Author: harbisonadmin

Legislation I introduced, addressing the issue of who has the right to handle the disposition of the body of a deceased U.S. service member, was unanimously approved by the Senate Veterans, Military and Homeland Security Committee on Feb. 10.

I proposed SB 355 as a result of several stories from families who were plagued by the decision of who would handle their deceased loved one’s body. Kept in the U.S. Department of Defense Record of Emergency Data, DD Form 93 allows the service member to designate an authorized person to handle their body in the event of death. My legislation would ensure this form is utilized in Georgia, ending any disputes over the matter. SB 355 now awaits consideration by the full Senate.

This week, I also co-sponsored legislation that would provide much-needed assistance to U.S. military veterans who want to attend one of Georgia’s public colleges or universities. SB 405 would allow veterans who have enrolled but have not received their G.I. Bill money to attend classes until that assistance arrives from the Veterans Administration.

Currently, service members returning from active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan are unable to remain in a University System institution while awaiting their financial aid to arrive. Some have been kicked out of school, dropped from classes or assessed fines. This is no way to treat the troops who have put their lives on the line for our country. Our legislation would provide a grace period for these veterans to get their finances in order without delaying their pursuit of a college degree.

Board of Regents officials have expressed support for SB 405. A separate measure, SB 404, would excuse veterans from taking certain classes that they may have taken in the military. Both bills were referred to the Senate Higher Education Committee for its consideration.

Real Estate Loans: The Senate voted unanimously to give final approval to HB 926, which would make it easier for business owners to renew real estate loans with their local bank. State-chartered banks are currently barred from renewing loans to borrowers who owe an amount equal to at least 15 percent of a banks available funds. This measure would eliminate that restriction, allowing these companies to stay in business. The governor signed the bill into law on Thursday.

Revenues Fall Again: For the 14th consecutive month, state revenues declined in January. The 8.7 percent drop from the same month a year ago brings the total revenue shortfall for the first seven months of fiscal year 2010 to $1.28 billion, a decline of 12.9 percent from the previous year. Income tax collections were off 16 percent in January, while sales tax collections were down 5.5 percent. Corporate income tax collections actually experienced a huge 634 percent gain, but that is the smallest portion of revenue and was not enough to offset the other losses.

Communications Deregulation: The Senate approved an amended version legislation that would remove most remaining regulations on the telecommunications industry in Georgia. HB 168 would lower access charges, which are still fixed at 1995 rates, to current market rates. The measure goes back to the House of Representatives for final consideration.

Paperwork Reduction: Legislation has been introduced that is intended to cut government spending by reducing its paperwork. SB 388 was recommended by a task force of business leaders appointed by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle to suggest ways the Legislature could cut spending in the current state budget. The measure would require state agencies to publish information in an electronic format rather than printing it as a paper document, except in cases where current law requires a printed format. The Senate State & Local Government Operations Committee will consider the proposal.

Ethics Legislation:SB 394, introduced this week, would prohibit anyone who has had an ethics fine levied against them in the past 10 years from serving on the State Ethics Commission. The measure is intended to increase public trust in the Ethics Commission. The Senate Ethics Committee has the bill under consideration.

There is a growing concern among law enforcement officials and citizens of Senate District 15 over the planned closing of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory in Columbus. Here are some valid arguments against this action, proposed to take place March 31:

There will be no budget savings gained by closing the Columbus Crime Lab. All the scientists and equipment will be transferred to another location.

The Columbus Crime Lab is one of the most cost effective labs in the state, sharing its facilities with a GBI Regional Office and thereby saving significant operational and utility expenses.

The lab provides forensic services to 19 counties in west central Georgia and firearm/ballistic services to another 27 counties in south Georgia, providing essential regional service to law enforcement agencies.

Closing the Columbus Crime Lab would have a severe negative effect on public safety in seven judicial circuits, hundreds of law enforcement agencies and more than 1 million citizens in 46 counties.

“What this means is that quick and speedy trials will be hindered due to not being able to have the evidence tested or processed in a timely manner for cases in which the forensic evidence is so crucial for the prosecution,” said Sumter County Sheriff Pete Smith. “The closing and relocation of this lab to Atlanta will create a great hardship on local law enforcement agencies that have utilized these services in the past.”

I will continue to work toward reversing this decision so that hopefully our public safety officials will continue to benefit from the services of the Columbus Crime Lab.

Due to the state’s budget crisis, our public school educators and other state employees have had to take unpaid furlough days as a cost-saving measure. Three additional furlough days between now and June 30 are proposed in Gov. Perdue’s budget recommendation.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker David Ralston have announced a plan for members of the Senate and House of Representatives to take additional furlough days, which would save the state an estimated $2.7 million.

I support this plan because as elected officials in the legislative branch of government we must lead by example. We are not and should not be excused from giving up part of our legislative salaries to help in the very difficult task of balancing this year’s budget.

By the end of fiscal year 2010, lawmakers will have taken 11 unpaid furlough days, including one day a month from August through December last year. Other state agences have each taken between three and 12 furlough days.

Budget Hearings: A series of Appropriations Committee hearings Jan. 19-21 began the legislative process for amending the state budget for the remainder of fiscal year 2010, which ends June 30, and the budget for fiscal year 2011, which begins July 1. Gov. Sonny Perdue released his budget recommendations, which propose reducing the current year’s budget from $18.6 billion to $17.4 billion to reflect severe declines in state revenue collections. The governor is also reintroducing his plan for a 1.6 percent tax increase on hospitals and other health care providers to partially make up for an estimated $506 million deficit in the Medicaid program. Lawmakers rejected the governor’s so-called “sick tax” last year out of concern the extra costs would be passed on to patients’ health care bills and/or force some already-struggling rural hospitals to close their doors. For the FY 2011 budget, the governor is forecasting a 4.2 percent increase in state revenues and proposing $901 million in additional state debt to pay for construction and other capital outlay projects. I am among the legislators and economic observers who are concerned that growth rate is unrealistically optimistic, with the state not expected to reach 2007 revenue levels again until 2014. If we instead planned on flat growth, it might prevent so many cuts and the need for deep budget adjustments next year.

Lost Revenue: Also during the budget hearings, state Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham admitted as much as 5 to 10 percent of sales tax proceeds is going uncollected. Just 5 percent of the sales tax revenue would amount to $250 million.

Jobless Rate Increases: Statewide, the unemployment rate jumped to 10.3 percent in December, matching the record high jobless level registered last July. The percentage of Georgians without jobs was significantly higher than the 7.5 percent recorded in December 2008, with the number of payroll jobs down by about 175,000.

Health Insurance Reform: The issue of healthcare reform has been at the top of the political agenda at the federal level for most of the past year. This week, legislation was introduced in the Georgia Senate that would provide consumers with some health insurance protections at the state level. SB 330 would prohibit insurers from imposing a cap on the amount of lifetime benefits a policy holder can receive and would prohibit insurers from canceling a policy because of a misstatement or omission by the policy holder in the original application, unless the misstatement directly relates to the illness that produced the claim. SB 331 would enable parents to keep their dependents on their health insurance plan up to age 25, even if the dependents are not full-time students, and would make it easier for small businesses to offer group health insurance to employees by allowing them to pool their resources with other businesses to lower the cost of coverage.

Racial Profiling Ban: I have co-sponsored SB 325, which would address the issue of racial profiling by requiring law enforcement officers to record the age, gender, race and ethnicity of every motorist they pull over. That data would be analyzed later to detect trends on whether racial profiling is occurring. The bill also provides for annual officer training. Sixteen other states currently prevent racial profiling of motorists and pedestrians.

The Georgia Department of Transportation has announced the following paving projects in Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties, with a completition date of December 31, 2010:

~ Gordy Mill Pond Road in Cusseta (0.38 miles)
~ Eight streets in Columbus (total 3.292 miles)
~ Reese Road in Columbus (1.71 miles)

The 2010 legislative session of the Georgia General Assembly got under way Jan. 11 with a cloud hanging over lawmakers’ heads in the form of a state budget deficit estimated at up to $4 billion. The No. 1 item on the agenda for this session is the difficult task of approving a budget for the remainder of this fiscal year as well as fiscal year 2011 that meets the needs of the people of Georgia in the current economic conditions.

The first round of legislative budget hearings will be held Jan. 19-21. Typically, the governor presents his budget proposal during the first week of the session to legislators. This year, Gov. Perdue instead gave a “State of the State” address Jan. 13 that included no preview of his budget recommendations.

Senate budget writers will receive recommendations for short and long-term budget solutions from members of a “task force” appointed by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. Comprised of corporate executives from companies including Georgia Power, Atlanta Gas Light and Blue Cross Blue Shield, the committee with work with the Senate Budget Office and provide advice to Senators, the lieutenant governor said.

State agencies, including our public schools, law enforcement and other vital service providers, have had their budgets cut to the bone over the past 18 months due to shortfalls in revenue. The state’s Medicaid shortfall for FY 2011 alone is estimated at $635 million. This year’s budget planning will also have to account for a lack of more than $1 billion in federal stimulus funding which enabled us to balance the budget last year.

Transportation Funding: For the past two years, the Senate and House of Representatives have failed to agree on legislation that would provide a sufficient funding source for badly needed transportation upgrades across the state. The lieutenant governor and House leaders said this week they have abandoned plans for a constitutional amendment for a statewide sales tax for transportation, which the House passed last year. The Senate’s proposed solution is a regional sales tax plan under which counties could band together to fund transportation improvements, if the voters in those counties approved the tax by referendum. The governor, meanwhile, said he would set aside $300 million in bond funds to pay for major transportation projects. He also said he wants to see a series of regional sales taxes for road projects placed on the ballot in 2012 instead of this November.

Health Insurance Reform: Some Senators are sponsoring a proposed constitutional amendment they claim would exempt Georgians from any federal health care reform legislation that requires citizens to obtain health insurance coverage. Also, Gov. Perdue has proposed legislation that would allow consumers to buy health insurance plans marketed by insurers in other states.

Gun Law Expansion: A Senate proposal would make it legal to carry guns in a wider variety of public places, including sporting events, political rallies, bars, K-12 schools, college campuses (except in dormitories) and non-secured portions of airports. The bill would also allow convicted criminals and mental patients to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon after certain time periods.

Water Issues: The governor reported “a renewed spirit of cooperation” among Georgia, Florida and Alabama in the three states’ ongoing water rights dispute. There has been a greater sense of urgency for Georgia since a federal judge’s ruling last July restricting metro Atlanta’s rights to use Lake Lanier as its main source of drinking water. Gov. Perdue said he is willing to call a special legislative session later in the year if an agreement cannot be reached during the regular session.

I have reintroduced legislation ( SB 114 and SB 137) that would facilitate the timely enrollment of children of military families when they move from state to state or school district to school district because of deployment or transfers.

The Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children would ensure that children are not disadvantaged in their opportunities for educational success or progress toward graduation because of frequent moves. Similar legislation that I introduced in 2008 passed overwhelmingly in both the Senate and House of Representatives but suffered a veto by the governor.

Hopefully this year, we can give the governor more information on what the bill does and does not do so that he will sign the legislation into law. By promoting this type of flexibility and cooperation, we will assist the military families who are sacrificing so much for us.

The bill will greatly assist the BRAC-inspired buildup of military families at Fort Benning, Fort Gordon and other Georgia installations. Some 7,000-10,000 new students are expected to impact school systems in the Columbus and Chattahoochee Valley area.

The Senate voted Feb. 11 to approve the Georgia Nuclear Energy Financing Act, which would allow Georgia Power to implement rate increases beginning in 2011 to cover $1.6 billion in construction costs for two nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle.

Building the nuclear units will generate about 3,000 jobs and ultimately result in less expensive electricity for Georgia consumers.

An amendment to SB 31 authorizes the Georgia Public Service Commission to consider the funds raised for the new units in future ratemaking cases. SB 31 now goes to the House of Representatives for its consideration.

On Feb. 12, the Senate passed a proposed constitutional amendment that would restrict future midyear budget appropriations to education funding, additions to the state reserve fund or repayment of state debt. No other new spending would be allowed without two-thirds approval of the legislature.

SR 1 would apply when economic growth results in higher-than-expected revenues, which is certainly not the case this year, with the state facing a nearly $3 billion revenue shortfall. As a constitutional amendment, the proposal still needs two-thirds approval by the House of Representatives and majority approval by Georgia voters in the 2010 general election.

The Senate also voted 49-4 in favor of legislation that would enforce the state’s seat belt laws for pickup truck drivers and passengers. Pickup trucks are currently exempt from seat belt requirements, costing Georgia millions of dollars each year in federal highway funding. Under SB 5, which now goes to the House for its consideration, an exception would still be made for trucks while they are being used for agricultural pursuits.

In response to the case of the Peanut Corp. of America plant in Early County, the Senate has approved legislation that would require Georgia manufacturing plants to regularly test their products and report any findings of contamination. SB 80, which came out of the Senate Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee, is intended to raise a “red flag” if a manufacturer finds salmonella or another type of contamination in its food products.

Under the bill, the state Department of Agriculture would launch its investigation earlier in the process and the company would be required to keep records of the tests for two years.