Friday, February 18, 2011
Legislative Calendar
The General Assembly will convene for day 17 of the 40-day session on Tuesday, February 22 and meet for three days, going back into recess next Friday.
Bills of Interest
To read any of the bills included in their entirety, or follow their status, use the Georgia Chamber’s bill tracker at www.gachamber.com.
Water
Sen. Ross Tolleson (Perry) has introduced the Water Supply Act of 2011 (SB 122). This bill would allow the formation of public-private partnerships to fund certain water supply and treatment projects. As the state and local governments still face significant budget challenges, this would provide a new, optional funding mechanism to address identified water needs while making no changes to current environmental regulations or provisions within the State Water Plan. The Georgia Chamber supports this bill and will be working with members of the General Assembly to ensure its passage this year.
The Georgia Chamber will oppose two bills designed to change current regulations regarding interbasin transfers – HB 111 by Rep. Debbie Buckner (Junction City) and HB 143 by Rep. Alan Powell (Hartwell). Communities throughout the state currently use interbasin transfers – under the guidance of the state Environmental Protection Division – to meet their water needs, and the Chamber believes that any changes to the current process should be made as part of the comprehensive water planning structure put into place in 2008.
Ethics
HB 232, clarifying provisions regarding bone fide commission salespersons in the state’s lobbying laws, was passed by the House Governmental Affairs committee this week and is expected to be voted on by the full House next week. The Georgia Chamber supports this legislation and has also asked the State Ethics Commission for an opinion on this issue.
Law and Judiciary
HB 30, which would clarify Georgia’s employment covenant laws, completing the changes implemented with the passage of Amendment One last November, will be up for a vote by the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The Georgia Chamber supports this bill.
Two bills have been introduced that would compromise private property rights by changing current gun laws. Both SB 98 by Sen. Barry Loudermilk (Cassville) and SB 102 by Sen. Jeff Mullis (Chickamauga) would prevent property owners from deciding whether or not to allow firearms to be carried on their property. The Georgia Chamber has not yet taken a position on these bills, but strongly supports private property rights.
Economic Development
The Georgia Chamber has taken a position of support on HB 73. Known as the Local Growth Bill, this legislation would let communities vote to implement a fractional sales tax of up to one penny to fund local economic development priorities.
HB 86, exempting the sales tax on energy used in the manufacturing process, has been made a scorecard issue. This is a long-standing policy position of the Georgia Chamber as the current tax places our state at a competitive disadvantage. The bill will be heard by the Sales Tax Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee on Monday.
Health Care
The Georgia Chamber has taken a support position on HB 47, which would expand health insurance options for Georgians by allowing the purchase of policies approved for sale in other states. This has been a long-standing policy priority.
HB 167 isopposed by the Georgia Chamber as it would erode current employer protections under the federal Employee Retirement Security Income Act (ERISA) through amendments to the state’s prompt payment law. The bill passed the Administrative and Licensing Subcommittee of the House Insurance Committee last week and will be considered by the full committee on Thursday.
Existing Business and Industry
The Sunday sales issue was the topic of much discussion this week, ending with an announcement by Senate leadership that, due to a lack of support for the bill, SB 10 would not be brought to the floor for a vote despite having passed in committee. While similar legislation has been introduced in the House (HB 69), the current Senate position makes it unlikely that either bill will pass this year. The Georgia Chamber has made this a scorecard issue and has testified on behalf of eliminating this unfair restriction on commerce.
