Midway! Yes, Lawmakers have officially now used up 20 days of the Legislative Session for 2011.  However, only one piece of legislation has actually crossed over to Governor Nathan Deal's desk for signature. That news is somewhat interesting because we are actually into the eighth week of work.

Floor News

Senate

The Senate convened today several minutes after 1:00 o'clock p.m.  Rev. Moses Woodruff, of Riverdale Methodist Church, was introduced as the Chaplain of the Day. 

After passing the Local Consent Calendar with a vote of 47-0, four Bills were presented and voted on by the Senate:

• SB 58 was authored by Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega).  This initiative has become known as the Spencer Pass HERO Bill.  As a rookie Senator, members of the Senate asked Sen. Gooch a number of questions aimed at making fun of him.  Sen. Bill Heath (R-Bremen) asked Sen. Gooch if knew the difference between organic and inorganic brain matter.  Sen. Gooch answered the unnecessary questions to the best of his ability, and the Bill passed 52 to zero.
• SB 64 was authored by yet another freshman, Sen. Josh McKoon (R-Columbus).  He presented the Bill as a way for a company to apply for reinstatement after having been dissolved in an efficient manner.  The fee would be set at a flat rate of $250.  The other Senators once again teasingly asked him a series of questions as it was his first time in the Well of the Senate, and then passed the Bill with a vote of 50 to one.
• SB 94 was presented by Sen. Bill Heath (R-Bremen). It merely cleans up some language about the carrying and possession of firearms.  The Bill passed 50 to one.
• SB 95 was authored by Sen. Buddy Carter (R-Pooler) and was the only Bill that received any criticism from other Senators.  The Bill would make it so that a law enforcement officer, applying for a job in Georgia, could have his or her previous work record pulled when being considered for the job.  Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville) asked Sen. Carter a very pointed question about how the Bill could expose businesses to potential lawsuits for divulging private information.  Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford) was also concerned about this risk.  Sen. Carter argued that the Bill was necessary to prevent reckless law enforcement officers from being hired in the State.  The Bill passed 37 to 15.

During points of personal privilege, several Senators expressed concern over the pace with which the HOPE Bill had proceeded through House.  Sen. Jason Carter (D-Decatur), Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta), and Sen. Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta) all echoed the same warnings about how the Bill needed to be amended and that it was up to the Senators to slow the process down.  Sen. Jason Carter was especially concerned about the Pre-K program and Sen. Orrock was worried about the status of Technical College grants.  The Chairman of the Higher Education Committee Sen. Jim Butterworth (R-Cornelia) spoke in favor of the HOPE proposal and the importance of getting it passed. 

House

The House convened at 1:00 p.m., addressing seven proposals on its Rules Calendar.  Speaker of the House postponed action on HB 91, the Bill requiring demarcation on a driver's license of a felony conviction, until the next legislative day.  Among the Bills on the Floor were:

• HB 64 – Presented by Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Atlanta), this Bill seeks to address excessive attorney fees awarded in contract cases in O.C.G.A. § 13-1-11. According to Rep. Jacobs, it will now permit "reasonable" attorneys' fees to be awarded in high principal amount awards relating to contracts or promissory notes. The Bill came about after an 11^th Circuit Court's decision which required them to follow the law but award more than $637,000 in attorneys' fees.  If there is to be an award of attorneys' fees in the amount of $10,000 or more, a party may petition the court to determine the reasonableness of those fees prior to the entry of judgment. A Floor Amendment was adopted and the Bill passed 154 to 20.
• HB 93 – This initiative was presented by freshman Rep. Tom Taylor (R-Dunwoody) to rename code inspectors as "code enforcement officers."  There were several questions regarding these individuals who may issue citations, warnings or a summons to court.  However, these individuals, according to Rep. Wendell Willard (R-Sandy Springs), are recognized as "peace officers" under Title 35 and are required to undergo training before they issue any type of warning, citation or summons.  The Bill passed 148 to 21.
• HB 24 – Rep. Wendell Willard (R-Sandy Springs) presented the 2011 Evidence Code Rewrite initiative, explaining the history behind this Bill which revamps Georgia's Title 24.  The idea to update Georgia's law began in 2004 and a Study Committee undertook a major review of the Code in 2008.  This Bill, in substantially the same form, passed the House last year but got held in the Senate in the waning days of the 2010 Session.  Rep. Willard explained that one of the Bill's major provisions is that it codifies in the Evidence Code (Title 24) all references in other parts of the Code relating to "matters of evidence."  This Bill passed with a vote of 150 to 12.
• HB 227 – Rep. Josh Clark (R-Buford) made a motion to recommit to the House Rules Committee this Bill which would permit school personnel to administer the auto-injectable forms of epinephrine.
• HB 238 – Rep. Rich Golick (R-Smyrna) authored this proposal which cleared the House Floor by a vote of 159 to three.  It makes additional amendments to Georgia's Indigent Defense Council and related laws.  It eliminates the Council's ability to hire staff and clerical personnel and requires that the Director of the Council be appointed and removed by the Council with approval by the Governor (currently, the Governor appoints this individual).  It will also require a two-thirds' vote of the Council to remove the Director.
• HB 162 – This Bill passed the Floor by a vote of 165 to one.  Rep. Ann Purcell (R-Rincon) authored this proposal to prohibit individuals, who are required to register on Georgia's sexual offender registry, from photographing a minor without the permission of the minor's parent.

New Legislation

HB 392 – Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) submitted this amendment to Article 2 of Chapter 7 of Title 48 making it so that qualified film, video, and digital production companies will be able to assign or sell unused income tax credits.  However, “no purchaser of tax credits shall subsequently resell, transfer, of assign such credits.”  The Bill further stipulates that a production company may petition the state revenue commissioner to perform an audit of its tax credits claimed under this Code Section prior to filing Georgia income tax returns.

SR 250 – Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) proposed this Resolution which recognizes the Building Owners and Managers Association-Atlanta and declares February 28, 2011 as BOMA Day at the Capitol.

SR 251 – Sen. Johnny Grant (R-Milledgeville) introduced this Resolution which commends the Fraternal Order of Police for its outstanding service to the law enforcement officers of Georgia.  March 2, 2011 will be celebrated as Fraternal Order of Police Day at the Capitol.

Committee News

House Transportation Committee- State Highways Subcommittee           

This Subcommittee met early today to discuss HB 301 authored by Rep. Tommy Benton (R-Jefferson).  The Bill seeks to allow a weight variance of 10% on trucks carrying chicken manure and a weight variance of 5% on trucks carrying bark.  Rep. Benton argued that this would give the agricultural waste removal industry room to estimate and make mistakes without being penalized.  ACCG representative Matthew Hicks spoke against the Bill saying that it would set a precedent for other industries to seek weight limit variances.  A representative from DOT agreed with Hicks by noting that Georgia roads and bridges could be negatively affected by trucks carrying the additional weight.  An individual representing CSX and the Georgia Railroad Association was the third individual who spoke against the Bill claiming that there were legitimate safety concerns.  Rep. Carl Rogers (R-Gainesville) was the last person to address the Subcommittee and he spoke in favor of the Bill stating that it was good for struggling businesses in a down economy.  After his statement, the Subcommittee members unanimously voted to pass HB 301 onto the full Committee.

House Judiciary (Non-Civil) Committee

The House Judiciary (Non-Civil) Committee met this morning to hear from Rep. Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City) about his revisions to HB 87 which has been titled the "Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act."  Rep. Ramsey opened by discussing the amount of time he had put into working on the Bill with legislative counsel to clean up the language and narrow the scope.   He covered changes to Section 7 which outlines the severity of penalties associated with aggravated identity fraud.  If convicted of this crime, an individual could be imprisoned for up to 15 years and fined up to $250,000.  He also spoke about revisions to Section 11 which specifies the conditions that allow a police officer to establish reasonable suspension to perform an immigration status check.  Rep. Ramsey further clarified parts of the Bill related to E-Verify which would make it so that there would be no exemptions for any industry beside the concept of a “mom and pop” type business.  There will be more information available about the status of this Bill in the next couple of days.

Senate Appropriations Committee- Fiscal Management Subcommittee

Chaired by Rep. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg), this Subcommittee met mid-morning to discuss the implementation of shared services in the different departments within State government.  Shared services are basically a way of tying all payroll or financial related matters together to increase efficiency. The using of shared services is an activity which has been utilized by the private sector for a number of years but relatively new to government.  Representatives from the State Accounting Office addressed the Subcommittee about the difficulties of installing these services into all of the various agencies.  Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville) was very interested as to why each department currently has their own Federal Tax ID number.  It was his belief that consolidating everything under one Federal Tax ID number would save the State money and would lighten the administrative burden.   Sen. Buddy Carter (R-Pooler) asked a pointed question about what the concept of lag pay would do to help make the payroll services system more efficient.  The representative from the State Accounting Office answered by saying it would allow for payroll adjustments, corrections, and voided checks to be processed more efficiently.  The Department of Banking and Finance then spoke to the Subcommittee about their success with shared services so far.  According to them, the transition was relatively smooth despite a few hiccups. 

Chief Justice Carol Hunstein addressed the Subcommittee on behalf of the Judiciary and first revealed that they were already using the PeopleSoft payroll service.  She then explained that the Judiciary was already running their financial departments efficiently and would not be needing the full package of shared services.  Sen. Balfour and Sen. Seabaugh appeared offended by this admission and asked Chief Justice Hunstein why her department was special.  She responded that the Judiciary is not subject to the Open Records Act and would not benefit from shared services because they are dealing with a lot of specially elected individuals.  At the end of the meeting, Subcommittee members voiced their desire to move forward with implementing shared services into more of the 84 agencies and departments in the State.

Senate Judiciary Committee

The Senate Judiciary Committee met on two Bills.  The first was authored by Chairman Bill Hamrick (R-Carrollton) and received very little attention from the Committee.  The Bill simply seeks to make technical corrections, correct terminology, and update cross-references reflecting the enactment of the guardianship and trust codes in recent legislative sessions.  It was voted on by the Committee and passed unanimously.  The second Bill discussed was SB 127 which has become known as the Juvenile Code Rewrite.  Kirsten Widener of the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic outlined the Bill by highlighting three areas.  She explained that the Bill would keep juveniles out of adult facilities, help those individuals who age out of foster care, and identify which services are best for certain cases.  She emphasized the need to clearly define some new terms to the Code such as dependency, delinquency, and prenatal abuse. 

The next person to appear before the Committee was Kermit McManus representing the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.  He began by saying that overall he was in favor of the Bill but was concerned about some of the costs associated with it.  He was specifically concerned about the nature of transferring cases from one court to another and about the availability of juvenile court lawyers in all areas of Georgia. 

Sandy Michaels, from the GACDL, spoke in favor of the Bill in all aspects except for several lines associated with the treatment of sex offenses.  She wanted them removed without question.  Sen. Hamrick suggested that removal of such language about sex offenses would create a huge hurdle for the Bill.  He asked that all the interested parties get together before the next meeting and reach a compromise on these issues disagreed upon.  SB 127 was not voted on and will be revisited soon.

Senate Health and Human Services Committee – Health Care Delivery Subcommittee

In a meeting late in the day, Sen. Bill Ligon (R-Brunswick) chaired a Subcommittee meeting to hear two proposals:

• SB 22, by Sen. Judson Hill (R-Marietta), authored this Bill amending O.C.G.A. § 45-12-41 regarding the powers of the Governor.  The Bill, as introduced, would direct the Governor to "apply through the appropriate state executive agency to the appropriate federal agency for a waiver of the medical loss ratio provisions of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P. L. 111-148) for the State of Georgia."  In Subcommittee, Sen. Hill proposed a Substitute which would permit also the Commissioner of Insurance or other appropriate State officer to apply for such waiver. Subcommittee members Sen. Greg Goggans and Sen. Johnny Grant asked some questions regarding the proposal, including whether it was necessary and what other states have applied for the waiver.  According to Ron Jackson, with the Department of Insurance, the states of New Hampshire, Maine, Nevada and Kentucky have applied for the waivers.  Mr. Jackson indicated that the Department of Insurance would apply for the waiver prior to July 1, 2011.  Cindy Zeldin, wht Georgians for a Healthy Future, testified against the proposal noting that it was premature for Georgia to apply for the waiver. The Bill passed out of the Subcommittee with one dissenting vote from Sen. Grant.
• SB 63, by Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell), was also before the Subcommittee.  This Bill proposes enactment of the "Georgia Medical Assistance Fraud Prevention Program" in Title 49.  It would utilize fingerprint scans and "smart cards" to help eliminate fraud in the State's Medicaid program by requiring the Department of Community Health engage a third-party vendor to purchase these smart cards and related technology and to develop a pilot program to implement their use.  A number of providers have raised several questions regarding the Bill and its related costs and whether the benefits of locating the fraud would outweigh those costs of the technology.  It was a very interesting hearing as became clear that President Pro Tem of the Senate Tommie Williams (R-Lyons) was very interested in the legislation and its passage. There were a couple of individuals who testified including Linda Lowe with Families First and Joann Joon with Voices for Georgia's Children.   The Department of Community Health's inspector general also spoke to the Bill and explained that the Department also did not know what the related costs would be to implement such a system.  Further, the Department wanted to see that any pilot initiative incorporate a broad spectrum of Medicaid patients in both rural and urban areas.  After a number of questions, including whether a fiscal note had been requested on the Bill, the Bill was held in Subcommittee.  Sen. Albers will apparently modify the legislation again to address some of the issues raised.  Thus, we will be watching this Bill for a new Substitute to emerge.