Legislative Report

                                              Week Six

On Tuesday, February 17, we began the sixth week of the 2015 legislative session.  Although a winter storm caused school closures for many students in the northern part of our state, here in Atlanta, we were able to continue session as scheduled. By the end of the week, we completed legislative day 19 of the session, meaning that we are just about halfway finished. With the 2015 legislative session heating up, an increasing number of bills were passed out of committees and voted upon by the full body of the House.

This week, we saw the first bill make its way through the General Assembly as we sent vital, job-creating legislation to Governor Deal for his signature. Senate Bill 5, which passed both the House and Senate by unanimous vote, will enable the Georgia Ports Authority to accept federal dollars for the Savannah Harbor deepening project. The project, which began last month, will deepen the Savannah River from 42 feet to 47 feet, allowing the port to accommodate larger container ships. The state of Georgia has thus far designated $266 million towards the project, and President Obama recently requested the appropriation of $42 million in federal funds from Congress. Thanks to the combination of state and federal funding, the project is currently scheduled to be finished by 2020. The Savannah Harbor has the potential to become one of the busiest ports in the world through the completion of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project and will be a key economic driver in this state. I am proud to see this legislation move forward so quickly, proving that this is a major priority. I am confident that this project will have a profound impact on every county across Georgia and will bring hundreds of jobs to our great state.

My colleagues and I in the House passed yet another important measure related to our state’s education system this week. House Bill 100 is designed to better ensure that children are developmentally prepared to begin school. This statute requires that a child be 5 years old by August 1 in order to be eligible to enroll in kindergarten. This bill changes the current cutoff date from September 1 and would go into effect for the 2017-2018 school year and July 1 for the 2018-2019 school year and all years thereafter. Many schools across our state begin their school year the first week in August, which, under current law, means that children who are only 4 years old can enroll and begin kindergarten. Some educators have expressed concern that younger students are sometimes not truly developmentally prepared or mature enough to begin kindergarten and can hinder progress of other, older students if they have never been in a classroom environment. Since school systems go back to school earlier now than in years past, HB 100 simply aligns the age requirement date with the start date of the new school year. This legislation will provide children with a better opportunity for success throughout their educational careers by ensuring that they are well prepared and mature enough to begin that journey.

We also took time this week to focus on another very important topic to protect Georgia’s teens and young adults. House Bill 198, which was passed unanimously in the House, protects Georgia’s young people by increasing suicide awareness and prevention in Georgia schools. HB 198 aims to lower the rate of suicide among teens by requiring annual suicide prevention training for certified public school system personnel in order for them to better identify symptoms of suicide. The training would teach staff when to refer students to mental health services and how to identify those resources within their schools and communities, and the implementation of this program would be free for school systems. Suicide is a very real problem among young people, and is the third leading cause of death for youth ages 10 to 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This bill addresses a very severe issue that affects a growing number of teens and young adults, and I hope that through this legislation, Georgia school employees will be better equipped to handle these unfortunate situations.

In addition to passing legislation to protect our youth, we also passed legislation to help protect our law enforcement officers. House Bill 119 authorizes probate judges to disclose to peace officers if a patient who is being held in their custody and is legally determined to be mentally ill has AIDS. By allowing judges to provide our law enforcement officers with this important information, our men and women in uniform can take appropriate health safety precautions when faced with these scenarios. Our law enforcement officers already make so many sacrifices to keep us safe, and I believe it is important that we arm them with the necessary information to protect their wellbeing while on the job.

If you have questions or concerns about these bills or any other pieces of legislation, I hope that you will contact me.  I am your state representative, and my job is to represent your thoughts and opinions in Atlanta.  Please stop by and visit if you are in Atlanta during the legislative session, or call my office at the State Capitol and let me know what I can do for you and your family. The phone number is 404-656-0325 and my email is Eddie.Lumsden@house.ga.gov . Thank you for the privilege of service.

 

Eddie Lumsden