Republican State Representative Eddie Lumsden qualified for reelection in Atlanta on Monday.  Rep. Lumsden has served as state representative, representing all of Chattooga County and about one-third of Floyd County, in the Georgia House since 2012 when he defeated seven-term Democrat Barbara Massey Reece of Menlo.

Lumsden, a former state trooper and Floyd County Commissioner, did not carry Chattooga County in 2012, but mustered enough votes in Floyd County to win the seat.

Lumsden is an active member of the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce, Past President of the Armuchee Ruritan Club, a member of the American Legion Post #5 and an Affiliate Member of the Rome Board of Realtors. He was appointed by Governor Perdue to the State Consumer Advisory Board and has served in that role for the past six years.

He is a Deacon, Decision Counselor and Worship Leader at West Rome Baptist Church where he has been a member for 28 years.

Here is Rep. Lumsden’s weekly legislative report and a bill summary from this legislative session:

 

Legislative Update Week Eight

 

The Georgia House of Representatives reconvened for another impactful week of legislating on Monday, February 28. The House had a full schedule all week, and we are counting down the days until Crossover Day, which is the last legislative day that a bill can pass out of one chamber and still be eligible for consideration this year. As such, we worked diligently to pass dozens of bills on the House floor in preparation for this critical deadline.

On Legislative Day 22, my colleagues and I passed historic tax relief legislation that would help millions of hardworking Georgians in our state. Our state’s economy has bounced backed exponentially over the last year, resulting in an unprecedented budget surplus of $1.6 billion in undesignated funds. To that end, House Bill 1302 would fulfil the governor’s plan to give these funds back to Georgia taxpayers. This legislation would provide a one-time tax credit for eligible Georgia taxpayers who filed income tax returns in both 2020 and 2021. Based on their 2020 tax filer status, single tax filers would receive a $250 refund, head-of-household filers would receive $375, and those who file jointly would receive a $500 refund. These refunds would not be available for non-residents, individuals who were claimed as a dependent for the 2020 or 2021 tax years, estates nor trusts. If HB 1302 is signed into law, the refund would be automatically credited once a taxpayer files an income tax return for 2021, but these refunds would first be credited against a filer’s outstanding income tax liability prior to being issued to the taxpayer. Furthermore, this tax refund would not be taxable under Georgia law, and taxpayers would not accrue interest on the rebate. Throughout the pandemic, our state has strived to keep businesses open, and our economy certainly stands stronger and more stable as a result. Now, with this legislation, Georgians could reap the benefits of the state’s economic stewardship.

The House unanimously passed another bill to keep more hard earned dollars in the pockets of Georgians and reinforce our standing as a military-friendly state. House Bill 1064 would exempt up to $17,500 in military retirement income from state income taxes for retired service members under 62 years old. If a military retiree continues to work and earns at least $17,500, the retiree would be eligible for an additional exemption up to $17,500 in state income taxes for a total exemption of $35,000. If HB 1064 is passed and signed into law, it would become effective on July 1, 2022, and subsequently applicable to all taxable years starting January 1, 2022. Currently, Georgia’s neighboring states have incentives in place to entice military retirees, and through this legislation, we hope to attract more military retirees to Georgia to put their skills to work in our state. We are honored that so many U.S. military retirees have already chosen to call Georgia home, and this legislation would greatly benefit these individuals, especially as the cost of living and inflation has increased recently.

In an effort to curb vaping inside public spaces, my colleagues and I passed House Bill 1348, which would add vaping to the Georgia Smoke-free Air Act and align our vaping laws with our cigarette smoking laws. Like smoking, vaping would be prohibited inside most public areas, such as restaurants and government buildings, under this bill. Additionally, businesses would be able to designate enclosed areas for vaping that would be separate from non-vaping areas, and individuals who vape in prohibited public spaces would face a $100 to $500 fine. In 2018, the Georgia Department of Public Health released a report that highlighted just how much e-cigarettes have become a major public health concern for our youth, especially among high school students. The Georgia General Assembly has passed critical legislation since then to help regulate the sale and purchasing of these products, but our laws to prohibit vaping indoors have not yet been updated to address the growing use of e-cigarettes. As such, HB 1348 would ensure that we treat vaping the same as smoking in most public spaces to further deter the use of these hazardous products.

Last year, the House Study Committee on Childhood Lead Exposure met extensively to examine how our current laws could be updated to promote early detection and treatment of lead exposure in children. This study committee’s final report recommended that our state laws be updated to align with the most recent standards of both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This week, House Bill 1355 was passed on the House floor to update several provisions regarding lead poisoning testing and remediation based on the study committee’s recommendations. First, HB 1355 would reduce the required blood level of lead that would prompt public health action from 20 to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter, which could be detected through a single venous blood test or two capillary blood tests taken within 12 weeks of each other. This bill would also update our public health department’s lead hazard abatement protocols to specifically address the removal and disposal of lead-based paint and disposal activities, such as the removal of lead-based paint from exterior surfaces, fixtures and soil. This study committee developed several other legislative recommendations to mitigate any childhood lead exposure, and HB 1355 would take the necessary first steps to ensure Georgia’s lead exposure laws are based on nationally recognized guidelines to protect Georgia children.

 

Additionally, my colleagues and I passed two bills this week that would encourage hands-on agricultural experiences for Georgia students. First, House Bill 1303 would authorize the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) to implement agricultural education programs in all public elementary schools. This bill would also require schools to hire an agricultural education teacher for these programs, and the GaDOE would evaluate the success of the program at the end of this year. A few years ago, the Georgia General Assembly passed legislation that created a pilot program for agricultural education, and HB 1303 would make this pilot program permanent and allow all of our public schools to take part in this program. We also passed House Bill 1292 to ensure that students would not be counted as absent from school when they participate in our state’s invaluable 4-H activities and programs. Under HB 1292, a school could request documentation from a 4-H representative if a student was absent due to involvement in 4-H. Both of these bills seek to educate and expose more Georgia students to our state’s agriculture industry and hopefully, encourage more students to explore one of the many careers in agriculture someday.

In other news, we were joined by Kirby Smart, head football coach for the University of Georgia Bulldogs, in the House Chamber on Tuesday. It was an exciting moment as Coach Smart was the first special guest invited to join us on the House floor since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. The House was proud to recognize Coach Smart for leading the Dawgs to their 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship victory, and we wish his team the best of luck as they defend their national championship title next season.

It is hard to believe that we are now in the final month of the 2022 legislative session. While I am legislating on behalf of our community over this next month, I hope you reach out to me with any questions or concerns you have about the legislative process or bills that may be pending. My Capitol office number is 404-656-7850, and my email is Eddie.Lumsden@house.ga.gov.

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

 

Eddie Lumsden

 

During week eight of session, the following House bills and Senate bills were also passed and are now under consideration in the Senate:

• House Bill 1, or the Forming Open and Robust University Minds Act, which would establish that unrestricted outdoor areas of University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia campuses are public forums for their campus communities, and this bill would prohibit these institutions from restricting expressive activities in those areas or designating any campus areas as a “free speech zone;”
• House Bill 389, which would codify existing case law to determine whether work classifies a person as an employee or an independent contractor, and this bill would create an enforcement mechanism by adding a civil penalty paid to the Georgia Department of Labor if an employer misclassifies its employees;
• House Bill 508, which would make it unlawful for a person to advertise or conduct a performance or production in Georgia by using any false, deceptive or misleading affiliation, connection or association without authorization; this bill would also create the Georgia True Origin of Digital Goods Act to require websites that distribute commercial recordings or audiovisuals to consumers to clearly disclose its physical address, telephone number and email address on such website or online service;
• House Bill 916, or the Superior and State Court Appellate Practice Act, which would modernize and simplify the manner of appealing from lower courts to state courts to ensure that appeal decisions are based on merits and not dismissed on complex procedural grounds;
• House Bill 960, which would establish the Office of the Inspector General to investigate the management and operation of state agencies, including complaints alleging fraud, waste or corruption committed against or within an agency;
• House Bill 961, which would authorize the apportionment of damages based on who was at fault in single-defendant lawsuits rather than solely in multi-defendant lawsuits;
• House Bill 974, which would require recorded instruments, such as deeds, mortgages, liens, maps/plats and state tax executions, to be filed electronically or delivered in person to superior court clerks, and this bill includes certain instructions for these filings;
• House Bill 1009, which would provide definitions and operation guidelines for personal delivery devices, such as driverless vehicles, and would prohibit local authorities from enacting ordinances regarding personal delivery devices under specific conditions;
• House Bill 1056, which would allow the Georgia Firefighters’ Pension Fund to invest up to 15 percent of the fund’s total assets in alternative investments;
• House Bill 1058, which would eliminate the requirement that affiliated corporations have prior approval from or have been requested to file a consolidated income tax return by the Georgia Department of Revenue, and instead, allow affiliated corporations to file these returns without the request or approval of the department;
• House Bill 1084, or the Protect Students First Act, which would prevent the use of and reliance on curricula or training programs in state public schools that espouse “divisive concepts” that are specifically included in this bill, and the bill would require each local board of education to adopt a complaint resolution policy to address complaints or violations of this new policy, as well as establish an appeal process for violations through the State Board of Education;
• House Bill 1150, or the Freedom to Farm Act, which would update Georgia laws in order to prevent a nuisance lawsuit from being brought against a farming operation that has been active for more than one year, address concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) requirements and clarify that the provisions of the proposed law do not apply if a nuisance is caused by negligence or illegal operations;
• House Bill 1175, which would authorize and establish regulations and standards regarding the safety, transportation and sale of raw milk in Georgia and would give the Department of Agriculture permitting and enforcement authority;
• House Bill 1178, or the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which would codify a parent’s fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their minor children, create certain standards to prevent schools from infringing upon these fundamental rights, as well as require the school board or its governing body to consult with parents, teachers and administrators to develop and adopt policies that promote parental involvement in public schools;
• House Bill 1182, which would provide that specified provisions in Georgia law do not apply to the county sale of property that contains any portion of a manmade lake;
• House Bill 1183, which would clean up existing Georgia law and revise the timeline for bond remissions in criminal cases by providing more time for the court to bring in defendants;
• House Bill 1188, which would revise the crimes of “child molestation” and “sexual exploitation of children” to specify that each individual violation of the crimes can be charged as its own count;
• House Bill 1216, which would enhance the penalties for fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer;
• House Bill 1219, which would increase the number of members on the Georgia Board of Dentistry to include more dentists, dental hygienists, as well as a dental education expert;
• House Bill 1271, which would prohibit a property owner’s association from enacting covenants after July 1, 2022, that forbid a lot owner from displaying an official U.S. flag in certain ways;
• House Bill 1274, which would define “antisemitism” in Georgia’s laws as the harassment of a person of actual or perceived Jewish origin, ancestry, ethnicity or faith;
• House Bill 1288, which would provide for the assignment of certain group-term life insurance benefits to pay for funeral services of a deceased individual who was a member of the Employees’ Retirement System of Georgia, the Georgia Legislative Retirement System or the Georgia Judicial Retirement System;
• House Bill 1294, which would require landowners to send notice within three days to all responsible parties if a local government agent determines that an abandoned mobile home is derelict;
• House Bill 1308, which would allow for a sponsor of a health benefit plan to consent on behalf of an enrollee to the electronic delivery of all communications and identification cards for the plan, and enrollees would be able to opt out of electronic communications;
• House Bill 1324, which would require insurers to provide coverage for emergency physical or mental health care regardless of the diagnosis given;

 

• House Bill 1346, which would allow a clerk of superior courts, who would otherwise be prohibited from practicing law in his/her name, to serve as a judge advocate or any other role in an active duty or reserve component of the armed forces;
• House Bill 1349, which would change the qualifying date from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2022, for land the Georgia Department of Natural Resources withholds from actions that result in the loss of state-owned acreage available for hunting;
• House Bill 1352, which would provide certain protocols for the Georgia Department of Revenue when it handles unclaimed property, including processing unclaimed property claims and retaining wills or trusts;
• House Bill 1377, which would authorize a civil cause of action for injunctive relief without having to show special or irreparable damage in the event that a non-government employer fails to properly deduct and withhold from wages as required by Georgia income tax law, and this bill clarifies that the court would award costs and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, to the prevailing party;
• Senate Bill 472, which would updated the election districts for members of the Georgia Public Service Commission.