Yesterday in the Georgia Legislature – 02/23/21

This is an informal rundown of the legislative happenings. These bills are from the most recent legislative day – 2/22/21, or Day 20.

The House of Representatives passed the following measures, all of which now head to the Senate:

HB 98 – Rep. Eddie Lumsden

LINK → https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/58937 
WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Federal, state, and local emergency powers
• Participation by teleconference for a meeting would have the same effect as if the meeting were an in-person one.
• If the meeting is a public hearing, the public must be afforded the opportunity to speak or address local officials in the same manner as if they were in person.

ISSUES: Outside of natural disasters, and this is for COVID, not natural disasters, there is no need to meet by teleconference. The State of Georgia is 12 months into dealing with COVID and there is no reason that meetings can’t be held outdoors, in gyms, in auditoriums, etc. In-person public presence is imperative.
PASSED: 162-0

HB 150 – Rep. Bruce Williamson

LINK → https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/59025   
WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Addresses local government and political subdivisions at the state level 
• Prohibits governmental entities at all levels from adopting policies or ordinances that would keep an energy source or fuel type from being delivered to a willing customer on private property
• Includes: 
  • The connection or reconnection of a customer to an electric utility, gas company, or  natural, manufactured, or liquefied petroleum gas service; or  
  • Sales of liquid petroleum gas directly to a consumer by a retail establishment
• This does not impact government property 

ISSUES: Similar to the code enforcement bill from last year and the year prior – you’re eliminating local control in an effort to restore property rights to the property owner. The language would not apply to HOAs, however.
PASSED: 103-62

HB 156 – Rep. Don Parsons

LINK → https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/59069 
WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Addresses cybersecurity for municipal, county, regional agencies and their departments
• Requires any and all entities to report cyber attack information to the Director of GEMA
  • Include details of the attack, severity, what has been compromised when malware or a data breach is discovered on a computer or server
  • Any records (reports or otherwise) made to GEMA or US government are shielded from public inspection 
• Excludes notification to the state if the breach/attack on whichever respective agency triggers a notification to the US government (which supersedes)
• Excludes when the governmental entity is the provider of wholesale or retail electric/gas service or in the capacity of a conduit for a municipal corporation furnishes electric or gas service.

ISSUES: If data is compromised, the public has a right to know who/what/when/where and how even if that information must come after the investigation is closed or otherwise concluded. 
PASSED: 163-0

HB 234- Rep. Lee Hawkins

LINK → https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/59198 
WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Self-funded health care plans can opt-in to the ‘Surprise Billing Consumer Protection Act’. 
• Requires the company to opt-in at the beginning of the calendar year and must notify the Department of Insurance that the plan will participate in the Protection Act provisions. (30 days prior to the plan taking effect)
• Requires the DOI to keep a list of all of the healthcare plans that have chosen to participate
  • Must be published on the DOI website
• Commissioner has authority to remove plan participants if they do not comply with ‘Surprise Billing Consumer Protection Act’
  • Does Commissioner have authority to do that for traditional health insurance companies?

ISSUES: First, does Commissioner have authority to do this for traditional health insurance companies…and would he?
It is not very consistent that a voluntary opt-in of a consumer protection act requires notice to the state and then the state can halt the compliance with the act for non-compliance. 
PASSED: 165-0

HB 268 – Rep. Bill Werkheiser

LINK →  https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/59274 
WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Creates the Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact and puts all provisions in the hands of the State Board of Occupational Therapy.
• Allows active duty military (and spouses) to practice if they’re active and in good standing in other states and those states are in the Compact
• Would require national background checks through FBI
• Only takes effect if 10 states pass the legislation

ISSUES: What is the point of interstate agreements if a national database has to be searched in order to be eligible? Either you’re active and in good standing from another state or you’re not.
PASSED: 163-0

HB 273 – Rep. Mandi Ballinger

LINK → https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/59282 
WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• allows local jurisdictions to enact an ordinance that triggers a special election on the question of whether the local jurisdiction should allow for applications for package stores selling distilled spirits.

ISSUES: None, so long as the municipality desires to pay for the election (instead of passing it off to the county board of elections).

At least one city in SEGA had to ‘re-do’ their alcohol referendum because they did it wrong the first time and a Superior Court judge had to issue a ruling, which was an expensive process. In at least two other cities in SEGA, the cities twice missed the deadline to place the ordinance/referendum on the ballot due to the confusing language of the 60-day requirement. This does streamline the process and isn’t really much different than how they enact other ordinances, possibly against the will of the voters.
PASSED: 142-24

HB 307 – Rep. Sharon Cooper

LINK → https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/59349  
WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Updates the previously approved Telehealth Act
• Allows the telehealth providers to offer services from home, from work, or from school
• But in doing so, they are required to provide documentation that is at least as thorough as the documentation offered for in-person appointments 
• Allows audio-only telehealth appointments if broadband is not available
• Prohibits insurers from requiring separate deductibles or an in-person consultation before paying for telehealth services. 
• Prohibits insurers from requiring telehealth providers to use a particular platform (as long as provider is bound by other rules and protections, insurer can’t weigh in) 
• Prohibits insurers from refusing/limiting prescriptions meds simply because of a telehealth appointment exclusively. If they would prescribe it in person, it must be permissible to prescribe via telehealth 

ISSUES: None other than the ‘audio only’ tele-appointments could be difficult to confirm identity. Treats telehealth visits the same as it does traditional in-person visits.
PASSED: 158-0

HB 362 – Rep. Trey Rhodes

LINK → https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/59462 
WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Updates date of effectiveness for rules and regulations enacted by the Board of Natural Resources (from 2016 to 2021)
• changes the definition of “bass” 
  • strikes smallmouth bass, spotted bass, redeye bass, shoal bass, and Suwannee bass. 
  • replaces largemouth bass with “members of the genus micropterus, or the black bass, and their hybrids”
  • adds hybrids to the definitions of trout and mountain trout. 
• Changes muzzleloading firearms allowed during primitive weapons seasons
  • Applies to deer and bear
  • Changes to .30 caliber or larger instead of .44 caliber or larger 
• Allows DNR to create a ‘deer management assistance program’’
  • Including fees and limits (fees and limits are counterproductive to a management assistance program if the state is in need of help regarding population)
• Updates what’s prohibited with a fishing license for non-game fish to include minnow traps in addition to minnow seines (currently on the books) and makes it illegal to use the minnow traps for game fish and eels
  • <– minnow trap
• Gives the department further authority to regulate seasons for capture, seasonal limits, limits on tools, and everything else.

ISSUES: This is a considerable amount of new regulation and expanded authority for DNR in a bill that is relaxing one older regulation about the type of muzzleloader you can use. 
PASSED: 158-2 (NOs = Singleton & Gilligan)

The Senate passed the following measures:

SR 28 – Sen. Bill Cowsert

LINK –> https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/59036
WHAT THE RESOLUTION DOES:

• Applies to Congress for calling an Article V convention for the purposes of adopting a term limits amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would apply to U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate

PASSED: 34-20

SR 29 – Sen. Bill Cowsert

LINK –> https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/59040
WHAT THE RESOLUTION DOES:

• Applies to Congress for calling an Article V convention for the purposes of adopting a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution

PASSED: 34-20