RSS Feed
|
|
|||||
|
Transportation funding solutions recommended
• A statewide, 1 percent transportation sales tax that would replace the current 7.5 cents per gallon motor fuel tax. This proposal would require a constitutional amendment, which must be approved by two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate and by a majority of voters in the next statewide general election. • A regional SPLOST, under which counties could join together and implement a special one-cent local option sales tax to fund regional transportation needs if a majority of voters in those counties approve. Both of these recommendations will be introduced in the form of legislation to be considered during the current session and are certain to generate much debate as a solution to traffic congestion in the metropolitan Atlanta area and the need for better highways throughout the state. This week, Mike Evans was re-elected Chairman of the Transportation Board in Georgia's Congressional District 9. A total of 24 members of the General Assembly were eligible to vote. Twentythree votes were cast. One member was not present due to an emergency. Evans received 13 votes and former State Representative Stacey Reece of Hall County received 10 votes. On Jan. 29, House members adopted legislation that would modify the state's sex offender laws with regard to residency restrictions. HB 908 would address the law's provisions that were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Georgia. The current law requires registered sex offenders to move from their residence if a school or day care center opened within 1,000 feet of their home. The court ruled that provision amounted to an unconstitutional taking of property. HB 908, which now goes to the Senate for its consideration, provides that if a registered sex offender has purchased a home and is in compliance with the law at the time of purchase, he or she can continue to reside there if a school, church or day care center later opens within the 1,000 foot radius. Legislation that would impose tougher criminal punishments for dog fighting in Georgia was adopted by the House on Jan. 28. HB 301 would make it a felony offense to own, transport, train or sell a dog for the purposes of fighting, or to advertise, host or bet on a dog fighting event. Attendance at a dog fight would be a misdemeanor for the first offense. Awareness about cracking down on dog fighting in Georgia was raised during the case of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who is serving time in federal prison after pleading guilty to dog fighting offenses in Virginia. HB 301 moves to the Senate for its consideration. Georgia consumers wanting to stop identity theft would be able to freeze their credit reports under legislation that passed the House on Jan. 30. HB 130 gives consumers control of their credit reports for the first time by allowing them to pay a fee of up to $3 to each of the three credit rating agencies, totaling $9, to stop the buying and selling of their credit information. The Senate will now consider the measure. The House of Representatives voted and passed HR 1034, by a margin of 151 to 9, to urge the NCAA to implement a college football playoff system. College football has the only major sporting event without a playoff system to determine a champion. Rep. Charles Jenkins (DBlairsville) represents the 8th District (Rabun, Towns, Union and White counties) in the Georgia House of Representatives. Contact him at 411 Coverdell Office Building, Atlanta, GA 30334; by phone at 404-656-0126 or by e-mail at charles.jenkins@house.ga.gov. |
for larger version       Ads have a Patent Pending. Click Here for More Information |
||||
)