DARREL EALUM: House bills impact rural Georgia

Dear Friends,

Last week was our busiest in the House under the Gold Dome for the 2018 legislative session. We worked long and hard through “Crossover Day,” a critical deadline in the General Assembly, as it is the last day a piece of legislation can pass out of the House and remain eligible for consideration in the Senate. We labored well past midnight, passed more than 50 bills with bipartisan support and wrapped up the day around 1:30 a.m. the following morning. We are now considering bills passed by the Senate.

House Bill 683, our FY 2018 supplemental budget, was revised in the Senate, and we passed the Senate substitute. Noteworthy, we added $220,000 in funds for our Albany Adult Developmental Disabilities Services. These funds would directly assist our Albany Advocacy Resource Center in their dedicated effort to improve the lives of individuals and families affected by disabilities.

Mrs. Johnnie Mae Hammond was present in the gallery on legislative Day 29, and recognizing her from the House floor for her dedication to lupus awareness was very exciting. She is a pillar of our east Albany community and has been a tireless foot soldier for more than 20 years as a member of our Southwest Georgia Lupus Support Group. I also had the honor of recognizing Joseph Weathers and the One Hundred Miles Group, an organization dedicated to protecting our 100 miles of Georgia coastline. They support House Resolution 1041 that urges there be no drilling along our Georgia coast in fear of damaging our fragile beaches, fisheries and tourism.

Our Georgia economy has grown tremendously in recent years, but in Southwest Georgia, we have not experienced the same level of economic success. For that reason, the House created the House Rural Development Council last session, and this session, we have prioritized legislation based on the council’s recommendations. This week, we passed several important measures to benefit our rural communities and help rural Georgia prosper, such as House Bill 951, which passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support.

HB 951 would create the Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation (CRPI) to serve as a central information and research hub for rural leadership training and best practices, including community planning models, industry-specific assistance, and cooperative efforts with nonprofits, religious organizations and higher education partners. The CRPI would be located within a college or institution of the University System of Georgia that awards bachelor of science degrees in rural community development, and the president of the college or institution would appoint a center director to be approved by a majority vote of the Georgia Rural Development Council. The 12-member Georgia Rural Development Council would offer guidance to the CRPI, as well as study the conditions, needs, issues and problems affecting rural economic development, education, unemployment and infrastructure.

The center would assume the business and responsibilities of the Centers of Innovation Agribusiness administered by the Department of Economic Development. The CRPI, the Department of Economic Development, and the Department of Agriculture would collaborate as necessary to achieve the center’s mission and duties. The bill would also designate a deputy commissioner for rural Georgia under the Department of Economic Development. This center would serve as a rural think tank, and with help from the deputy commissioner for rural Georgia, the CRPI would bring valuable resources together to develop meaningful solutions to our challenges in rural Georgia.

We also passed another bipartisan, rural-friendly bill that implements several recommendations from the House Rural Development Council. House Bill 887 seeks to expand broadband and other communications services throughout the state by establishing the Georgia Communications Services Tax Act. HB 887 would allow municipal corporations and electrical membership corporations to provide broadband service in underserved areas within its corporate limits. The bill would also establish the Local Government Communication Services Fair Competition Act of 2018 to encompass all communication services, not just cable service. This act would require franchising authorities to meet several requirements prior to allowing public providers to deliver communications services, thus ensuring fairness, transparency and accountability amongst communications services providers.

Additionally, HB 887 would allow communities to apply to be certified as broadband-ready through the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency. In an effort to provide broadband infrastructure expenditure assistance that enables coverage throughout the entire state, HB 887 would also require GEMA’s director to develop a grant program that would award projects to qualified broadband providers that request the least amount of money to expand in underserved areas. Furthermore, this measure would authorize GEMA to create a broadband availability map of the state showing unserved areas and publish the map on GEMA’s website. Rural Georgia depends on broadband access to thrive, and this measure aims to increase access to this critical utility to all corners of the state.

Until next week, stay in touch, and do not hesitate to write or call if I may be of help.

Darrel

Representative Darrel Ealum represents the citizens of District 153, which includes portions of Dougherty County. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2014 and currently serves on the Banks and Banking, Defense & Veterans Affairs, Human Relations & Aging, and State Properties committees. He also is a member of the Military Affairs working group.