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Gold Dome Update 
Highlights from the House 
After taking a three-month break to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Georgia General Assembly reconvened for legislative business on Monday, June 15. Due to these unprecedented times, the House is conducting business in a different fashion. Instead of recognizing guests and welcoming students to the Capitol, the House is instead implementing policies that maintain social distancing, encouraging the use of face masks, frequently sanitizing office spaces and a variety of other practices. While current protocols have put a halt to many of the traditional aspects of session, the change has not stagnated our progress as we passed a number of bills out of the House last week.
Budget Progress
 

 Last Friday, the Senate passed their version of the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget, also known as the FY21 budget. This is the only measure that the General Assembly is constitutionally required to pass during the session, and it must be passed by June 30, 2020. Without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic has placed major financial strains on the state budget. State leadership has assigned a conference committee to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget. We will know more about budget details in the coming days. Please rest assured that we are doing our best to ensure our state economy remains healthy despite current challenges presented by COVID-19.

Legislative Action

Senate Action
Despite our break, we had no issues resuming business as usual, immediately jumping into our legislative work on various bills still up for consideration. We are pleased to report that a number of House bills passed the Senate last week and await Governor Kemp’s final signature. Our Senate counterparts successfully passed:

  • House Bill 849, which is one of three legislative measures introduced to continue our fight against the vile practice of Human Trafficking. If enacted, this bill would impose a lifetime commercial driver’s license ban in Georgia for those who have been convicted of a human trafficking crime. 
  • House Bill 820 which will establish the Department of Transportation’s Georgia Freight Railroad Program. This bill will work to enhance the state’s investment in our freight rail system.
  • House Bill 888, which addresses “surprised medical billing” also passed. This bill works to protect our Georgia patients from unexpected medical bills if they unknowingly receive treatment by out-of-network doctors in emergency situations.

House Action
Below, we have taken the liberty of highlighting a few of the bills passing our House body. These bills now head to the Governor's desk for his final signature. 

  • House Resolution 1507, which would amend the Rules for the House to allow for official virtual or electronic meetings during emergency circumstances as authorized by the speaker of the House. In these instances, public meetings would be available virtually and electronically;
  • Senate Bill 38, which would create a method for counties to abolish a county police department and transfer the law enforcement functions of that department to the sheriff of the county; if approved, the county police department would be abolished 180 days after a local referendum. This law would be repealed on January 1, 2022;
  • Senate Bill 43, which would revise the definition of “undertaking” regarding revenue bonds by adding electric transmission to the list of undertakings available for the issuance of revenue bonds. These types of undertakings with a net book value of more than $300 million would be available for such revenue bonds without a local referendum;
  • Senate Bill 144, which would allow for a licensed tobacco dealer to apply for a special event tobacco permit for the off-premise sale of cigars, cigarettes or smokeless tobacco at a temporary location offsite from the licensed location for up to 10 days, and such permits would be issued and regulated by the commissioner of the Department of Revenue;
  • Senate Bill 176, which would allow retired members of the Employees’ Retirement System of Georgia (ERS) to return to service, but employers would be required to pay the employee and employer contribution rate. Members would continue to receive their retirement benefit as long as they do not exceed 1,040 hours of paid employment during a calendar year, but they would not earn any additional creditable service;
  • Senate Bill 188, which would authorize the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Insurance to adopt by regulation specific additional requirements relating to or setting forth the valuation of assets or reserve credits, the amount and forms of security supporting reinsurance arrangements and the circumstances in which credit is reduced or eliminated;
  • Senate Bill 295, which would stipulate that the minimum salary schedules for specified constitutional officers would not be increased by state cost-of-living or performance-based raises that went into effect prior to January 1, 2020;
  • Senate Bill 303, which would require each insurer, except health maintenance organizations, to provide the following information to the public through interactive mechanisms on its website: comparisons of payment amounts accepted by in-network providers for health care services; obtain an estimate of the average amount accepted by in-network providers for the health care services; obtain an estimate of the out-of-pocket costs that a person would owe his or her provider for a health care service; and compare quality metrics applicable to in-network providers for major diagnostic categories;
  • Senate Bill 306, which would establish the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact to allow Georgia to facilitate interstate practice of audiology and speech-language pathology;
  • Senate Bill 310, which would authorize the profession and licensure of professional structural engineers to be governed by the Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, and it would prohibit any person other than professional structural engineers to practice or offer structural engineering in the state;
  • Senate Bill 315, which would increase the time requirement for the payment of a lien from 45 to 90 days, but limited waivers and releases of liens would not affect other rights or remedies made by the claimant;
  • Senate Bill 345, which would allow non-profit organizations to prepare and provide food in accordance with Department of Public Health requirements;
  • Senate Bill 346, which would authorize the State Board of Veterinary Medicine to operate a professional health program to provide monitoring and rehabilitation services to impaired veterinarians in the state. The bill would also add and set the terms for a seventh member, who would be a registered veterinary technician, to the board;
  • Senate Bill 362, which would change the allowable fees charged for impounding, service notice, care and feeding, advertising and disposing of impounded animals that have escaped to the actual cost of the related services provided;
  • Senate Bill 372, which would modernize several laws regarding public health, including to allow first responders to purchase Naloxone, add the duty of raising awareness of women's reproductive health issues for the Office of Women's Health and increase the number of years before the records of a deceased citizen are transferred to state archives from 100 to 125 years from the time of birth;
  • Senate Bill 377, which would change the time requirement of elevator inspections from six months to 12 months;
  • Senate Bill 391, which would require health insurers to waive time restrictions for refills of a 30-day supply of certain prescription medications during emergencies;
  • Senate Bill 395, which would allow hospital authorities that have paid off all bonded indebtedness and outstanding short-term and long-term debt obligations, and hold an irrevocable trust wherein the corpus of the trust is $75 million or more, to invest a maximum of 30 percent of their funds into the following: shares of mutual funds registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of the U.S. and commingled funds and collective investment funds maintained by state chartered banks or trust companies;
  • Senate Bill 405, which would allow for juries consisting of six to 12 persons from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021;
  • Senate Bill 408, which would remove the sunset provision on allowing an employee to use sick leave to care for an immediate family member. The bill would also allow the Department of Labor commissioner to set the amount for deductible earnings of $50 to $300, as well as provide the authority and guidelines for the commissioner to adopt emergency rules when the governor declares a statewide emergency. Finally, it would adjust the maximum benefit amount for claims filed after June 14, 2020, dependent on the state’s average unemployment rate. The bill would also give the commissioner the authority to establish a work-sharing program;
  • Senate Bill 430, which would allow home school or private school students to enroll in a college and career academy in the student’s resident school system if space is available; the State Board of Education would oversee this new rule, and the local board of education would earn FTE funds for each student who participates in one or more courses at such college and career academy;
  • Senate Bill 431, which would allow for an on-time graduation rate; the on-time graduation rate would be a parallel graduate rate that only includes the four-year cohort of students that attend a school continuously the previous four years;
  • Senate Bill 443, which would revise the current garnishment statute and provide uniform procedures for garnishment actions, including extending Georgia’s continuing garnishments from six months to three years;
  • Senate Bill 451, which would clarify that the statute of repose for actions to recover damages for deficiencies regarding real estate improvements would not apply to actions for breach of contract, including actions for breach of express contractual warranties.

If you would like to keep up with all happenings under the Gold Dome, you can do so from the comfort of your own home, thanks to modern technology. We live stream all floor sessions as well as Committee meetings each day. Simply visit the Georgia General Assembly website for our daily calendar.

If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at any time. Also, be on the lookout for updates throughout the remainder of the year to keep you informed on what we are doing to ensure simple, smart and effective government within the great state of Georgia. 

Respectfully,
Shaw Blackmon
Representative of Georgia's 146th House District

Contact COVID-19 Hotline
The State of Georgia has a new COVID-19 hotline. If you believe that you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or have been exposed to the novel coronavirus, please contact your primary care doctor or an urgent care clinic. Please do not show up unannounced at an emergency room or health care facility.
Hotline: (844) 442-2681
Representative Shaw Blackmon
District 146

Phone: 404-463-7583
Address: 401-K State Capitol
Atlanta, Georgia 30334