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SESSION NOTES - A journal of the 2009 General Assembly SessionI APOLOGIZE FOR THE DELAYS IN UPDATING THIS SITE BUT TIME IS RUNNING SHORT AND THE DAYS ARE GETTING LONGER. WILL UPDATE SOON Day Twenty Eight -March 9, 2009 The House of Representatives
debated a lengthy calendar today. Day Twenty Seven -March, 5, 2009 Today the House of Representatives
voted on 18 bills. Day Twenty Six -March, 4, 2009 Today, the House of Representatives
debated a lengthy calendar passing numerous bills. Day Twenty Five -March, 3 , 2009 Today, the House of Representatives
passed the Georgia 20/20 Transportation Act. This Act is comprised
of a constitutional amendment, House Resolution 206, and an
accompanying project list, House Bill 277. Day Twenty Four -February, 26, 2009 Today the House of Representatives
discussed three bills. Day Twenty Three -February, 25, 2009 Today the House of Representatives
discussed five bills. Day Twenty Two -February, 24, 2009 Today on the floor of the house we
had several votes with only one that was contested. House Bill
100 changes income tax contributions to Student Scholarship
Organizations. The Georgia General Assembly created these Student
Scholarship Organizations in 2008. After debate, the bill passed
98-69 with my yes vote. Day Twenty One - February 19, 2009 Today the House of Representatives
voted on 6 bills. Among those, House Bill 59 would make
permanent the Governor’s executive order exempting prescription
drugs given free to physicians, dentists, or clinics from use tax.
Day Twenty - February 18, 2009 Today we voted on three bills in the Georgia House of Representatives. House Bill 185 gives the Chief Judge of Appeals the authorization to issues a judicial state of emergency. House Bill 237 seeks to increase the adoption of hard to place children by allowing subsidies to be granted to families that adopt these special needs children. House Bill 301 Changes the name of the State Board of Technical and Adult Education of Georgia to the State Board of the Technical College System. All three of these bills passed with little fanfare Day Nineteen - February 17, 2009 Today, several pieces of legislation passed the house. Among those passed, was House Bill 217, which allows pharmacists and registered nurses who enter into a written agreement with a physician the ability to administer flu shots. I opposed House Bill 29, which was a legal bill which allows for electronic filing of pleadings in a lawsuit. I did not feel that there were significant safeguards in the bill, so I voted against this measure with 6 other members of the house. House Bill 294 which states that the General Assembly must approve any creation or discontinuation of a technical college or institution under the State Board of Technical and Adult Education. Also, House Bill 326 which eliminates the primitive weapons license requirement for hunting licenses in Georgia and changed the fees for out of state hunters. The big news of the day was that the Governor signed House Bill 143, the bill to save the Homeowners Tax Relief grant for 2009. I was happy to see Gov. Perdue step up to that plate for homeowners. Day Eighteen - February 12, 2009 Today was a marathon session on the floor with two major pieces of legislation being considered. HR1, the proposed 3% cap on property tax assessments in the State of Georgia was heavily debated. This bill was an attempt on the part of the House Leadership to stop back door property tax increases on homeowners. Although, this bill received 105 votes on the floor it was 15 votes shy of the 2/3 requirement needed for a constitutional amendment and was defeated. In response to this setback, the House Leadership rolled out HB233, a bill that would place an assessment freeze on all property for the next two years. This measure is an attempt to assist property owners while the economy is on the downturn. This bill passed the house with 110 votes and mover on to the Senate. Day Seventeen - February 11, 2009 Still sick today and three minor pieces of legislation passed the house, including HB 71, which was a bill to crack down on false or novelty drivers licenses currently being sold in Georgia. Not much else to report .... going home after session to get in bed and get well Day Sixteen - February 10, 2009 This week was tough as I came down with the flu and had a 100.5 degree temperature on the floor of the house. Even with my fever this week I voted on many pieces of legislation that came up for a vote. HB 194 was the main bill today which required the labeling of any generic drug to be displayed when purchased over the counter. Day Fifteen - February 6, 2009 Today was a short day with three
piece of legislation being considered. All three of these bills I voted yes and they move onto the senate. The bad news for the day came when the Governor release the revenue figures from this January, which shows that we are down 14.3 percent from last year, or in actual numbers, we raised 262 million less in revenue this January from the same point last year. This is bound to affect the budget process as the appropriations committee continues to work to find a way to balance this years budget. Day Fourteen - February 5, 2009 Today there were four bills for consideration in the House of Representatives, none of which had any opposition. They are listed as follows: HB 46 placed an expiration date on Governor Perdue’s executive order to suspend the state sales tax on dyed fuels for agricultural, timber, mining and construction vehicles. HB 121 ratified the executive order to freeze the state prepaid motor fuel tax rate. HB 80 lowered the threshold requirement for privately owned companies to purchase corporate-owned life insurance. HB 157 revises the standards for reducing HOPE scholarship and grant funding for book allowances and mandatory fees during years when HOPE reserves decrease. After the session ended I had a two hour Judicial Committee meeting that evaluated three bills and all three passed through committee, even though I was the sole opponent of one of these bills. I plan on voting against this bill when it comes up for a vote next week. I also had meetings with constituents today from the SAFE house in Blairsville and Circle of Hope shelter in Cleveland. They have concerns with the shrinking DHR budget for this year. Day Thirteen - February 4, 2009 Today the House of Representatives held a joint session, welcoming the judges from Georgia’s Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. The Senate and the House met in the house chamber to listen to the Chief Justice speech. Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears presented her final State of the Judiciary address, as she is retiring after 26 years of service. She inspired the House with a positive thought saying, “We will learn to do more with less, we will prevail.” I very eloquent speech from a remarkable jurist. She will be missed when she retires. Day Twelve - February 3, 2009 Very quiet day at the Capitol, as a short session was followed by a short committee meeting. Day Eleven - February 2, 2009 The first thing that happened today is that
HR-1, the property tax assessment bill was scheduled to be voted on
last Friday was sent back to the Rules committee to be resubmitted.
It should reappear on the calendar later in the week. The afternoon was taken up with Judicial sub-committee meeting on the evidence code in Georgia. The hearing went about a hour and then we broke for the day. Day - Ten January 30, 2009 Well the first major vote of the year was
taken today, this being the vote on the Homeowner's Tax Relief Grant
(HTRG). The Governor had left this grant out of the supplemental
2009 budget after local governments had relied on receiving this
money from the state. If the HTRG is not funded for 2009, then
homeowners would have to receive extra tax bills to pay their local
government. With bi-partisan support, the House voted 117-55 in
favor of HB 143, which was a bill to fund the HTRG for 2009 while
setting up a formula to fund this grant in the future if the budget
meets certain conditions. This bill now moves to the
Senate for their consideration next week. Day - Nine January 29, 2009 As expected the first substantive vote of the year came out today and it was a housekeeping bill that was voted through unanimously through the house. This bill just formally renamed some of the committees to reflect those name changes in the Official Code of Georgia. I was very excited to meet with two of the Sheriffs from the 8th district who were present at a conference for the Georgia Sheriffs Association. Sheriff Chris Clinton of Towns County and Sheriff Frank Andrews of Rabun County went out of their way to take a break from their conference to meet with me and discuss their concerns of the proposed budget cuts to public safety in the Governors 2009 and 2010 budget. I appreciate their concern and their efforts to make their positions know to their lawmakers. Day - Eight January 28, 2009 Last quiet day on the floor of the house, commencing on Thursday, we should see some actual votes coming to the floor. As I reported previously today was the first day of subcommittee hearings on the new evidence code in Georgia. The hearing went a little longer than an hour and was just preliminary in nature. We heard from the major supporters and opponents of the bill with preliminary statements, and we expect the hearing to kick off early next week Did get to meet with several members from Union County today as there was an Economic Development dinner in the evening and it was good to see several members of the Union County Development Authority present to show the benefits of getting jobs and industry to the North Georgia Mountains. Day - Seven January 27, 2009 Another quiet day on the floor of the house as we continue to get new bills into the pipeline and assigned to committees. The big news of the day was the assignment of HB-24 to the Judiciary sub-committee of which I am a member. This bill is a complete overhaul of the Georgia rules of Evidence. Although boring to most, these rules are the foundation of all judicial activity in a courtroom and it will take several weeks to get through the hearings. I was please to meet with several folks from Rabun county who were in town to discuss several issues with their elected officials. Day - Six January 26, 2009 Mixed day today. The morning was fast paced and over in a flash as we finished the morning by 11am. Began the process of receiving my state computer and the 70 awaiting emails. I apologize for the delay as I will reply to these messages now that I am officially up and running. Had my first Banking committee meeting today where we did housekeeping duties and divided into sub-committees to get ready for new bills. Tomorrow is a big day with several constituents visits. I am looking forward to the day. Special Day - January 22, 2009 Today I was in Atlanta for the Georgia Right to Life (GRTL) TOGETHER FOR LIFE 2009 event. The streets were packed with people and it was a very moving event. I wish I could have stayed to witness the walk itself, but I had to get back to the district for some meetings. Tomorrow morning I will be in Rabun County at the Chamber of Commerce. Will report back on Monday January 27. Day Five - January 16, 2009 Short day at the Capitol today, as we are preparing for the week long break to get the committees organized. We broke by 10:30am today, so that when we come back on Monday January 26, bills that were submitted this week will be ready to be reviewed by committees. Finally got my office assignment - My office will be Suite 501-F, Coverdell Legislative Office Building across from the Capitol. If your in Atlanta or coming by the Capitol, please come by and say hello. Day Four - January 15, 2009 With the State of the State address out of the way, we now learned about our committee assignments. I have been put on four committees and will have a heavy workload. My first committee is the Judiciary Committee, and I am honored to be placed on such a prestigious committee. Next is the Banks and Banking committee, which was one of my top choices and I am thrilled to be assigned to work with that committee. My third committee is Higher Education, which overseas the Hope Scholarship and works with laws pertaining to the University system in Georgia. Finally, I was placed on the Children and Youth committee, which as its name depicts deals with overseeing laws relating to children and young people in the State of Georgia. I was very blessed with these assignments and feel I can make a big impact for our district on these committees. Day Three - January 14, 2009 This morning was the day the Governor came to give the State of the State address. It was pretty interesting experience as both the Senate and the House members, along with the Georgia Supreme Court and Georgia Court of Appeals were in the same chamber at the same time. Budget concerns top the agenda as the Governor presented his amended 09 budget and his 10 budget. It appears that the national crisis has affected all states and that Georgia is now 2.2 Billion dollars short in revenue based on the 2009 budget. Now it is time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Day Two - January 13, 2009 Today was very quiet as we continue with the procedural routines that come with any new session. We are waiting to receive our committee assignments as well as our office phone and fax numbers. Once my office has been assigned I can inform all of you of my contact numbers and address to where you can reach me while in Atlanta. Today was also the day I signed my first piece of legislation that will be sent to the clerk of the house, a bill that would require all Boards of Elections to verify the US citizenship of all persons who register to vote in the State of Georgia. I know it is hard to believe that this isn't already required, however this bill is important to ensure that our election process is fair and equitable to all those who cast a ballot. Day One - January 12, 2009 The first day of session was very exciting for me as my family was there to watch me being sworn in as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives. After the swearing in, we as a body went about the procedural process of electing a Speaker of the House, Speaker Pro Tem as well as the House Clerk and other staff. Speaker Glenn Richardson was re-elected as Speaker as the Minority Party agreed to his appointment by affirmation. After those appointments were made we voted on the Rules of the House, which is the protocol by how the House runs its day to day business.
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