GA Legislative Watch | Week Six

February 17, 2023
Friendly Amendment, GLW, In the News

GA Legislative Watch

By Molly Mcloughlin & Rebecca Wallace ● Feb. 17, 2023
Smart Brevity™ count: 4.5 mins . . . 1,148 words

23 down, at least 1,125 to go. Typically neither chamber picks up the other chamber’s bills until after Crossover. Yet, 23 bills have passed both chambers.

All 23 were dropped in the House, so maybe our Senators went ahead and took them up knowing many more may be coming . . .

1 big thing: An impressive first half

As we close out Week 6 and the first 20 (of 40) days, we know there still may be some bills in the works. But our legislators have made an impressive showing so far with nearly 3,000 pieces of legislation written.

By the numbers:

2450 bills written
1125 bills dropped
743 bills dropped in the House and 54 of them passed out of it
382 bills dropped in the Senate and 31 of them passed out of it
23 bills have passed both chambers
500 resolutions written

Of course, a bill is just a bill — yes, only a bill, until the governor signs it.

2. Notable legislation

$1B back in our pockets. Discussion around Gov. Kemp’s budget is gearing up with the House Ways and Means subcommittee voting unanimously for another income tax rebate like last year’s:

$250 rebates to single filers and $500 for joint filers.

Proceed with caution. The Metro Atlanta Chamber came out with a report laying out why lawmakers should use extreme caution as they reevaluate the billions of dollars spent on the state’s business tax incentives.

Catch up quick: The report is in response to lawmakers scrutinizing the incentives after a state audit was released.
The report pointed to flaws in the audit and recommended changes for future reviews.

“Private employers place a high value on certainty on core economic conditions, and the tax environment in a given location often tops this list,” the report says.

Lottery Game of Sports Betting Act, or HB 380, was heard in the House Education Committee and notably doesn’t require a constitutional amendment.

Sponsored by Rep. Marcus Wiedower (R-Watkinsville), it proposes that sports betting revenue be directed to programs under the Georgia Lottery, including HOPE, college completion grants, and pre-k.

This year’s proposal to create Buckhead City had its first hearing in front of the Senate’s State and Local Government Operations Committee.

Sen. Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) made his case for the divorce, mostly harkening back to the state’s history of annexations.
The other side: Legislators who represent Atlanta, led by Jason Esteves who serves on the committee, pushed back on issues including future debt structure, public school system funding, and coordination of emergency services.

The Senate approved:

A state take-over of the the federally operated HealthCare.gov insurance exchange created by the Affordable Care Act by 32 to 19;
Protection from unruly telemarketing calls with SB 73;
A ban on TikTok, WeChat, and Telegram on state employee devices with SB 93 in an effort to protect government data from foreign adversaries; and
A statue honoring Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Capitol grounds, but not without a fierce partisan debate.

Tough on crime. SB 63 advanced out of the Public Safety committee and adds more robust bail requirements to criminal offenses.

Marijuana possession, shoplifting, trespassing, and fighting are excluded from offenses in which judges can release a defendant with a signature promising they will appear in court.
The other side: Democrats and criminal justice advocates say the proposal would increase the likelihood of rearrest and target low-income individuals.

Eliminating election runoffs if a candidate wins 45% of the vote was introduced by Freshman Rep. Saira Draper (D-Atlanta) through HB 419.

Businesses could be spooked by the introduction of SB 180, dubbed “Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act,,” which would limit the state’s ability to pass or enforce laws that conflict with religious beliefs.

The other side: LGBTQ activists say this could be used as a license to discrimination.
It may have a better chance of passing this session since Gov. Kemp has said he’ll approve if it models federal law.
Go deeper.

Fit for human habitation would be required of rental properties thanks to the Safe at Home Act, a measure establishing minimum standards and backed by the Speaker and other House Republicans.

A break to develop workforce housing is being considered with Sen. Mike Dugan’s (R – Carrollton) SB 136.

It was heard before the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee and would modify impact fees for those developments.

3. In other political news . . .

Nikki knows. Just-announced Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has spent a lot of time in Georgia during recent elections and has been a surrogate for Georgia Republicans for years.

“I always keep one eye on Georgia as I want to make sure things are going well,” she told voters at a rally for Herschel Walker in September.
Now that she’s officially announced her candidacy, Georgia will likely be seeing a lot more of her.

Speaking of 2024, the effort to bump up Georgia’s presidential primary date is about more than political advantage.

It’s also economic advantage, according to a new analysis by Thomas More Smith, an Emory University finance professor who drafted an 11-page report.
The report estimates an economic impact of $220M in spending and 2,200 new jobs from the campaigns.

Georgia is open for global business. The state of Georgia posted a second-straight record year for international trade in 2022 at $196B, 18% over 2021.

Though the bulk of that was via imports, the state broke its record for exports at $47B, an 11% increase from 2021.

To tell the truth and nothing but. A partial release of the Fulton County special grand jury report on its examination of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election said there may have been perjury.

The panel recommended indictments against those people who lied in court, but we still don’t know who they are.

Tyler Perry is donating $2.75M to older Atlanta homeowners to help ensure they can stay in their homes.

Perry, one of the world’s highest-paid entertainers, is going to pay the back property taxes for 300 low-income seniors that will cover city, county and school taxes.
He will also cover any increase in taxes over the next 20 years for 100 low-income older residents.