Rep Eddie Lumsden gives the week eight update from the Georgia Capitol as this years legislative session continues. This week the House of Representatives focused on preparing for “Crossover Day’, which is the last new any new legislation can be passed in the House for this year. They also passed House Bill 81, the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY 2022) budget. This comprehensive budget covers July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022, and is set at $27.2 billion, which is an increase of $1.34 billion or 5.2 percent over the current fiscal year budget. Nearly 90 percent of this new funding in the FY 2022 budget would go towards education and health and human services agencies.   House Bill 593, or the Tax Relief Act of 2021, also passed the House of Representatives this week, which seeks to cut income taxes during the tax year 2022 by increasing the standard deduction for taxpayers that are single and heads of household from $4,600 to $5,400 and increasing the standard deduction for a married couple filing jointly. House Bill 44 will see Georgia swap to Daylight Savings Time permanetly if the U.S. Congress approves it. You can read Rep. Lumsdens full update below.

Legislative Update

Week Eight

 

The Georgia House of Representatives reconvened under the Gold Dome on Monday, March 1 for the eighth week of the 2021 legislative session. In preparation for “Crossover Day” coming up on March 8, the House designated two days this week as official committee workdays, and we spent three long days in session as we passed meaningful legislation, including the state budget for the next fiscal year. We recently learned that our final day of session, or “Sine Die,” will be on Wednesday, March 31, and, as such, this final month of the legislative session will be our busiest and most crucial time at the State Capitol.

Fiscal Year 2021 Budget

With our priorities set on keeping Georgians safe and healthy, we passed House Bill 81, the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY 2022) budget. This comprehensive budget covers July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022, and is set at $27.2 billion, which is an increase of $1.34 billion or 5.2 percent over the current fiscal year budget. Nearly 90 percent of this new funding in the FY 2022 budget would go towards education and health and human services agencies. Education is the largest single expenditure in the state’s budget, totaling $10.2 billion, and we were excited to restore 60 percent, or $567 million, of the reductions made to K-12 education funding formulas in the Fiscal Year 2021 budget.

Additionally, the House’s version of the budget infused funds for expanded mental health core and crisis intervention services, rate increases for health and human service providers, access to health care and salary increases for critical positions. Specifically, HB 81 adds more than $58.5 million for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, including $2.7 million to provide addictive disease services to an additional 2,100 people; $6.5 million to provide mental health services to an additional 5,200 people; $12.3 million for a rate increase for intellectual and developmental disability providers; $7 million for a first-in-the-nation behavioral health crisis center for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities; $2 million to expand the Georgia Apex Program in 59 additional schools as well as additional funding for suicide prevention training in schools as well as a youth suicide prevention specialist; as well as additional funding for the 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, suicide prevention services and one suicide epidemiologist. This budget also recognizes $39.5 million for the new Rural Innovation Fund and $10 million to establish a broadband infrastructure grant program for rural communities. Due to a new excise tax for the ride-share industry, HB 81 also recognizes $7.63 million in new revenue for transit projects across the state. After HB 81 was passed on Friday, it was immediately sent to our counterparts in the Senate, who will begin reviewing and making their own changes before the FY 2022 budget is finalized.

Tax Cuts & New Jobs for Georgians

The House passed a handful of bills this week to cut taxes and spur economic recovery for businesses and create new jobs across our state. We unanimously passed House Bill 593, or the Tax Relief Act of 2021, to cut income taxes during the tax year 2022 by increasing the standard deduction for taxpayers that are single and heads of household from $4,600 to $5,400 and increasing the standard deduction for a married couple filing jointly from $6,000 to $7,100. The standard deduction for those who are married but file individually would increase from $3,000 to $3,550. HB 593 would save Georgia taxpayers approximately $140 million in this time of need and allow taxpayers to keep more of their hard-earned money. Further, we overwhelmingly passed House Bill 586, the “Georgia Economic Recovery Act of 2021,” to extend a number of sales tax exemptions for manufacturing and other businesses. HB 586 includes the extensions of sales tax exemptions for projects of regional significance and for supplies in select manufacturing industries. It also exempts tickets for fine arts performances from sales taxes to bolster an industry that has been devastated by COVID-19. House Bill 587, or the “Georgia Economic Renewal Act of 2021,” also passed overwhelmingly in the House to attract certain businesses to our state. This bill would make multiple amendments to Georgia’s income tax laws, including a tax credit to incentivize manufacturers of medical equipment to locate and create jobs in Georgia and an additional tax credit to attract high-impact aerospace defense projects to our state. Next, we adopted House Resolution 185 to reauthorize the House Rural Development Council, which is charged with finding ways to spur economic growth and bring jobs specifically to rural Georgia, for the remainder of the 2021-2022 legislative session. To further assist rural Georgia communities, we passed House Bill 32, which would seek to recruit and retain 1,000 Georgia teachers to 100 extremely rural or low-performing schools by offering a refundable income tax credit of $3,000 for certified teachers for up to five years. HB 32 would be available to teachers who work in a high-need subject area at a rural school or at a school that performed in the lowest five percent of schools. With these legislative measures, Georgia could continue to lead the way in economic recovery efforts with policies that bolster job creation, while also lowering taxes for residents and businesses across the state.

Monitoring Devices in Nursing Homes

            On Friday, we approved House Bill 605 to protect vulnerable Georgians by allowing electronic monitoring devices, such security cameras, to be installed in residential rooms of skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care homes, assisted living communities or personal care homes. If a resident in one of these facilities has a roommate, this bill would require consent from the roommate to install a monitoring device, and if the roommate refuses to consent, then the facility would be required to relocate the resident when able to a comparable room. This legislation would also allow residents to arrange for internet access through an outside service provider for these monitoring devices or obtain written approval from the facility to use its local network. These facilities would also be required to post signage at the entrance of a resident’s room to notify that the room has an electronic monitoring device in place. HB 605 would protect a resident’s privacy and rights to keep recordings confidential, and it would prohibit a facility from discriminating against residents who wish to utilize these devices. This bill would address cases of elder abuse and give family members who have loved ones in these facilities some peace of mind that their loved ones are given the best care, especially since many families have been separated due to COVID-19.

Toxic Coal Ash Ponds

The House also passed legislation to oversee the handling of toxic coal ash disposal in Georgia. House Bill 647 would require companies that manage coal combustion residual (CCR) surface impoundments, also known as toxic coal ash ponds, to conduct post-closure care at the site for at least 50 years after it is closed. Under HB 647, post-closure care would include maintaining the final cover system and ground-water monitoring system and monitoring of ground water. The Environmental Protection Division would inspect these toxic coal ash ponds annually during the closure process and at least once every five years following the closure, and any groundwater monitoring report would be required to contain a detailed executive summary that is easy for the public to understand. HB 647 would provide critical accountability to mitigate and prevent future neglect of coal ash waste disposal, which has been found to impact the health of Georgia citizens.

The House also passed the following bills and resolutions on the House floor this week:

• House Bill 44, which would allow Georgia to observe daylight savings time year-round if it is first authorized by the U.S. Congress;
• House Bill 92, which would lower the amount of time that vital records must be kept by the state registrar before they are transferred to the State Archives;
• House Bill 94, which would designate a new felony crime when a person possesses stolen mail addressed to three or more different addresses and possesses a minimum of 10 separate pieces of stolen mail; the bill would also designate a new felony crime for “porch piracy” when a person takes or removes any envelope, bag, package or other sealed item of another person from that person’s porch, steps or entranceway without that person’s permission;
• House Bill 124, which would allow crematories to use aquamation by creating a new definition for “cremation device” and expand the current references to a “retort” to also include vats and containers in which cremation occurs by traditional flame, alkaline hydrolysis or other approved means;
• House Bill 244, which would add flood risk reduction to the list of services provided by counties to inhabitants of unincorporated areas;
• House Bill 248, which would allow the local governing body of the city or county whose law enforcement agency is authorized to enforce speed limits to apply for school zone speed enforcement camera permits rather than have each school apply;
• House Bill 302, which would require that the proceeds from regulatory fees be used to fund such regulatory activity, eliminating regulatory fee calculation methods specific to the construction industry, and removing taxicab and limousine operators, boxing promoters, shooting galleries and firearm ranges, and firearm dealers from the list of examples of businesses or practitioners of professions or occupations which may be subject to regulatory fees of local governments;
• House Bill 303, which would provide active-duty military service members with private motor vehicle insurance a reduction in the premium for motor vehicle liability, first-party medical and collision coverage for each named driver listed on the policy application;
• House Bill 316, which would increase the pharmacist to pharmacy technician ratio from three to four for pharmacists directly supervising technicians;

 

• House Bill 322, which would remove references to prostitution from the definition of “sexual exploitation” in Georgia law regarding the juvenile code, child abuse reporting requirements and child abuse records;

 

• House Bill 328, which would establish a one-time right-of-way permit fee, reduce the annual right-of-way fee that is paid to cities by telephone companies that do not have retail and would end user customers located within the city limits;

 

• House Bill 333, the “Ethics in Government Act of 2021,” which would make several changes regarding the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission’s operations and authority, as well as update requirements for utilizing campaign funds;

 

• House Bill 334, which would authorize remote online notaries and remote online notarizations;
• House Bill 355, which would require the director of the Georgia Forestry Commission to establish the Sustainable Building Material Technical Advisory Committee;

 

• House Bill 363, which would remove various subsections of Georgia’s code to escalate punishment for elder abuse crimes due to “rule of lenity” concerns with existing law; these changes would allow courts to sentence defendants more appropriately for elder abuse crimes;

 

• House Bill 364, which would allow Georgia law enforcement officers, who are certified by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, to be exempted from certain requirements when applying for private detective and security licenses;

 

• House Bill 369, which would expand the eligibility as to who can issue an affidavit to authorize a motor vehicle disability parking permit by including advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants;

 

• House Bill 371, which would allow judges to conduct hearings in civil cases via telephone or video conference, excluding criminal trials;

 

• House Bill 392, which would make new alcoholic beverage licensees for off-premises consumption subject to its local jurisdiction’s distance requirements from school and educational buildings;
• House Bill 410, which would transfer the regulation of bingo to the authority of the Secretary of State from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation;
• House Bill 443, which would create the “Georgia Structured Settlement Protection Act” to provide new requirements regarding the transfer of structured settlement payment rights;
• House Bill 450, which would authorize the Georgia Department of Public Health to release de-identified data related to the Low THC Oil Patient Registry to government entities and others for various purposes after removing any information that could be used to identify prescribers;
• House Bill 451, which would allow a taxpayer that claimed the finished goods inventory exemption for the 2020 tax year to have the option for the 2021 tax year to claim the exemption using the fair market value of finished goods as of January 1, 2020 or January 1, 2021;
• House Bill 453, which would allow current and retired firefighters to utilize a firefighter special license plate on a vehicle used for transportation purposes unrelated to their role as a firefighter;
• House Bill 459, which would prohibit certain municipalities from annexing any territory that includes a county-operated airport unless the county government adopts a resolution approving such annexation;
• House Bill 466, which would lower the required course hours from 20 to 16 for intervention programs regarding alcohol or drug use while driving and allow for the courses to be conducted in-person, online or via remote participation platforms;
• House Bill 470, which would exempt condominium units, where the boundaries of the unit are not designated by walls, floors, ceilings, or other physical structures, from the requirement of submitting plans for each individual unit as long as the boundaries of the unit are depicted on a plat of survey;
• House Bill 476, which would create the “Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Act of 2021” to rename the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors to the Georgia Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Board; and the bill would update education requirements for engineers, structural engineers and land surveyors;
• House Bill 477, which would extend the sunset date from December 31, 2021, to December 31, 2026 for the qualified donation of real property;
• House Bill 480, which would establish liens for labor, services or materials performed or furnished by registered interior decorators;
• House Bill 497, which would clean-up, modernize and revise errors in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated;
• House Bill 511, which would dedicate specific fees by general law for 10 years and create the framework to segregate the collections for each fee dedicated in this manner as a unique trust fund earning interest within the Office of the Treasurer;

 

• House Bill 531, which would make several changes to Georgia’s voting laws, such as requiring a photo ID, driver’s license number or state ID card number to request and submit an absentee ballot; requiring that drop boxes be placed inside early voting locations and are actively monitored and only accessible during voting hours; banning mobile polling locations, out-of-precinct voting, private funding for elections, and securing precinct locations; and requiring shorter timelines for processing absentee ballots and certifying results;
• House Bill 539, which would revise Georgia law regarding institutional licenses in the “Medical Practice Act of the State of Georgia” by adding hospitals licensed by the Georgia Department of Community Health, medical schools approved by the Georgia Composite Medical Board, teaching hospitals and clinics that service predominantly Medicaid, indigent and underserved populations;
• House Bill 548, which would provide access to records of child abuse reports for the Administrative Office of the Courts for the purpose of providing more information in cases involving children who have been the subject of dependency actions and actions to terminate parental rights;
• House Bill 553, which would amend the “Georgia Administrative Procedure Act” to allow for administrative law hearings, which were previously permitted to be conducted by telephonic communication, to be conducted using broader electronic communication means;
• House Bill 554, which would require that no action involving an interest in real property shall operate as a pending legal action until the official, public notice that a property has a pending lawsuit or claim attached to it is issued by a court, and a superior court must keep a docket of all official pending legal actions filed with them;
• House Bill 574, which would create the Companion Local Government Animal Trust Fund and dedicate no more than $50,000 of collected pet dealer, kennel, stable, and animal shelter fees to the fund, provided the fund’s total does not exceed $200,000;
• House Bill 577, which would be the Georgia Department of Transportation’s annual “housekeeping” bill related to capital construction or capital maintenance, airport licensing and speed limits;
• House Bill 588, which would update Georgia’s code section on projects completed as a public private partnership by defining public benefit and a P3 project, requiring GDOT staff to report potential undertakings regarding public private partnerships and dedicating the collection of sales and use tax on fuel used exclusively for the operation of locomotives to GDOT for use exclusively on freight and logistics projects;
• House Bill 591, which would authorize licensed marriage and family therapists to admit individuals for involuntary evaluation of mental or substance use disorders;
• House Bill 601, which would exempt products that are approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration from definitions in state law;
• House Bill 606, which would include the Georgia Independent School Association in the list of accepted accrediting agencies in order to establish HOPE eligibility for private high schools;
• House Bill 620, which would make changes to the maximum value regarding settlements for claims of minors;
• House Bill 635, which would allow superior, state, probate and magistrate court judges to perform any lawful, judicial act from any location, not just Georgia;
• House Bill 645, which would expand the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission’s responsibilities and requirements for reporting, allow local jurisdictions to use their zoning powers for additional dispensaries, as well as allow certain universities and colleges to engage in THC oil research;
• House Resolution 130, which would approve the transfer of Forsyth County from the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission to the Atlanta Regional Commission.

 

On Monday, March 8, we will make our way back to the Capitol for Crossover Day, which is typically one of the longest days of the legislative session and the final day that a bill can pass the chamber in which it originated. After Crossover Day, we will shift our focus and consider Senate bills that have already received passage in the Senate. I encourage you to reach out with any questions or concerns you may have for me. You can contact my Capitol office at 404-656-7850, or you may reach me directly at Eddie.Lumsden@house.ga.gov.

As always, thank you for allowing me to serve as your state representative for House District 12.

 

Eddie Lumsden