Wednesday, November 09, 2011
3 Special Elections Head to Runoffs; New House Member in District 10 Chosen
Four special elections were held Tuesday to fill vacated seats in the Georgia General Assembly. Only the State House District 10 race had a decisive winner with Clarkesville's Terry Rogers claiming over 61 percent of the vote; the others will be decided in a special election runoff on December 6. Georgia law requires a 50 percent plus one vote majority to win any election in the state. In the three other races, no candidate eclipsed 50 percent, with the top two vote-getters below:
Senate District 50 - Rick Austin (43.3%) and John Wilkinson (39.2%)
Senate District 28 - Duke Blackburn (27.8%) and Mike Crane (19.8%)
House District 25 - Emory West Dunahoo (21.3%) and Bobby Banks (19.7%)
A special election for House District 68 will also be held on December 6 to fill the seat vacated by former State Rep. Tim Bearden who left to become Director of the Georgia Public Safety Training Center.
Overwhelming Passage of Sunday Sales Referendums in Georgia
Over 100 communities across the state voted Tuesday to allow the retail sales of alcohol on Sunday, lifting a longstanding restriction on Georgia businesses - a result of legislation passed during the 2011 General Assembly providing individual communities the opportunity to hold referendums.
To see the results in your community, click here.
Feds grant Georgia waiver to delay health insurance regulations
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has granted Georgia a three-year waiver on requirements to implement a key provision of last year's federal health care law concerning the medical loss ratio, which would require insurers to spend 80 percent of their premium dollars on medical care. Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens asked for the waiver so that Georgia insurers would be able to phase in the new requirements in order to be sure there is no adverse effect on or destabilization of the state insurance market. As a result of this decision, Georgia will see the medical loss ratio move up to 65 percent this year, and increase 5 percent in subsequent years until reaching the full 80 percent requirement in 2014.
Health insurance mandate upheld by U.S. Court of Appeals, heading to Supreme Court
One of the most controversial components of the federal health care law - requiring individuals to purchase health insurance - was upheld Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia by a 2 to 1 vote. The two judges who supported the ruling stated in their opinion that the law did not violate Constitutional rights by mandating American citizens purchase health care coverage by 2014 and that Congress has the right to "forge national solutions for national problems."
This ruling - in addition to several others from courts around the nation - will soon be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Georgia Chamber has opposed the federal health care law and continues to advocate for its repeal. We will be closely monitoring this issue as it continues to progress through the legal system.
