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Crossover Day is Next Friday, March 3
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Crossover Day, the last day for legislation to pass out of the chamber in which it originates, takes place next Friday, March 3. This is a critical point during the legislative session and ACCG is encouraging all county officials to closely monitor information that is shared and to advise the policy staff of any questions or concerns you have with bills the association is following.
HB 134, legislation that edits Single County T-SPLOST, passed the House this week and now awaits action in the Senate. Other ACCG priorities such as the 911 bill are still needing to cross over.
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ALERT: Contact Your Legislators This Weekend to Urge Them to Support and Vote Yes to HB 446 and SB 222 - 911 Legislation
HB 446 was introduced this week by Rep. Alan Powell, chairman of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, and
SB 222 was introduced by Sen. John F. Kennedy, Majority Caucus Leader. HB 446 was passed out of the Telecommunications Subcommittee of the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee yesterday and will be on the agenda of the full committee on Monday, February 27. Please reach out to
members of the committee and, if any of them represent your area, please be sure to make a special effort to express your support for the legislation.
SB 222 will also be heard in the full Regulated Industries Committee on Monday - click
here for a committee roster. If any these members represent your area, please be sure to make a special effort to contact and express your support. In addition, ACCG needs every county official to contact their House and Senate delegations over the weekend to let them know how very important this legislation is to protecting the backbone of our public safety and first responder network.
For a detailed summary click
here. To access talking points, click
here.
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Broadband Bill Entails Numerous Preemptions on Local Control of Local Land Use and Right of Way
SB 232 enacts the Facilitating Internet Broadband Rural Expansion (FIBRE) Act. Among its various components, the telecommunication industry’s portion of the bill sets out a substantial list of preemptions and mandates that may significantly impact a local government's permitting and regulation of telecommunications poles and equipment within and outside its right of way. It also sets preemptions and requirements on a local government's permitting of cell towers. ACCG opposes these sections of the bill, believing that local governments, not the state, are best apt to manage the local taxpayer's right of way. We strongly encourage you to have transportation, legal and/or planning staff review this legislation and submit any comments or concerns to ACCG's Todd Edwards at
[email protected] and your Senator(s).
Action Needed:
SB 232 is likely to have a hearing before the Senate Regulated Industries Committee on Monday, February 27. Please contact your Senators, and particularly
committee members
, with any concerns you have on the bill.
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HB 204 - No Fees on Property Tax Bills
As described in last week's Legislative Update,
HB 204 would prevent local governments from placing any other fees or assessments on property tax bills. This bill will be in the House Rules Committee and likely on the House floor for action this week. If you have not already done so, please contact members of your House delegation and let them know that the decision of what to place on tax bills should be left to local officials.
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HR 51 and HB 85 To Create Separate Class for Timber Property
As substantially revised on Wednesday of this week and passed by the House Ways & Means Committee on Thursday,
HR 51 and
HB 85 would create, as a separate class of property, “timberland property” that is primarily used for production of timber for commercial purposes. This category of property would be separate from Forest Land Protection Act/forest land conservation property, which already receives advantageous tax treatment.
Action Needed:
Please contact the members of your county board of assessors to obtain their feedback on these amended bills and share those responses with ACCG's Larry Ramsey at
[email protected]
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Click on "This Week's Bills" to review the bills included in this week's Legislative Update.
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Access the Legislative Tracking Database for a compilation of all bills ACCG is following.
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