GA Legislative Watch | Week Eight

March 6, 2023
Friendly Amendment, GLW, In the News

GA Legislative Watch

By Molly Mcloughlin & Rebecca Wallace ● March 4, 2023
Smart Brevity™ count: 4 mins . . . 1,071 words

Rapid fire committee hearings and extended voting sessions gave us a taste of what Monday — Crossover Day – will look like.

Yes, but: Even if a bill doesn’t “cross over” to the other chamber by midnight, there’s still a chance it’s attached to a related (or sometimes not) bill that does. This last ditch effort, of course, requires a certain level of political clout.

1 big thing: Just another manic Monday

Of the more than 200 bills that could be considered, here’s some of the bills we’ll be watching for on Monday – ALL day (and night).

HB 380, or the Georgia Lottery Game of Sports Betting Act, would provide the framework to regulate and tax gaming.
HB 128 adds women- and veteran-owned businesses to the minority business enterprises category and revamps the certification and bidding process. It’s sponsored by Rep. Soo Hong (R-Lawrenceville), one of the Governor’s floor leaders.
HB 196 would make the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission subject to more transparency, a reaction to a level of secrecy that plagued the bidding and evaluation process.
HB 48 would make district attorney and solicitor general elections nonpartisan.
SB 193 would jump start a targeted, needs-based approach with state and federal funding to broadband expansion under the Dept. of Community Affairs.
SB 171 would require Development Authority directors to do yearly continuing education.

2. Notable legislation

Nail in the coffin, for now. After a spirited debate, the Senate rejected the City of Buckhead City with 10 Rs’ holding the line on a 33-23 vote.

GOP Sens. John Albers and Frank Ginn made the most compelling arguments against CBC (Doesn’t ring like ATL, does it?).
“This makes no sense politically, operationally or financially,” said Albers. Ginn expressed concerns that “Atlanta would die” if Buckhead were to separate.
Their points of the drop in Atlanta’s crime, unanswered financial questions for the entire state, and dangerous precedent of de-annexation from an existing city weakened the case for CBC.

More oversight power to investigate, discipline or even oust local prosecutors would be given to the State with SB 92 that passed in the Senate.

Zoom out: R’s nationally have lodged attacks against progressive prosecutors who they believe are using their own beliefs to enforce or not enforce certain laws.
The other side: Prosecutors say that the State Bar already has oversight authority. Adding another level of bureaucracy would only inhibit their ability to do their jobs that are already resource-strapped.
Go deeper.

All bets are not off. SB 57 failed to receive enough votes in the Senate, but there are still several House bills that could be considered.

This is only one measure out of the 32 bills that have gambling or sports betting mentioned.

Mental health care access got another boost with HB 520, which would expand student loan forgiveness to providers that work in underserved areas. It received a bipartisan standing ovation after passing the House.

We need to stop for some electricity. The House was in favor of expanding electric vehicle charging, including at convenience stores, with HB 406.

More voter challenges? In a late night passage of SB 221 out of committee, voting rights advocates were put on high alert due to the measure making it easier to challenge the voting status of fellow citizens.

Yes, but: Some are saying the process was rushed and didn’t take into account all the additional hurdles the bill could pose on election workers and voters, especially members of the military and college students. Questions of viability in the House remain.

Limiting discussion of gender identity in classrooms is off the syllabus for now as SB 88 didn’t make it out of committee.
Another bump in TANF benefits, HB 565, passed out of committee and wields the support of Gov. Kemp.

We’ll be watching to see if it makes it to the chamber Monday, considering a similar TANF expansion for pregnant women already passed the House.

An attempt to limit local government regulation like prolonged development moratoriums made it through committee in HB 514, but not without a robust debate.

A fall study committee found that never ending moratoriums drive up housing costs and diminish supply.
The Kia Georgia CEO supports HB 514, noting they see the impact of the shortage of available, affordable housing on recruiting efforts.
Go deeper.

3. In other political news . . .

What’s the ROI? Gov., Lt. Gov., and Speaker have declared that the legislature will conduct a thorough review of all current tax credits.

Our thought bubble: This is a response to an audit released a month ago analyzing various credits’ ROI.
The review process will happen between this session and next so that legislative changes can be considered during the 2024 session.

A promise of an EV future. Rivian’s CEO spent a day at the capitol, shaking hands and reiterating the company’s long-term commitment to the state with its planned $5 billion factory.

“The future of our company in terms of scaling and growing really relies on the future of this project,” he said. “There’s not another option. We’re not planning an alternative. This must work.”

Lilly listened. Not to upstage the $35 cap for Medicare patients pushed by Georiga’s Sen. Warnock and Rep. McBath and passed in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, Eli Lilly will also cap monthly insulin costs at $35.

Why it matters: This could affect exponentially more patients, including those on private insurance and Medicaid and the uninsured.

Call us before 911. A new Department of Community Health rule would require 180 days advance written notice for hospital closures, or for other changes including mergers or anything that could impact a hospital’s public services.