" unit in a hospital would be the most proper thing to address the situation; when the Certificate of Need law was changed in Georgia two years ago, hospice was not included in that legislation.

If you have any questions regarding this Report, please contact Stanley S. Jones, Jr., Helen Sloat, or April Morgan.