Capitol Connection E-Newsletter – August 2019

Southern Region Policy Committee Meetings

If you were unable to attend the Northern Policy Committee Meetings, the same meetings are being offered in south Georgia on August 28th and 29th. The meetings will be held over the span of two days at the Southern Regional Technical College in Tift County. Register for the meeting(s) of your choice and visit the ACCG website to see what topics will be covered at each meeting. All officials are welcome to attend and to provide their input into the groups’ deliberations. Meeting agendas can be found here .

Note: If you attended the Northern Policy Committee Meetings, you do not have to attend the southern meetings. You will not receive extra continuing education hours for attending the same meeting in both regions.

ACCG Federal Policy Committee

You're invited to attend the ACCG Federal Policy Committee Meeting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday, September 6 ^th . The meeting agenda ( found here ) includes updates from our Georgia Congressional offices as well as presentations on federal opportunity zones, veterans assistance programs and transportation grants. Attendees will also have the opportunity to tour the CDC Emergency Operations Center ! 

ACCG Federal Policy Committee Meeting - Registration Link

Friday, September 6, 2019

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: Meeting

Noon: Lunch

12:30 p.m.: Tour of CDC Emergency Operations Center

Join Us in Athens for the  2019 Legislative Leadership Conference

Registration for the 2019 Legislative Leadership Conference (LLC) is now available! This year's conference will take place October 2-4 at The Classic Center  in Athens-Clarke County. Georgia's county officials will embark on three days full of continuing education opportunities in the ACCG Lifelong Learning Academy and hear from legislators and state policy experts in hot topics sessions. County officials will also engage in policy discussions to finalize the 2020 ACCG Policy Agenda and Legislative Priorities.

Workshop on Implementing Georgia’s Small Cell/5G Law a Great Success 

On Monday, August 12, ACCG partnered with the Georgia Municipal Association, Verizon and AT&T to provide local government officials a training workshop on Georgia’s new small cell permitting law. The “Streamlining Wireless Facilities and Antennas Act”, effective October 1, 2019, resulted from two years of negotiations between wireless providers and local governments. It establishes a statewide, streamlined process covering all aspects of the permitting of small cell poles, antennas and equipment in local governments’ rights-of-way. This session reviewed the new small cell technology; various aspects of the law that local governments must know; local permitting conditions and requirements; what can be expected in the roll out of small cells; and crafting appropriate local ordinances to comply with the law. 

To view the video of the workshop and access all the PowerPoint presentations, please click here.

 

Remember to Appoint Your County's Voting Delegate

Ensuring that all counties' voices are heard is a priority of ACCG. The association encourages every county to appoint a voting delegate to vote on the 2020 Policy Agenda and Legislative Priorities during this year's business session. The business session will take place at the Legislative Leadership Conference on Thursday, October 3 at 1:45 p.m.  Be sure your county discusses the identification and selection of ONE Voting Delegate , and then completes and submits the  voting delegate form   (only ONE FORM per county!)  by  Friday, August 30  and return it to   Monique Jackson by emailing   [email protected]  or faxing (678) 626-9642.

*Note: If your county does not designate a voting delegate, the voting delegate shall be the chair or sole commissioner or his or her designated member of the governing body (a county commissioner).

Updated SPLOST Data Repository Now Available

ACCG maintains a SPLOST repository that is updated every two years. This repository includes referenda dates, types of projects, anticipated costs, transportation projects and costs, collection date information, and general obligation bond information. ACCG Policy and Research Intern Luke Owens updated the repository over the summer so that it now includes all SPLOST referenda passed from mid-2004 to the present. To view the data, please click here. 

Register Now for RLGF and GOMI Webinars for County Officials and Staff

ACCG, in partnership with the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), will be hosting webinars in October and November on how to complete the Report of Local Government Finances (RLGF) and the Government Management Indicators Survey (GOMI). In addition to providing an overview of these reports and how they should be submitted, staff from ACCG and DCA will also discuss the most common errors made in submitting these reports and best practices counties can utilize to provide more accurate information. These two mandatory surveys play a vital role in the way that ACCG collects and analyzes data, therefore helping the association better serve you, Georgia's counties. 

Click the links below to register for the webinar(s) of your choice:

RLGF Webinar - October 22, 2019 (10:00 a.m. -11:00 a.m.)

GOMI Webinar - November 20, 2019 (10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.)

Joint ACCG/GMA Taskforce on SDS and LOST

The Joint ACCG/GMA Taskforce on SDS and LOST has met three times and will continue to meet once a month for the remainder of the year. At the last meeting, the taskforce showed progress and agreed upon several recommendations. ACCG is seeking county managers, administrators, attorneys and elected officials that have significant experience with SDS and/or LOST negotiations to review the recommendations of the taskforce and provide feedback. If you would like to participate in the review of the taskforce recommendations please email Clint Mueller at [email protected].

 Georgia Selects New Voting Machines

On July 29, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced that the state has selected Dominion Voting Systems to implement the state’s new verified paper ballot system, replacing the outdated DRE voting equipment currently being used. According to the Secretary’ of State's Office, the $107 million contract will be portioned out over the course of 10 years to Georgia’s 159 counties, with $89 million to be paid in the first two years and the rest going toward licensing fees and other recurring costs. The plan is to have the machines up and running by March 24, 2020, for Georgia’s presidential preference primary. For more information, click here .            

FCC Order Caps Cable Franchise Fees and “In-Kind” Services

On August 2 ^nd, the Federal Communications Commission issued an order which will bar local governments from imposing fees greater than 5 percent of a cable company’s total revenue. In short, the order requires any “in-kind” services provided the cable company to count toward the 5-percent payment made to local governments, though an exception is made for some, but not all, capital costs of providing public, education and government (PEG) channels. In-kind services subject to the cap include such things as courtesy equipment, I-Net construction, specially created programming, cash contributions, free advertising, among others. The order also prohibits local governments from regulating a cable operator’s broadband service. For more information, click here.     

House Rural Development Council Sets Agenda for First Meeting

The Georgia House Rural Development Council (RDC) has set the agenda for its first 2019 meeting, August 20-21, at the Chattahoochee Technical College in Pickens County. Among the topics to be covered are mental health, census coordination, rural hospitals, and several education issues. County commissioners are encouraged to attend if the topics are of interest and their schedules permit. 

To view the Pickens County agenda, click here.

For the full schedule and locations of this year’s RDC meetings, click here.

2019 GA Smart Fall Workshop

Interested in becoming the next Smart Community? Attend the upcoming Georgia Smart Communities Fall Workshop on Thursday, September 5 at the GTRI Conference Center in Atlanta, GA. The workshop will showcase the final work product and research of the 1st class of the Georgia Smart Communities Challenge projects as well as introduce the 2nd class. These smart communities' projects demonstrate the ways smart technologies and research can be used to create sustainable and resilient communities. More details about the workshop and registration can be accessed here.

Transportation Grant and Loan Opportunities  

The State Road and Tollway Authority will be accepting applications for transportation grants and loans made available through the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank (GTIB) from August 15th through October 15th. Local, regional and state government entities as well as CIDs are eligible and encouraged to apply. Additional details about GTIB funding can be found by clicking here.

2020 Census Outreach Materials Now Available

In August, the U.S. Census Bureau released numerous materials, including audience -specific information and flyers in multiple languages, that can be downloaded and used by local complete count committees to increase awareness of and educate the public about the 2020 Census. You can access these materials here. 

NACo releases 2019 Summer Advocacy Toolkit

August recess provides county officials a golden opportunity to communicate county priorities to their members of Congress on their home turf. This toolkit is a playbook for doing so effectively. 

Task Force Aims to Reduce Jail Inmate Recidivism Through Continuity of Healthcare Services

The National Association of Counties (NACo) and the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) have jointly launched a new task force - comprised of NACo and NSA members representing county leaders, law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, behavioral health and veterans’ services - to focus on health care in our nation's jails. The task force plans to lobby at the federal level for a change in the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy (MIEP) that would allow detained people awaiting trial to continue receiving benefits. Among the officials appointed to serve on the task force is Chatham County Commissioner Helen Stone. Articles highlighting the plans of the task force can be found on Route Fifty and NACo's blog.