FOP Legislative Update Week #2

1/30/09

The 2009 Georgia General Assembly has seen a great deal of overall action in January.  Friday, January 30 was the 10^th official legislative day out of 40 official legislative days.  The 180 members of the House of Representatives and the 56 Senators have convened in session for two weeks out of three since convening Monday, January 12.  During the week of January 19-23 legislators didn’t utilize any official legislative days.  They took the week to scrutinize the 2009 budget due to the historic and overwhelming deficit of almost two billion dollars.  Many state agencies and programs will unfortunately become the main bearers of this burden.  Funding for K-12 education was cut by a staggering $350 million alone.  Other agencies include but are not limited to the Department of Labor, Community Health, and Human Resources.  Everyone agrees that the common theme this session is doing more with less.  Legislators continue to make the steep climb back out of the recession by drafting innovative legislation.  Two major tax bills, House Bill 143 and House Resolution 1, were supposed to be taken to the floor of the House for debate and floor votes Friday, January 30. 

Instead, only HB 143 ended up getting called up, debated, and passed 117-55.  HB 143 is authored by Rep. Larry O’Neal, who is from Warner Robins and Chairman of the pivotal Ways and Means Committee.  The bill aims to change the manner and method the state appropriates funds for homeowner tax relief grants. 

Rep. Ed Lindsey, who is from Buckhead and the newly appointed Chairman of the powerful Appropriations Education Subcommittee, is the author of House Resolution 1.  HR 1 is a constitutional amendment that would cap the amount a local jurisdiction can increase a commercial or residential property’s value at 3% of the value per year.  While this language has been looked at for several legislative sessions now, it has not yet been passed into law.  This could possibly be the year for its successful entry into Georgia law.  HR 1 now goes back to the House Rules Committee awaiting action on the House floor. 

            Both of these bills are aimed to help relieve the homeowners of Georgia.  While they are the first controversial bills to reach the floor of the House or Senate, they obviously will not be the last this session.  The legislators have already acknowledged the fact that there is an economic crisis in Georgia, and their main focus this session fixing the multitude of budget problems.  This is the beginning of the long and arduous uphill battle to reform Georgia’s economy and budget. 

            As stated in the previous report, the FY09 budget is being heavily amended.  While it is still in the preliminary stages of revision, we are ensuring that we can keep as much money possible for you.  On Tuesday, presentations were made to the Public Safety Appropriations Subcommittee regarding where cuts can be made and where money should be kept.  Your top people, along with us, are working diligently to keep your pay raises.  We will keep you updated on the budget process throughout the session.

Below you will find a list of bills and resolutions that are most important to the Fraternal Order of Police.  If you would like to retrieve a complete copy of a bill or resolution you can access the information from the links below.  If you have any questions, comments or anything at all, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Bills of Concern:

HB 14:  Aims to provide nonpartisan elections of sheriffs, district attorneys and solicitor generals along with qualifications to hold one of the aforementioned positions.

Status:  House Read and Referred to the Governmental Affairs Committee 1/15/2009.  House Governmental Affairs Second Read 1/16/2009.

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/hb14.htm

HB 31:  Aims to repeal provisions relating to traffic-control signal monitoring devices.

Status:  House Read and Referred to the Judicial Non-Civil Committee 1/28/2009.  House Judicial Non-Civil Second Read 1/29/2009.

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/hb31.htm

HB 36:  Aims to create a “Blue Alert” alert system which speeds the apprehension of criminals who kill or seriously injure local, state, or federal law enforcement officers.  It also will provide immunity from civil damages for dissemination of alert information.

Status:  House Read and Referred to the Judicial Non-Civil Committee 1/13/2009.  House Second Read 1/14/2009

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/hb36.htm

HB 53:  Aims to require policies that prohibit law enforcement officers from impermissibly using race or ethnicity in determining whether to stop a motorist and for law enforcement officers to document race, ethnicity, and gender of a motorist and passengers.  This bill will also require officers to attend annual training of law enforcement officers on unlawfully using race and ethnicity in stopping vehicles.

Status: House First Read and Referred to the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committtee 1/14/2009.  House Judiciary Non-Civil Second Read 1/15/2009.

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/hb53.htm

HB 88:  Aims to provide nonpartisan elections of clerks of the superior court, sheriffs, tax receivers, tax collectors, and tax commissioners along with the qualifications to hold one of the aforementioned positions.

Status:  House Read and Referred to the Governmental Affairs Committee 1/15/2009.  House Governmental Affairs Second Read 1/16/2009

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/hb88.htm

HB 110:  Aims to require policies that prohibit law enforcement officers from impermissibly using race or ethnicity in determining whether to stop a motorist and for law enforcement officers to document race, ethnicity, and gender of a motorist and passengers.  This bill will also require officers to attend annual training of law enforcement officers on unlawfully using race and ethnicity in stopping vehicles.

Status: House First Read and Referred to the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committtee 1/16/2009.  House Judiciary Non-Civil Second Read 1/26/2009.

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/hb110.htm

SB 9:  Aims to repeal the requirement that a concealed weapon must be kept in a holster.

Status:  Senate Read and Referred to Senate Judiciary 1/12/2009.

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/sb9.htm

SB 12:  Aims to prohibit the manufacture, sale, and possession in this state of handgun ammunition that does not contain a unique code;  the creation of the coding system database is to be established by the Department of Public Safety and will require the registration of manufacturers and vendors. 

Status:  Senate Read and Referred to Senate Judiciary 1/12/2009.

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/sb12.htm

SB 32:  Aims to give authorization to the Department of Transportation to establish rules and regulations for the prevention or reduction of occurrences of dangerous traffic congestion caused by a high volume of vehicles exiting the interstate highway at certain locations during peak traffic times.

Status:  Senate Read and Referred to Senate Transportation 1/26/2009.

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/sb32.htm

Mo Thrash                                                                   Megan Langgood

Steven Gaynor

If you have any questions or concerns please email Brother Gaynor stgaynor@fop.net .