Mixed results for legislative session
By REP. CHARLES JENKINS

Charles Jenkins

Disagreements between the speaker of the House of Representatives and the lieutenant governor on the final day of the 2008 session of the General Assembly doomed legislation dealing with several important issues, including trauma care funding, a proposed transportation solution and tax reform.

Over the course of the session, though, lawmakers addressed a host of issues ranging from water to education to dog fighting. Here is how some of the major legislative proposals fared in 2008:

Budget: HB 990 outlines a $21.2 billion state spending plan for fiscal year 2009, including a 2.5 percent pay increase for educators and other state employees and restoring $50 million of the governor's proposed $141 million in cuts to local school funding.

Tax relief: Proposals to eliminate the ad valorem tax on automobiles, reduce state income tax and freeze property tax valuation assessments all fell by the wayside on the final day of the session as the presiding officers of the House and Senate failed to come to an agreement.

Water: The governor has already signed into law HR 1022, which implements the Statewide Water Management Plan, establishing 11 water districts where policy decisions will be made at the regional level. SB 342 streamlines the state's permitting process for impounding more reservoirs.

Trauma care: The House failed to vote on a final version of HB 1158, which would have instituted a $10 license tag fee to generate revenues for funding improvements to the state's trauma care network. This will remain a high-profile issue and a top priority for the 2009 session.

Education: HB 1209 offers flexibility to local school systems regarding state mandates, in exchange for the schools agreeing to meet academic performance goals. SB 458, which would have provided private school vouchers to students whose public school is deemed to be failing, was not approved.

Transportation: SR 845, a proposal to allow counties to join together and implement a special purpose local option sales tax for transportation projects on a regional basis, if approved by voters, fell three votes short of the necessary two-thirds majority in the Senate. Transportation funding will also likely be at the top of next year's legislative agenda.

Economy and tourism. HB 1088 designates and promotes agricultural tourist attractions around the state. HB 1100 offers an income tax credit of up to 20 percent to motion picture, television and video game producers who spend at least $500,000 on productions in Georgia. SB 359 establishes a "Made in Georgia" program to promote the sale of goods produced by Georgia manufacturers.

Identity theft: HB 130 allows Georgians to freeze their credit files for a $3.00 fee. Consumers would pay $3.00 per credit agency for freezing, lifting and removing the freeze and the freezes would be available electronically within fifteen minutes of a request. A credit agency would not be able to charge a fee to a victim of identity theft who submitted a copy of a police incident report or complaint to a law enforcement agency. The measure also includes specific exemptions for business purposes, such as insurance companies and those 65 and older will have no fee.

Certificate of Need: SB 433 is major hospital regulatory reform with the overhaul of the Certificate of Need (CON) which determines whether there is a need for new hospitals or medical facilities in a community. The compromise bill allows general surgeons to open ambulatory surgery centers and would let hospitals build parking decks and other non-clinical projects without state approval. Furthermore, it would lift restrictions on a few hospitals now allowed to deliver babies only in cases of emergency, allow more hospitals to perform some heart procedures, such as diagnostic catheterizations, and would streamline the CON appeals process. The legislation also allows the Cancer Treatment Centers of America to build a $150 million facility near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport that must draw 65% of its patients from outside Georgia

Sales tax holidays: HB 948 gives Georgians a break on back-to-school items and energy efficient appliances and provides a sales boost for retailers in our state. The 2008 sales tax holidays for school supplies, clothing and computer equipment are scheduled for July 31-Aug. 3. For energy efficient products, the sales tax-free period will be Oct. 2-5.

Forest land protection: HR 1276 and HB 1211 provide tax incentives to encourage land owners to keep their land in trees and make large, contiguous tracts less vulnerable to development or conversion to other nonforest uses. In order to qualify for the new property tax land classification, land owners must commit to a covenant to keep the land in the qualifying forest use.

Dog fighting: HB 301 makes it a crime to attend a dog fight and a felony to participate in dog fighting, which includes promoting matches and training dogs to fight. HB 301 says that participating in dog fighting, would be a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to five years and a fine of up to $5,000 for first time offenders. Repeat offenders would see their prison time doubled and their fine tripled.

DUI: HB 336 makes those convicted of drunken driving for the fourth time in ten years face a felony punishable by 1-5 years in prison. It also says that second time offenders must undergo a clinical evaluation as part of a drug abuse risk reduction program. Another provision increases from 5 to 10 years the period in which prior DUI convictions are applied to a new offense.

I continue to be honored to serve as your voice in the House of Representatives, and I want to thank this newspaper for the opportunity to report to you on a weekly basis during the 2008 session. Please contact me whenever I can be of service.

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.