Greetings from the Gold Dome!  Lawmakers began the day in their usual fashion, but they immediately halted their work because of the number of lawmakers who had not made it to the snow-covered Capitol. They reconvened at 1:00 p.m. in order to prepare for the Governor Deal's State-of-the-State and Budget address which was delivered at 2:00 p.m. 

Committee assignments have not all been made.  Once those assignments are made, we will forward out a complete listing for the House and Senate.

A Gold Dome Budget Report will be prepared and sent out at a later date.  However, contained below are a few highlights of the FY 2012 Budget proposal offered by Governor Deal.

New Legislation

This Report captures some of the recently introduced initiatives in 2011.  We will not cover all legislation but pieces which we feel are likely of interest to our clients.

HB 33 – Rep. Allison (R-Blairsville) offered this "Budget Act" to provide for the application of zero-base budgeting to the budget process in O.C.G.A. § 45-12-75.1.  If passed, this process would apply to the Budget report presented to the General Assembly in January 2012 and each year thereafter.  In any given year, no more than one-third or less than one-quarter of all programs would be required to have zero-base budgeting; each program or budget would be required at least every four years to have zero-base budgeting. This requirement would also apply to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.  The Department of Education would be one of the first program areas to be required to submit a zero-base budget in January 2012.

HB 40 – Rep. Benton (R-Jefferson) proposed this initiative requiring that engine coolant or antifreeze sold in Georgia, containing more than 10 percent ethylene glycol, be required to contain denatonium benzoate.  This added material will make antifreeze bitter tasting or unpalatable. This requirement, to be known as "Chief's Law," will be added at O.C.G.A. § 10-1-202.1.

HB 41 – Rep. R. Smith (R-Columbus) authored this Bill amending O.C.G.A. § 15-6-77 concerning fees charged for the preparation of an appellate record and transcript.  It decreases the fee from $10.00 per page to $1.50 per page for such transcripts.  Further, it amends O.C.G.A. § 15-21A-6.1 relating to the judicial operations fund fee for superior courts so that such fee will not apply to the issuance of certificates of appointment and reappointment of notaries public.  Previously, a fee of $125 was to be collected for these certificates of appointment and reappointment.

HB 42 – Rep. Dickson (R-Cohutta) proposed this initiative relating to "false advertising" and repealing the prohibition against the use of the term "wholesale" by persons, firms, associations, and corporations in sales or advertising when such entities sell to consuming purchasers.  This change is made by repealing O.C.G.A. § 10-1-424.

HB 43 – Rep. Oliver (D-Decatur) introduced a new Code Section at O.C.G.A. § 12-4-75.1 prohibiting the purchase or use of coal extracted by mountaintop removal coal mining for the generation of electricity.  "Mountaintop removal coal mining" is defined as "any method of surface coal mining that removes a mountaintop or ridgeline, whether or not the mined area will be returned to its approximate original contour." It also includes, but is not limited to, "methods such as cross-ridge mining, box cut method mining, steep slope mining, area mining and mountaintop mining, or any method of coal mining which utilizes valley fills." It establishes suspension dates for such coal purchased or used by any utility for a coal-fired generating unit.  In O.C.G.A. § 12-9-7(k), it adds that no permit shall be issued for any new coal-fired generating facility pursuant to any permit application filed on or after July 1, 2011 and requires the suspension of any generating operations by a facility which was issued a permit on an application filed prior to July 1, 2011 and which has not commenced electrical generating operations as of such date.

HB 44 – Rep. Jacobs (R-Atlanta) authored this proposal concerning the removal or abandonment of shopping carts in O.C.G.A. § 16-8-21 so as to eliminate the required posting of this Code Section by stores and markets before any person may be subject to misdemeanor charges of a theft of a shopping cart.  Under current law, stores and markets must post the law in prominent places and at each exit that removal of the shopping carts will be unlawful.

HB 45 – Rep. Jacobs (R-Atlanta) proposed this initiative to be known as the "American Laws for Georgia Courts Act."  It will add a new Article 7 in Chapter 12 of Title 9 providing that no court, arbitrator, administrative agency, or other tribunal will enforce a foreign law if doing so would violate a right which guaranteed by the Georgia Constitution or the Constitution of the United States. It further addresses forum non conveniens in O.C.G.A. 9-12-150(e):

If any contractual provision or agreement provides for the choice of venue or forum outside of the United States or its territories, and if the enforcement or interpretation of the contract or agreement applying that choice of venue or forum provision would result in a violation of any right guaranteed by the Constitution of this state or of the United States, that contractual provision or agreement shall be interpreted or construed to preserve the constitutional rights of a person against whom enforcement is sought, and a transfer or change of venue or forum pursuant to such provision shall be denied.

HB 46 – Rep. Jacobs (R-Atlanta) introduced this repeal of the "Uniform Foreign Depositions Act" in order to replace it with the "Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act" in Article 6 of Chapter 10 of Title 24.  It establishes definitions for the terms: "foreign jurisdiction;" "foreign subpoena;" "person;" "state;" and "subpoena."  Further, in O.C.G.A. § it establishes the process for issuance of the subpoena which will be made to the clerk of the superior court of the county in which the person receiving the subpoena resides.   It requires the subpoena to be served in compliance with O.C.G.A. § 24-10-23 ("A subpoena may be served by any sheriff, by his deputy, or by any other person not less than 18 years of age. Proof may be shown by return or certificate endorsed on a copy of the subpoena. Subpoenas may also be served by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, and the return receipt shall constitute prima-facie proof of service. Service upon a party may be made by serving his counsel of record.").

HB 47 – Rep. Ramsey (R-Peachtree City) authored this proposal adding a new Article 3 in Chapter 29A of Title 33 to permit insurers to offer individual accident and sickness insurance polices in Georgia which have been approved for issuance in other states.  The insurer or its affiliate or subsidiary would also be required to be authorized in Georgia to transact insurance business.  There are minimum standards outlined, including that they will be required to satisfy actuarial standards as set forth by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners ("NAIC") and any regulation promulgated by the Commissioner that is "not inconsistent with such NAIC standards."  This legislation was offered last year and was known as the "cross-state selling" of insurance proposal. 

HB 48 – Rep. Powell (R-Camilla) proposed this Bill addressing the waiver, denial, renewal, and granting of freeport exemptions under Georgia's ad valorem tax exemptions in Chapter 5 of Title 48.  It specifically provides for level 1 and level 2 freeport exemptions and outlines the basis and applicability to business inventory.  Level 1 freeport exemptions may be either granted in lieu of or in addition to level 2 freeport exemptions under O.C.G.A. § 48-5-48.6.  A level 2 freeport exemption must be authorized by the governing authority of any county or municipality.

Budget

As mentioned above, we will provide a more comprehensive report on the Budget at a later time.  However, below are a few details about Governor Deal's FY 2012 Budget:

• Georgia currently has a 2010 census of 9.7 million, an increase of 18 percent over the prior decade
• Revenues for FY 2010 were $15.2 billion, down almost 20 percent from FY 2007
• FY 2012 Budget is based on a revenue estimate of 3.75 percent increase over the amended FY 2011 recommendations
• A total bond package of $563 million is included (down 50 percent from recent years)
• $231 million is included in bond funding for k-12 capital outlay, vocational equipment, buses and repairs for State schools
• No teacher furloughs
• $15 million in bond funding is proposed for science, technology, engineering and mathematics for charter schools
• $35 million for GEFA's water and sewer programs and $46 million for reservoir development
• $32 million in bond funds for deepening the Savannah Harbor
• Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities State funding of $875.9 million (including $32 million for Adult Mental Health Services for providing funding for mental health consumers in community settings as a part of the Department of Justice Settlement Agreement)
• Department of Community Health State funding of $2.7 billion (to be matched with $5.7 billion in federal funding) for Georgia's Medicaid program
• Department of Human Services State funding of $476 million (to be matched with approximately $1.1 billion in federal funding)
  
  

To download the 2011 Georgia House Committee Assignment Listing, please click on the link below.

 http://www.nelsonmullins.com/DocumentDepot/2011CommitteeAssignments1.pdf