This is an informal rundown of the legislative happenings. This update is from the most recent legislative day – 02/28/23, or Day 25
All of these bills now head to the Senate for consideration.
HB 73 – Rep. Joseph Gullett
LINK→ https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20232024/213960
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Addresses PSC certification requirements for sellers, which are not current electric sellers, that plan to sell solar equipment to retail customers in Georgia
CONCERN: None.
PASSED: 125-44
HB 84 – Rep. Trey Rhodes
LINK → http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20232024/HB/84
Substitute → https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20232024/214161
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Creates new code section OCGA 10-1-393.18 to address commercial banking financial disclosures
- Defines: Accounts receivable purchase transaction, advance fee, broker, business, business purpose transaction
- Specifically excludes “resulting proceeds intended to be used for personal, family, or household purposes” from business purpose transaction
- Allows an institution to rely on a signed statement from an individual disclosing whether or not the statement is for business purposes or other reasons
- Must attest that the transaction is not a loan
- Defines commercial finance transaction, commercial open-ended credit plan, motor vehicle dealer and ‘provider’
- Code section specifically excludes FDIC banks, farm credit institutions, transactions secured by property, and entities with fewer than 12 transactions a year
- Also required the provider to disclose the terms before conducting the transaction (one per transaction)
- Must include total amount of funds provided to businesses
- Total funds actually provided if less than originally disclosed
- Total the business will pay back to the provider
- Breakdown of the financing transaction fees
- Begins January 1, 2024
- Lists prohibitions for brokers, including:
- Seeking advance fees
- Making false representations about services or business dealings
- Advertising without including state mandated specifics like name, phone number, etc
- Puts attorney general as enforcement arm with $500/violation civil penalties with a collective cap at $20,000
- $1000 penalty after violating after receiving written notice with collective cap at $50,000
CONCERN: State is ultimately trying to capture entities that are working like banks but are not banks. This appears to be a regulatory move between two consenting parties.
PASSED: 101-68 (6 reps did not vote)
HB 88 – Rep. Houston Gaines
LINK → https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/63672
Substitute → http://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20232024/215774
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Known as the Coleman-Baker Act (there is a similar bill pending at the federal level)
- Addresses cold cases and defines them as 6 years or older, with all leads exhausted and no identified person of interest
- allows a designated person (immediate family member or their attorney) to request a cold case review by the initial investigating agency that has certain requirements (like interviewing and reinterviewing witnesses, re-examining evidence, etc)
- The review would trigger a full re-investigation, which would not be allowed to be done solely by the person who did the investigation in the first place.
- must take action within 6 months with one additional 6-month extension allowed
- carl Vinson Institute charged with tracking these cases
- all of this only applies to cases on or after January 1, 1970
CONCERN: Same as in committee
1. Same old question— why are we creating special classes of people? Why not kidnapping cases? Why not violent rapes where there are DNA profiles but no suspect?
2. Additionally, the GBI touted some supposedly amazing cold case unit last year or the year before. Why not send it up to them — all of them. Fresh set of eyes. Give them a break from the gangs.
3. What’s the plan for agencies that only have one investigator because they’re so small? How is another person supposed to review if they’re just a patrol cop?
4. Sorry to cold case folks on 12/31/1969. Bummer.
PASSED: 168-1 (Moore)
HB 155 – Rep. Chuck Martin
LINK → http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20232024/HB/155
Substitute → https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20232024/215529
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Addresses the licensing process of spouses of military service members
- Excludes to firefighters, healthcare workers, law enforcement officers
- Also does not apply to lawyers/the Georgia bar
- Orders state board to issue the licenses to these spouses if they moved from another state and were licensed, we active and in good standing, pass a general test in knowledge of the profession
CONCERN: how about reduce the number of state sanctioned licenses for professions for everyone instead of carving out yet another classification of special people. Additionally, no one is forced to be a military spouse. In terms of professional licensing, they’re no different than non-military spouses.
PASSED: 168-0
HB 204 – Rep. Yearta
LINK → http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20232024/HB/204
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Creates a Municipal Court Clerk Council for the state
CONCERN: This grows government when these people already have all the resources they need. They don’t need more excuses to be away from their jobs and collecting more per diem/expense reimbursements to attend even more conferences. They already have access to all the things they need.
PASSED: 168-2 (Byrd & Horner)
HB 269 – Rep. Shaw Blackmon
LINK → https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/64071
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Adds code section to allow the designation of an entity as an agency where there is a creation of a local workforce development board (so long as it is formed in compliance with state law and federal law)
CONCERN: Not problematic if they’re also an ‘agency’ under other portions of the law, like Open Meetings Act, Open Records Act, etc.
PASSED: 153-0
HB 291 – Rep. Mitchell Scoggins
LINK → http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20232024/HB/291
Substitute → http://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20232024/215780
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Addresses the process for appointing a guardian for an adult
- Defines “Licensed master social worker”
- Adds various nursing designations to the healthcare workers who can attest in an affidavit to for the need for intervention on an adult and submit for pre-judicial findings for consideration by a court
- Also adds licenses family therapist, licensed master’s social worker, PA, and professional counselor
- Adds all of these in addition to physician and licensed psychologist — but it’s difficult to understand how these people are as qualified as the doctor/psychologist when we routinely define them differently under the law
- Adds those additional healthcare workers to other code sections in the same subject, including;
- Who can participate When evaluating the proposed Ward for placement
CONCERN: Some of it addresses protocol for federal facilities, which may be a trickle down from the fed, but otherwise it’s expanding the personnel who are involved in the process and that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Mostly because we continue to alter the law on what professions can and cannot do but it’s never limited to expansion. We restrict them in other facets of the law because they’re not qualified and then say they can have more authority/weight to testimony on life changing things like this.
PASSED: 165-0
HB 301 – Rep. Jason Ridley
LINK → http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20232024/HB/301
Substitute → http://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20232024/215278
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Creates a statutory penalty of ‘overtaking a school bus’ at $250 (this is as it pertains to the school bus cameras that aren’t about public safety but are for revenue generation)
- Prohibits additional fee and fine add-ons for this offense
- Also, as it pertains to the school zone speed cameras, the ‘processing fee’ for the private for-profit companies is capped at $25
- Any agent, law enforcement agency, or governing body that violates this provision will be fined $1,000.
- Amends OCGA 40-14-11 to include penalties collected for speeding in a school zone in the calculation for total speeding fine revenue. BEAUTIFUL ::chefs kiss::
CONCERN: The real principled approach would be eliminating the use of these revenue generators that police for profit.
PASSED: 163-0
HB 306 – Rep Tim Fleming
LINK → https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/64152
Substitute → http://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20232024/215756
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Amends Georgia code section pertaining to ”Energy cost savings measure’ and ‘energy conservation measures’ to include language about when they are related to the purchase/acquisition of multi-year leases, purchases, or lease purchases.
- Current law says when a product/service “reduces energy or water consumption, wastewater production, or operating costs”
- Amendment would mean that it would also include “or designed to generate revenue.”
- Also allows the contracts for such to be done without competitive bidding
- Adds a new definition of ‘facility’ under this code section.
- Strikes most of the language defining an ‘improvement.’
CONCERN: Anything that is exclusively designed to generate revenue should not fall into this category. If it is not exclusively about generating revenue, then it would fall into the other categories and make this language unnecessary.
PASSED: 170-1 (Erwin)
HB 309 – Rep. Sharon Cooper
LINK → http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20232024/HB/309
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Addresses people who wish to have a license to operate a personal care home or an assisted living facility
- Requires the state to create a “mandatory financial stability affidavit form” based on the rules the state creates to establish the applicant’s or licensee’s financial status,”
- Still leaves discretion to the state as to whether application is approved, can consider financial stability based on affidavit
CONCERN: Is the government really the best judge of whether or not a PRIVATE ENTITY is of sound fiscal position?
PASSED: 160-6 (Byrd, Dunahoo, Horner, Jackson (165), Tarvin, Westbrook)
HB 332 – Rep. Butch Parrish
LINK → http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20232024/HB/332
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Updates code sections on controlled substances on Schedules I. IV, and V
CONCERN: Most of it is content none of us understand
PASSED: 164-0
HB 396 – Rep Ken Vance
LINK → https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/64354
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Adds “the president of Georgia College and State University” to the Oconee River Greenway Authority
CONCERN: None.
PASSED: 171-0
HB 414 – Rep. Shaw Blackmon
LINK → http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20232024/HB/414
Substitute → http://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20232024/215761
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Creates a new code section OCGA 37-1-30 in code pertaining to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities
- Defines Addictive disease, behavioral health services, mental health, service member, and veteran
- Service member: active duty member of the regular or reserve component US armed forces, US Coast Guard, the Georgia National Guard, or the Georgia Air National Guard on ordered federal duty for a period of 90 days or longer
- Veteran: armed forces, US Coast Guard, the Georgia National Guard, or the Georgia Air National Guard regardless of duty or discharge status
- Requires DBHDD to create program rules for the Veterans Mental Health Services Program which ha sa host of duties, but includes connecting veterans and service members with the appropriate resources
- Also requires the establishment of a grant program and requires DBHDD to outline requirements for eligibility
CONCERN: None.
PASSED: 167-0
HB 416 – Rep. Deborah Silcox
LINK → http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20232024/HB/416
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Allows pharmacy techs to administer some vaccines at pharmacies under the supervision of a pharmacist
- Creates OCGA 26-4-52 to address COVID vaccine guidelines from CDC
- Only allows for administration of COVID-19 vaccine
- Must have 2 hours of immunization training as well as certification for Basic Cardiac Life Support
CONCERN: Inconsistent to disallow administration of other vaccines but that’s OK.
PASSED: 164-2 (Byrd & Daniel)
HB 475 – Rep. Tyler Paul Smith
LINK → http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20232024/HB/475
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Annual code clean up and revision to remove all/outdated language etc.
CONCERN: None.
PASSED: 168-0
HB 497 – Rep. John LaHood
LINK → http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20232024/HB/497
Substitute → http://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20232024/215764
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Allows for the use of medication aides in penal institutions
CONCERN:
PASSED: 167-0
HB 518 – Rep. Cameron
LINK → http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20232024/HB/518
Substitute → http://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20232024/215781
WHAT THE BILL DOES:
- Changes the date for new/newly covered employers to see an increase in contributions for unemployment insurance
- Changes from 2022 → 2026
- Increase from current 2.65% to 2.7% of wages
- Repeals the table of rates outlined in Georgia code on January 1, 2027 (extension from January 1, 2024)
CONCERN: Can employers afford this?
PASSED: 105-64
