The legislature was in session Monday through Thursday last week, taking us through Legislative Day 12 of the 40-day session. Bills have begun moving through the legislative process as the pace of committee meetings has picked up.

Late last week, the legislature passed what should be the final adjournment resolution, which sets out the days they will meet for the rest of the session. The General Assembly will be in session Tuesday through Friday for the next three weeks. Crossover Day (the day by which a bill has to have passed out of one chamber to be considered by the other) will be on Friday, March 3 and Sine Die (Latin for "without a day" -- the last day of the legislative session) is scheduled for Thursday, March 30.

On Tuesday, January 31, the Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Licensing Board (PELS Board) approved a new rule that will resolve long-standing issues around P.E. examination and comity licenses for those with a structural experience background. Since 2011, all new P.E. applicants with a background in any type of structures were required to take the 16-hour structural P.E. exam (which really focuses on significant vertical structures). Likewise, all comity applicants from other states who had received their P.E. since 2011 were being told they had to have passed the 16-hour structural exam in order to get a Georgia P.E. by comity. 

As a result of the PELS Board action on Tuesday, only those whose background is in design of "designated structures" will be required to sit for or have passed the 16-hour structural exam. Those whose experience is in other types of structures (i.e. not "designated structures") will be able to sit for or have passed the 8-hour civil structures exam. The Rule (including the definition of "designated structures") can be found HERE. 

Please note: this rule only applies to who sits for which P.E. examination and to comity licenses. It does not create a practice restriction nor create an S.E. license. ACEC Georgia will also be working with the geotechnical community and PELS Board on ways to provide additional clarity that geostructures and geotechnical practice are not included within the definition of "designated structures" and will continue to remain the purview of geotechnical engineers.

HB 55 - By Rep. Rick Williams (R-Milledgeville) is a proposal to institute term limits for the members of Georgia's professional licensing boards (limited to no more than eight consecutive years of service). The committee hearing last week did not bode well for the chances of this bill moving forward. STATUS: Assigned to House Regulated Industries Committee. 

HB 59 - By Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) modifies Georgia's existing historic structures tax credit by eliminating the caps on non-residential structures and by making the tax credits more readily transferable. STATUS: Assigned to House Ways & Means Committee.  

HB 68 - By Rep. Andrew Welch (R-McDonough) would require the creation of an emergency pull-off shoulder for the entire length of any GDOT road construction zone. STATUS: Assigned to House Transportation Committee. 

HB 73 - By Rep. Penny Houston (R-Nashville) would provide a series of tax credit incentives to promote the revitalization of vacant rural Georgia downtowns. STATUS: Assigned to House Ways & Means Committee. 

HB 134 - By Rep. Bubber Epps (R-Dry Branch) is legislation requested by the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) to create more flexibility in the transportation SPLOST created by HB 170 and to provide a 20-year duration for any T-SPLOST limited to transit. Legislation may be amended so as to better coordinate with work of the proposed transit commission (See HB 160 and SB 6). STATUS: Under consideration by the House Ways & Means Committee.  

HB 158 - By Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) the "Destination Resort Act" is one of two identical companion bills [the other being SB 79 by Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta)] that would allow for the construction and operation of two destination casino resorts in Georgia. One would be somewhere in the metro Atlanta area near a convention center district (think downtown Atlanta, near the Georgia World Congress Center) and with a minimum of 1,000 rooms and $2 billion in investment. The other would be located somewhere outside the metro area, also near a convention center (think Savannah), with a minimum investment of $450 million. One company cannot operate both resorts. A 20% tax on gross receipts that will go to the HOPE scholarship (70%) and needs-based scholarships (30%). The Act would require the approval of an amendment to the Georgia Constitution, which would be placed on the November 2018 ballot. STATUS: Assigned to House Regulated Industries Committee. 

HB 160 - By Rep. Kevin Tanner (R-Dawsonville) is one of two different bills (the other being SB 6) that would create a new state commission that would be tasked with coming up with a plan for how Georgia's myriad transit services could be cohesively coordinated (at a minimum), integrated or even combined. The House plan would create a "Georgia Commission on Transit Governance & Funding" that would make a recommendation to the General Assembly for legislation to create a unified transit governance structure, as well as to recommend funding sources for construction and operation of the unified transit structure on or before the end of 2017 and for legislation to be introduced in the 2018 session. STATUS: Under consideration by the House Transportation Committee.  

HB 183 - By Rep. Robert Dickey (R-Musella) would recreate the Georgia Geospatial Advisory Council as part of the Department of Community Affairs. STATUS: Assigned to the House State Planning & Community Affairs Committee. 

HB 201 - By Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) would exempt transit and school buses from Georgia's motor fuel excise tax. STATUS: Assigned to the House Transportation Committee.  

SB 2 - By Sen. Mike Dugan (R-Carrollton) is the FAST Act ("Fairness, Accountability, Simplification, and Transparency - Empowering Our Small Businesses to Succeed"), which seeks to eliminate duplicative rules, regulations and red tape to create a more efficient and transparent permitting process for Georgia businesses. It would require state agencies and local governments to set forth a specific turnaround time for processing licenses, permits and approvals as well as associated fees, including making available an expedited process available for an additional fee. If the agency fails to meet its timeline, the fee for that service would be reduced. Sen. Dugan has been extremely open to meeting with interested parties and to suggestions on how to improve the legislation to minimize unintended consequences. An initial hearing was held on the bill last week and it's expected that there will be a substitute version of the bill introduced at the committee hearing this afternoon. STATUS: Under consideration by the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee. 

SB 3 - By Sen. Lindsey Tippins (R-Marietta) the "Creating Opportunities Needed Now to Expand Credentialed Training (CONNECT) Act" would expand career education in grades 6 through 12, including new opportunities for internships, apprenticeships and cooperative learning and to provide a means of industry credentialing for those programs. It also requires closer collaboration between the Georgia Department of Education and the Technical College System of Georgia relative to identifying and addressing critical workforce needs through career education. STATUS: Assigned to Senate Education & Youth Committee. 

SB 6 - By Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) is one of two bills (the other being HB 160) that would create a new state commission that would be tasked with coming up with a plan for how Georgia's myriad transit services could be cohesively coordinated (at a minimum), integrated or even combined. SB 6 would create a "Georgia Regional Transit Council" that would be required to make its recommendations by December 31, 2018 (or December of 2019, with the approval of the Lt. Governor and Speaker). The Senate plan only requires the council to issue a "strategic plan" for efficiency and coordination of transit services, which would also establish performance metrics and targets for transit operators based on criteria such as efficiency, cost effectiveness and customer service. The Senate plan also calls for a unified branding and marketing strategy. STATUS: Passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee. Pending in Senate Rules Committee. 

SB 17 - By Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford) is the so-called "Mimosa Mandate" bill (formerly known as the "Better Brunch Bill") to allow local governments to authorize the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages on Sundays starting at 10:30 a.m. (current law prohibits this activity until 12:30 p.m. on Sundays). STATUS: Assigned to Senate Regulated Industries & Utilities Committee. 

SB 19 - By Sen. Josh McKoon (R-Columbus) would require the State Treasurer to create an "Expenditure Database of the State of Georgia" that would show all expenditures made by any state entity to all vendors and which would be fully searchable online by a variety of search criteria. Vendor is defined in the legislation as anyone providing equipment, materials, goods, supplies or services to any state entity pursuant to a contract. STATUS: Assigned to Senate Government Oversight Committee.  

SB 26 - By Sen. Josh McKoon (R-Columbus) would require local school boards to use "competitive sealed bidding" for any professional services contracts that exceed $50,000 in any calendar year. The bill only applies to local boards of education. STATUS: Assigned to Senate Education & Youth Committee. 

SB 27  - By Sen. Josh McKoon (R-Columbus) would require attorneys fees to be awarded to prevailing condemnees in condemnation cases. STATUS: Assigned to Senate Transportation Committee. 

SB 54 - By Sen. Josh McKoon (R-Columbus) creates new regulations around autonomous vehicles. STATUS: Assigned to Senate Transportation Committee. 

SB 58 - By Sen. Josh McKoon (R-Columbus) would completely eliminate the $5.00 per night hotel/motel room fee that makes up a significant portion of the new transportation revenues created by HB 170 in 2015. ACEC Georgia will be joined by many organizations in opposing this bill. STATUS: Assigned to Senate Education & Youth Committee.  

SB 67 - By Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell) the "Bring Small Businesses Back to Georgia Act" is a regulatory reform bill focused on small businesses (defined as an independently-owned business having less than 50 employees or less than $4 million in gross annual sales). It would amend the administrative procedures act relative to state agency rule making authority, requiring a cost-benefit analysis, expanded notice and hearing requirements as well as requiring amendment or repeal of two existing rules for every new rule proposed. It would also require hearings by standing legislative committees of jurisdiction and review and reports every four years by each agency of all rules and regulations, their efficacy, complaints received, etc. STATUS: Assigned to Senate Economic Development & Tourism Committee. 

SB 79 - By Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) the "Destination Resort Act" is one of two identical companion bills [the other being HB 158 by Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah)] that would allow for the construction and operation of two destination casino resorts in Georgia. One would be somewhere in the metro Atlanta area near a convention center district (think downtown Atlanta, near the Georgia World Congress Center) and with a minimum of 1,000 rooms and $2 billion in investment. The other would be located somewhere outside the metro area, also near a convention center (think Savannah), with a minimum investment of $450 million. One company cannot operate both resorts. A 20% tax on gross receipts that will go to the HOPE scholarship (70%) and needs-based scholarships (30%). The Act would require the approval of an amendment to the Georgia Constitution, which would be placed on the November 2018 ballot. STATUS: Assigned to Senate Regulated Industries & Utilities Committee. 

SB 89 - By Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth) would create a Georgia Freight Railroad Program within GDOT and would facilitate the expenditure of additional appropriations by the General Assembly for purposes of improving freight and passenger railway and crossing infrastructure. STATUS: Passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee on Thursday, February 2. Pending in Senate Rules Committee.  

SB 116 - By Sen. Frank Ginn (R- Danielsville) exempts properties deemed to be "water-neutral" from all local government stormwater fees. The bill defines water-neutral as " a property designed to achieve control of water runoff from a 25-year, 24-hour storm event in a manner consistent with the Georgia Stormwater Management Manual" as certified by a professional engineer. STATUS: Bill was introduced on Thursday and has not yet been assigned to a committee (likely to be the Senate Natural Resources and the Environment Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Ginn).  

SB 152 - By Sen. Frank Ginn (R- Danielsville) would create a "Joint Study Committee on Stream Buffers in Georgia" to look into best practices from around the southeast and recommend new stream buffer legislation in 2018 that would " strike the proper balance between water protection and private property rights." STATUS: Bill was introduced on Thursday and has not yet been assigned to a committee (likely to be the Senate Natural Resources and the Environment Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Ginn).

The General Assembly to be in session Tuesday (today, February 7) through Friday this week, taking us through Legislative Day 16 on February 10. They will also be in session Tuesday through Friday next week, taking us through Legislative Day 20 and the halfway point of the 2017 legislative session.

Michael "Sully" Sullivan

President & CEO, ACEC Georgia