After a late night at the State Capitol, the House and Senate convened today with short calendars but weighty issues. The Senate approved HB 918, Governor Deal’s tax reform measure this morning.  It was immediately transferred to the House, who approved it this afternoon. As promised by Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, the bill passed without the original jet fuel sales tax exemption favoring Delta Air Lines. The House also agreed to a Senate Substitute as amended by the House of HB 683, the Amended FY 2018 budget. But because the House made additional changes to the Senate version after the Senate had adjourned for the day, budget-watchers will have to wait until next week to gain finality on the spending proposition. The General Assembly will return for Legislative Day 30 on Monday.

In this Report:                 

• House Approves Compromise to Amended FY 2018 Budget
• Floor Legislation Approved Today on Education
• New Legislation
• Rules Calendars for Legislative Day 30

House Approves Compromise to Amended FY 2018 Budget

• HB 683 – (authored by Rep. Terry England, R-Auburn), with a total estimate of $25,413,015,092, had several changes of interest to our readers.
  
  
  • Under the Department of Community Health, $1,000 were added to increase the funds to aid in the initiation of a rural Health Coordination and Innovation Council.  In addition, $1,000,000 were added to increase funds to the State Office of Rural Health to fund a grant program to ensure health systems or primary care providers purchase interoperable data analytic or electronic/digital population health tools to improve health outcomes in rural Georgia and another $1,220,000 were added as a one- time grant to aid Grady and rural hospitals who were hit especially hard during this year’s flu epidemic.  They also increased the funds to analyze the Medicaid delivery system in Georgia to $750,000 from the Senate’s $658,000. 
  • In education, they wish to reduce the funds for the unfilled Residential Treatment Center program manager position by $65,000 with the expectation that the Department will fill the full time position by July 1, 2018.  Funding for Residential Treatment Facilities were also reduced by $110,579 due to lack of attendance.  They also added in $1,250,000 and $500,000 to enhance technology and career education in audio-video technology and film grants and STEM preparation respectively.  They have also reduced funds by $500,000 for testing to reflect projected expenditures and carryover funds. 
  • In the Department of Human Services, they are pulling the bond for the design, construction and equipment for the new Division of Family and Children Services Building, Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County in order to pay cash.  They also cut the Senate’s increase in funding for legal services for child welfare services as they found it unnecessary.
• The budget motion was to agree to the Senate Substitute as Amended by the House, and it passed 155-8.  The substitute was immediately transmitted to the State Senate, who is expected to pick it up on Monday.

Floor Legislation Approved Today in Regards to Education

Senate Floor

• HB 273 – (authored by Rep. Demetrius Douglas, D-Stockbridge; presented by Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga) is the “Quality Basic Education Act.”  This legislation provides for a daily recess for students in kindergarten and grades one through five.  Senator Mullis gave a humorous presentation of the bill, imagining what several of the Senators might have done on the playground.  Sen. Elena Parent, (D-Atlanta), rose to note that Georgia’s children need a chance to expel some of their energy and get exercise— which would allow them to better concentrate on their studies.  The bill was approved by a vote of 50-0.

House Floor

• SB 131 – (authored by Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia; presented by Rep. Mandi Ballinger, R-Canton) provides for a change in the Juvenile Code that allows for adoption proceedings be stayed while an appeal to terminate parental rights is pending.  It was approved with no discussion by a vote of 162-0.

New Legislation

The following propositions have been introduced in the House.

• HB 1016, authored by Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah), requires that 9-1-1 communications officers receive training in the delivery of high-quality telephone cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The bill also provides training requirements and provides for compliance reviews.
• HB 1018, authored by Rep. Billy Mitchell (D-Stone Mountain), requires that driver education courses include education for young drivers on the proper actions that should be taken by drivers during traffic stops and proper interaction with law enforcement officers.
• HB 1020, authored by Rep. Robert Trammell (D-Luthersville), is the Georgians Access to Medicaid Expansion and REACH Scholarship Dollars (GAMERS Dollars) Act. The bill authorizes up to three licensed casino resorts and establishes and provides for the distribution of funds from their operation to the State of Georgia Medicaid Expansion, the REACH Georgia Scholarship Trust Fund, the Georgia Problem Gaming Assistance Fund, and the Georgia Licensed Resort Facility Host Community Fund.
• HR 1363, authored by Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta), urges Congress to  reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug so that its medical benefits and effects may be researched. In the alternative, the resolution calls for Congress to enact the Marijuana Effective Drug Study Act.
• HR 1364, authored by Rep. Katie Dempsey (R-Rome), encourages the General Assembly to broaden eligibility and increase funding for the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention Program.
• HR 1374, authored by Rep. Brett Harrell (R-Snellville), creates the House Study Committee on Professional Licensing Boards Operations and Funding. The Committee would review the existing operations and funding of professional licensing boards in Georgia to determine whether such boards are (1) streamlined, optimizing efficiencies of scale, and provide for the appropriate state entity or entities to oversee each licensing board; (2) provided with adequate funding and staffing required to deliver a reasonable level of customer service and regulatory enforcement; (3) leveraging available, affordable technologies for faster, more reliable electronic communication and record keeping, both as to internal board operations as well as dissemination of public information; and (4) charging licensing fees that would be adequate to support all of the direct and indirect costs to the state for the services provided to the various boards.
• HR 1375, authored by Rep. Katie Dempsey (R-Rome), encourages the State of Georgia to take all reasonable steps to advise all public and private schools to educate students and parents about the dangers of meningococcal disease.
• HR 1376, authored by Rep. Matt Hatchett (R-Dublin), urges the House Rural Development Council to solicit input from hospitals in the state on the financial conditions of such hospitals.
• HR 1399, authored by Rep. Robert Trammell (D-Luthersville), presents a constitutional amendment to allow for casino gambling in Georgia. The amendment would also provide that the General Assembly by law allocate taxes, revenues, fees, and assessments derived from the licensing, regulation, and taxation of casino gambling to the State of Georgia Medicaid Expansion and REACH Georgia Scholarship Trust Fund for the specific purpose of expanding Medicaid eligibility and implementation of certain services and to fund REACH Georgia Scholarship Program to be established by law.

The following propositions have been introduced in the Senate:

• SR 929, authored by Sen. Bruce Thompson (R-White), creates the Joint Study Committee on Cyber Security Legislation. The Committee would study how Georgia's cyber laws compare to other states' current and planned cyber laws and whether any changes need to be made to current state law in this area.
• SR 935, authored by Sen. John Albers (R-Alpharetta), creates the Senate School Safety Study Committee. The Committee would study preparedness in school safety to help curb incidents of violence in schools and to ensure that policies, plans, and procedures are in place to respond effectively to such incidents.

Rules Calendars for Legislative Day 30

The Senate will take up the following propositions on Monday:

• HB 162 – (Rep. Betty Price, R-Roswell)  Income tax; transfer of setoffs by the Administrative Office of the Courts; revise procedures
• HB 309 – (Rep. Timothy Barr, R-Lawrenceville) State liability; activities of organized militia engaged in training or duty; provide exception
• HB 475 – (Rep. Buddy Harden, R-Cordele)  Charitable solicitations; use of collection receptacles for donations; implement additional requirements

The House had not yet set a Rules Calendar for its convening on Monday at deadline. We expect the House will set a calendar on Monday morning.