State Senator Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) released his final report for the 2018 legislative session.  Senator Mullis, who represents a large portion of Chattooga County in the state senate, was in Summerville earlier this week to address the local Republican Party.  Senator Mullis says that the state legislature has fully funded QBE – Quality Basic Education – which is what determines how many state dollars are filtered back to local school districts.  The funding allocates over $167 million to the Department of Education for K-12 schools and eliminates austerity cuts.  According to Senator Mullis, the state will also be spending $16 million for school safety grants and $15 million for new school buses.  You can read Senator Mullis’ complete report here:

The 2018 Legislative Session has now come to a close and when we adjourned Sine Die, we had passed several pieces of legislation for the people of Georgia. Our final week is always full of long days and longer nights and the session officially end at 12:12a.m. on March 30, 2018. Among the many pieces of legislation passed in the final week were some that I carried, some that I sponsored and the FY19 budget which fully funds QBE for the first time in recent history.

QBE, or the Quality Basic Education formula, is a part of every year’s budget which funds Georgia’s public school systems. This year, House Bill 684, or the General Budget for the 2019 Fiscal Year, fully funds QBE. HB 684 allocates more than $167 million to the Department of Education for K-12 schools and eliminates austerity cuts. The budget also contains $16 million in new spending for school safety grants, $15 million for new school buses and additional funds to secure the Teachers Retirement System. We aim to fully fund QBE each year and under the leadership of Governor Nathan Deal and Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, we were finally able to achieve this goal.

Among the many pieces of legislation passed last week are some that I would like to share further with you:

House Bill 699 would allow militar members who have proof of firefighter service to bypass basic training when completing their firefighter certification. This bill would also allow for the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council to waive the requirement of obtaining a high school diploma within 12 months of employment with a fire department.

House Bill 761, which I carried, allows motor vehicle dealers who sell no more than 10 motor vehicles per month to apply for a waiver from mandatory electronic filing of title applications with the Department of Revenue. Under HB 761, a motor vehicle dealer who sells a car to a non-resident of the county where the dealership is located may file an application for the title of the car with the tag agent representing the county where the dealership is located

I also carried House Bill 818 which requires health care providers to choose the method in which they would be reimbursed by insurers for the health services being performed on a patient covered by the insurance company.

I was also given the opportunity to recognize Governor Nathan Deal and Lt. Governor Casey Cagle this week by sponsoring Senate Resolution 1071 and Senate Resolution 1072. For the last eight years, Georgia has thrived under the leadership of these two men and on their last days of legislative session, we wanted to thank each of them for their service to our state. Under their leadership, Georgia has had very impressive economic growth and was recently named the “Number 1 State to do Business” for the fifth consecutive year. In addition, both men were instrumental in passing the state’s largest income tax cut in history earlier this year. They have guided the Georgia General Assembly through expanding health care and transit across the state and increasing funding to our K-12 and higher education programs. These resolutions thanked them for their dedication to our state and the many lives they have positively impacted over the last eight years.

While we may have finished the 2018 Legislative Session, our work as state legislators doesn’t stop. During the interim, we will meet in study committees and speak with members of our respective districts to begin formulating legislation for 2019. If I can ever be of assistance, or if you have suggestions as to how we can improve the 53^rd District or our state as a whole, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Senator and represent the men and women of the 53^rd District under the Gold Dome.