CARDEN SUMMERS: Senate finishes busy week in waning days of legislative session

After a three-month suspension of the legislative session, the Georgia General Assembly has officially reconvened under the Gold Dome. While the environment in which we meet has been altered to ensure social distancing as well as increased sanitation, rest assured that your elected officials are hard at work, passing important bills as well as a balanced budget.

As state legislators, we have a constitutional duty of passing a balanced budget. A budget bill passed Friday in the Senate and will now be sent over to the House for consideration. Time is ticking as we must pass this budget by June 30. While this budget looks significantly different from the one we originally intended due to COVID-19’s impact on the economy.

If you ever have any questions, comments or concerns about anything happening in district 13 or at the Capitol, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office. My door and phone lines are always open.”

Some of the legislation under consideration includes:

♦ House Resolution 1023, carried by Sen. John F. Kennedy (R – Macon), would propose a constitutional amendment that, if passed, would allow citizens to sue the state in the event the state or local government acts in a way that is inconsistent with our laws and constitution. HR 1023 passed with a vote of 50 to 0.

♦ House Bill 752, carried by Sen. Bruce Thompson (R – White), would revise the “Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Act,” as it relates to fingerprint background checks. Under HB 752, the State Board of Physical Therapy and State Board of Examiners of Psychologists will be given the authority to conduct national background checks through the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Georgia Crime Information Center fingerprint submissions, and satisfactory fingerprint record checks will be required for the licensure of physical therapists and assistants. HB 752 passed with a vote of 52 to 0.

♦ House Bill 777, carried by Sen. John Wilkinson (R – Toccoa), would require the Department of Community Affairs to review the 2021 edition of the International Building Code through a time period spanning from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2021. The purpose of this review will be to understand if the Georgia state minimum standard code should be amended. HB 777 passed with a vote of 50 to 0.

♦ Sen. Renee Unterman (R – Buford) carried House Bill 341, which would add memory cards, flash drives, hard drives, and data storage devices to the list of devices that may not be transferred without the owner’s consent. HB 341 passed with a vote of 54 to 0.

♦ House Bill 808, carried by Sen. Tyler Harper (R – Ocilla), would extend the period in which a loaner vehicle may be exempt from an ad valorem tax from 30 days within a 366 day period to 45 days within a 366 day period. HB 808 passed with a vote of 54 to 0.

♦ Sen. Harold Jones (D — Augusta) carried House Bill 969, which would make numerous updates to the procedures to fair housing practices. HB 969 passed with a vote of 52 to 0.

♦ Sen. Burt Jones (R – Jackson) carried House Bill 983, which would make numerous revisions to Georgia’s Sexual Offender Registry including: adjusting the registration requirements for offenders who reside in privately operated hospice facilities and requiring offenders to provide landline and mobile phone numbers. HB 983 passed with a vote of 50 to 0.

♦ House Resolution 326, carried by Sen. Tyler Harper (R – Ocilla), would dedicate a newly constructed Georgia Department of Transportation district office building in Tift County in honor of Roger C. Dill. Mr. Dill had worked for the Georgia Department of Transportation for 23 years. HR 326 passed with a vote of 52 to 0.

♦ House Bill 578, carried by Sen. Ben Watson (R – Savannah), would allow the Department of Human Services to receive conviction data on volunteers, students and interns who would be directly involved in the care, treatment, custodial responsibilities or for administrative support functions. HB 578 passed with a vote of 53 to 0.

♦ House Bill 966, carried by Sen. Tyler Harper (R – Ocilla), would establish regulations on the harvest and sale of saw palmetto berries and would establish penalties for violations. HB 966 passed with a vote of 49 to 4.

♦ Sen. Brian Strickland (R – McDonough) carried House Bill 987, which would amend the “Disabled Adults and Elder Persons Protection Act” in order to enhance protections for elderly persons who reside in care homes or assisted living communities. Additionally, HB 987 would revise the structure and name of the State Board of Nursing Home Administrators. HB 987 passed with a vote of 53 to 0.

♦ House Bill 245, carried by Sen. Gail Davenport (D – Jonesboro), would allow the spouse of a surviving Peace Officers’ Annuity Fund member to continue receiving benefits after remarriage. HB 245 passed with a vote of 49 to 0.

♦ Sen. Tyler Harper (R – Ocilla) carried House Bill 861, which would redefine the term “commercial motor vehicle” in Georgia Code to clarify that such vehicles may be used for interstate or intrastate commerce, or both. HB 861 also includes language adopting federal regulations on commercial motor vehicles. HB 861 passed with a vote of 47 to 0.

♦ House Bill 932, carried by Sen. Frank Ginn (R – Danielsville) would authorize doctors of podiatric medicine to organize a professional corporation and require that applicants for licensure pass the fingerprint background check conducted by the Georgia Crime Information Center and Federal Bureau Investigation. HB 932 padded with a vote of 46 to 1.

♦ Senator P.K. Martin (R – Lawrenceville) carried House Bill 957, which would authorize certain charter schools employees to be included in the health insurance fund for public school teachers, as well as provide that records created, received or maintained by a state charter school are property of such school. HB 957 passed with a vote of 47 to 0.

♦ House Bill 991, carried by Sen. Ben Watson (R – Savannah), would create the Healthcare Transparency and Accountability Commission, which will have the authority to review state health care plans and their contractors. HB 991l also establishes membership and reporting requirements for the Commission, and would authorize the Commissioner of the Department of Insurance to levy fees for violations under this bill. HB 991 passed with a vote of 48 to 0.

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