Governmental Affairs Terry Mathews: 404-310-4173 [email protected] Scott Maxwell: 404-216-8075 [email protected] The following information is intended for the sole use of the clients of Mathews & Maxwell, Inc. Please contact the principals above to learn more about the services of the firm. Weekly Legislative Report # 8 Week Ending March 2, 2018 The General Assembly cleared a significant milestone last Wednesday, voting on more than 100 bills and resolutions on crossover day. The Senate finished its work around 9:30 p.m., but it was approaching 1:00 a.m. Thursday morning before the House called it quits. (Bear in mind that the House has 180 members introducing bills compared to only 56 in the Senate.) Bills that did not pass at least one house by close of business on crossover day are dead . unless their language is added to another bill via amendment or substitution. Tax Cuts and Delta Probably the most newsworthy of all bills is HB 918, the legislation reducing the rate of the state income tax to accommodate tax changes made at the federal level. It not only passed the House, but was primed to clear the Senate as well when Delta Airlines declared it was withdrawing a discount offer for members of the NRA flying to their annual convention. As has been well documented in the news, the Senate stripped out of the bill a tax break on jet fuel that would have saved Delta more than $40 million per year. The House, which had originated the jet fuel exemption, agreed with their Senate colleagues immediately, and Gov. Deal has already signed the bill. The incident has been a focus of the gubernatorial campaign as Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle promised Delta would not see the tax break unless it reversed itself on the NRA discounts. His Republican opponents have joined in the criticism of Delta, and the entire episode has attracted the attention of national news outlets and commentators, many wondering aloud if it would impact location decisions by Amazon or other corporations. The long-term impact of the remaining bill will be the reduction of state income taxes from 6% to 5.75% in 2019 and to 5.5% in 2020 with an endorsing resolution from the General Assembly at that time. The bill also doubles the standard deduction for state filers. Transit and Driving Another issue with long-term consequences being addressed this session is transit. Bills that originated in both the House (HB 930) and the Senate (SB 386) were approved and crisscrossed with each other as they traveled beneath the gold dome to the other chamber. And of course, anyone using transit won’t have to worry about HB 673, the distracted driving legislation. Rep. John Carson’s (R-Marietta) bill was intensely debated at every step of its journey through the House, but eventually passed. It currently calls for only hands-free cell phone use while driving, with stiff monetary penalties for violators. Significant changes may still be ahead if the bill is to land on the Governor’s desk. Broadband Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) successfully herded all three of his broadband bills, SB 232, SB 402 and SB 426, through the Senate this session, each addressing a different facet of expanding broadband coverage. The House had its own version of how we should incentivize greater broadband access in rural areas. HB 887 passed and now sits in the Senate’s Regulated Industries Committee. Study Committees Deliver Not surprisingly, several of the bills emanating from the House Rural Development Council created in 2017 at the behest of Speaker David Ralston, passed through the House before the deadline. Two powerful committee chairmen, Terry England (Appropriations) and Jay Powell (Ways & Means) served as co-chairs of the Council. HB 769 would implement various healthcare recommendations, including the creation of a Health Coordination and Innovation Council. HB 827 would increase the value of the rural hospital tax credit to 100% and make S- corporations eligible to participate. Likewise, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle’s Healthcare Reform Task Force produced SB 357, the Health Coordination and Innovation Council, along with SB 351, a bill that was scaled back to ever so slightly expand the scope of practice for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs). Both moved on to the House. Business Court HR 993 would allow the voters of Georgia to amend the Constitution to create a statewide business court. If it clears both houses the “Yes” or “No” question on November’s ballot would be: Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to create a state-wide business court to lower costs, improve the efficiency of all courts, and promote predictability of judicial outcomes in certain complex business disputes for the benefit of all citizens of this state? The measure crossed over from the House to the Senate on Wednesday. As a resolution amending the state’s constitution it does not require the Governor’s signature, although one of his floor leaders presented the bill. Voting with a Paper Memory Voting security was on the minds of Senators when they passed SB 403 requiring the state to replace current voting machines with ones that create a paper ballot in time for the 2024 presidential election. The cost is estimated to be between $35 and $125 million, depending on the device purchased, but the current machines are 16 years old and run on a Windows 2000 operating system that is no longer supported by Microsoft. Sunday Cocktails SB 17 would allow licensed restaurants to begin selling alcohol at 11:00 on Sunday mornings, rather than the current 12:30 p.m., in those communities where alcohol sales have been approved by referendum. The bill, which crossed over on 38-18 vote, originally allowed alcohol service at 10:30 a.m., a time that aligns with the state-owned World Congress Center. The bill will remain controversial on the House side, where we expect to see amendments offered and another split vote. Adoption Reform The bill reforming Georgia’s child adoption process, HB 159, crossed over in January and was passed by the Senate in early February. Gov. Deal is holding a signing ceremony this Monday for that legislation. A “religious liberty” adoption bill, SB 375, that would allow private agencies to accept taxpayer funding while refusing to serve same-sex couples moved over from the Senate to the House. Outdoor Stewardship Fund The House cleared HB 332 on Wednesday, a bill that would by formula direct approximately $40 million annually into a trust fund for the stewardship of state parks, state lands, wildlife management areas, local parks and trails and critical conservation land. The money would establish the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Fund, through which local governments, state agencies and non-governmental organizations could apply for project grants. Monies from the existing Georgia Land Conservation Trust Fund and The Georgia Land Conservation Revolving Fund would be transferred into the new entity. Gun Database Georgia currently purges the names of people from the national database used by gun dealers five years after they were involuntarily committed to a mental health facility. Under HB 999 that crossed over Wednesday, the state would discontinue that practice. Lottery Anonymity Big time lottery winners (more than $250,000) could remain anonymous by written request under SB 331 that passed the Senate earlier in the month. Puppy Mills Given the magnitude of other issues facing the Senate and the length of the crossover day calendar, one would not think that a debate about puppy mills would have taken quite so much time Wednesday afternoon. One would be wrong! SB 418 was introduced on behalf of Petland stores after a couple of suburban cities restricted their ability to sell dogs in an attempt to curb the proliferation of puppy mills (often located overseas and accused of mistreating animals and spreading disease in the U.S.). The municipalities also hoped to encourage the adoption of dogs from the local public pound to avoid euthanasia of so many animals. The bill was presented as a way to prevent localities from banning otherwise perfectly legal businesses. Opponents argued the language would also prevent cities and counties from banning the sale of tobacco at a convenience store next to the local high school. An amendment that allowed the sale of marijuana to be prohibited by municipalities passed 27-17. However, following rigorous debate, the entire measure lost on a floor vote of 19-34. Other Bills that Failed The Girl Scouts were unable to convince the legislature to rename the Talmadge Bridge in Savannah for their founder Juliette Gordon Low. The measure, HR 1054, never made it out of committee. The House voted down the idea of using public school funding for private school tuition (HB 482) by a 60-102 margin. A bill (HB 877) that would reduce by 50% the state sales tax on “modified risk” tobacco products was stubbed out on the floor of the House by a vote of 59-109. SB 2, Where Are You? The FAST (Fairness, Accountability, Simplification, and Transparency) Act, SB 2, introduced in January 2017 is a bill designed to empower small businesses in the state to be more successful. It is intended to be a benchmark legislative initiative that Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle can cite as a major accomplishment in his bid for the Governor’s chair. It passed the Senate in February of last year and has resided in the House ever since; thus it didn’t need to cross over with other bills on Wednesday. However, the House took it up anyway and proceeded to first, amend the bill, then vote it down 66-106.