Stare-Down at the Georgia Capitol

Contributed by Georgia Rep. Bruce Williamson (R-Monroe).

Thursday was "Crossover Day" in the Georgia General Assembly, the final day that most bills can be passed for them to cross over for consideration in the other chamber. My final count shows that we voted on 45 bills Thursday alone. On a positive note, we actually "repealed" six bills that are out of date.

Friends have suggested that we should be repealing two bills for every one we pass, and it's hard to argue with their logic. However, many bills are "tweaks" to existing legislation that simply improve current legislation. Several bills debated  fit this description.

A good example of legislation that offered a needed “tweak” is House Bill 372, which was a very short bill that returned the eligibility threshold for the HOPE GRANT from 3.0 grade point average back to its original 2.0.  Governor Deal lead the charge on this excellent legislation which will help more students get a Technical College education.

We have some very smart, hard working, young folks that might not have the best grade-point averages in high school, but are very well-suited for a technical education that will help them get a higher paying job. Students in our technical colleges also tend to be older, working full-time, and many are parents.

Technical education is also vital to Georgia's ability to create and attract new jobs, such as the manufacturing jobs being brought by Caterpillar and Baxter International. 

This bill is one more example of how our job-creating Governor is making Georgia an even more "Business and Job-Friendly" state!

The biggest news of the week was the passage, along partisan lines, of the "Safe Carry Protection Act".  HB 512 is a comprehensive amendment of Georgia's weapons code to allow for expanded gun carry rights. It's not a perfect bill, but certainly gets us headed in the right direction. Expect a tough fight for it in the Senate. 

The most interesting drama of the week, was the "stare-down" between Georgia law enforcement and the House Judiciary Committee Chairman over his proposed legislation to change Georgia's asset forfeiture laws. As written, HB1 was adamantly opposed by the law enforcement community. I received calls from our District Attorney Layla Zon, Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman, Monroe Police Chief Keith Glass, Social Circle Police Chief Terry Sosebee and Loganville Police Chief Mike McHugh. All of them opposed the bill.

Over the last few day scores of law enforcement officers, mainly Sheriffs from all over the state, came to the Capitol in protest. Sheriff Chapman came up Thursday to support his Georgia Sheriff’s Association brethren and stopped for a great visit with me before joining his fellow Sheriffs in the House Gallery for the opening bell and start of the “stare-down.”  

When the session started, the balcony was full of stern faced officers of the law, intent on having their feelings known. After an hour or so, thankfully, the bill was finally pulled and returned to the Rules Committee for further review and improvement.

Bills can come back out of the Rules Committee for vote at any time, and many of the Sheriff’s insisted on staying the entire day out of fear that the bill might have a “Lazarus Moment” and come back to life.

With lots of urging, I finally talked our Sheriff into heading back to Walton County, with many assurances that Rep. Tom Kirby and I had his back for the rest of the day. Joe Chapman is a fantastic Sheriff and he enjoys immense respect amongst his fellow sheriffs across the state. Every Sheriff I met knew him and complemented his professional common sense approach to law enforcement.

Overall, Thursday’s “stare-down” was high drama and very interesting to this relatively new politician! I’m sure many of the “ole-time” political observers would agree.

Other little discussed bills of interest include:

HB 487 which will regulate Class B coin operated amusement machines. These "skill" games (and I use the quote marks liberally) are legal where players earn points/tickets that can be refunded for prizes on premises. However, criminals are often paying cash payouts, which has created many back room "casinos" throughout Georgia. The oversight of these machines will move from the Department of Revenue to the Georgia Lottery Commission.  Approved prizes will also include Georgia Lottery tickets.  

HB 382 which will allow schools to enter into public-private partnerships when the school rents out its facilities. This bill provides that a Board of Education does not waive its sovereign immunity by allowing its recreation facilities to be used by another entity so long as there is a joint-use agreement, and the other party provides evidence of at least $1,000,000 liability insurance.

HB 454 improves the ability for the legislature to determine if tax expenditures are achieving the desired intent. This common sense bill includes the requirement that analysis include a detailed description of the expenditure, a review of intended legislative purpose, effect on the tax system and outlines which parties benefit from the expenditure. Kudos to Chairman Chuck Martin and the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight Committee for their good work!

Finally, HB 499, which I co-signed with Representative Donna Sheldon, who authored the bill, mandates that the federal “Affordable Heathcare Act”  can not change, in any way, the standard of proof under which negligence or “the standard of care” or “the standard of duty” that is owed by a health care provider. Frankly there is not much “affordable” about “Obamacare” and we simply must protect our Georgia Healthcare providers at every step. This bill seeks to help them.

We only have ten more legislative days this session. Please call me if you have any questions or concerns. My Monroe office number is 770-267-2566 and Atlanta Legislative office number is 404-656-0152.

I am honored to serve as your State Representative.

Sincerely,

Bruce Williamson