March 17, 2006           

This year’s General Assembly session is coming to a close as we finished the 33rd day of a possible 40 legislative day session.  Monday was the big day as Legislative Day 30 went until the early morning hours as it took members of the House of Representatives until 2:00 a.m. to debate and vote on the 82 bills that we thought important enough to send to the Senate for consideration.

In my opinion, one of the best pieces of legislation we passed is a bill that I helped sponsor.  House Bill 848 would create a constitutional amendment giving those 65 and older a complete exemption from the state property tax on their homesteaded property up to 10 acres.  This bill, should it win approval in the Senate and from the Governor, would require voters to pass it at the ballot box this November.  The House easily passed this bill 143-18.

We passed legislation that would put a real bite into increased gang activities in the state.  Long gone are the days when gangs were an activity found only in the “big city”.  Gang activity has found roots in most of our smaller cities and in some rural areas.  By passing H.B. 1302, we set out to define criminal gang activity and to initiate penalties for the criminal behavior.  If the bill is signed into law, violators of gang activities could face between 5 and 15 years in jail with monetary fines between $10,000 and $15,000.  This bill passed 124-45.

Another bill that I introduced and would rate as very important was H.R. 1299, a bill that would create a trust fund to reimburse hospitals for unreimbursed trauma care to victims of a severe injury.  The bill would allow for the designation of the funding and protect it from the lapsing requirements set in the Constitution.  We unanimously passed this legislation.

We also passed H.B. 1497 or what we call “Mercedes Law”.  The legislation creates laws for the proper enclosure of vicious dogs and the procedures that local law enforcement can be made aware of the presence of vicious dogs in the community.  It also sets out to define how vicious dogs must be handled outside of their pens and the confiscation requirements should an owner of a vicious dog be in violation.  We easily passed this bill 155-10.

We also cracked down on businesses that try to cheat the taxpayers of this state.  By unanimously passing H.B. 1506, we increased the penalties for dealers who “knowingly and willfully” fail to collect the state sales tax, falsify returns, or fail to open records for inspection.  Fines can range from $100 to $5,000 and up to a year in jail.  Subsequent convictions will result in fines up to $10,000 and 5 years in jail.

We overwhelmingly passed S.B. 120, the “Competitive Emerging Communications Technologies Act of 2006”.  The bill states that it is in the public interest to encourage deployment of emerging communications technologies of broadband service, voice over Internet protocol, and wireless service by expressly removing any power the Georgia Public Service Commission may have to regulate rates and terms for service.  It was evident that most members of the General Assembly believe that free market conditions will make the cost for internet and wireless service cheaper than being regulated.

In a related telephone bill, we unanimously passed H.B 1290, a bill that would make it illegal for the sale or fraudulent transfer of customers records of a telephone service provider (with law enforcement exempt).  The bill provides for a fine of up to $250,000 and 10 years imprisonment.