Sen. William Ligon: Gold Dome Update: Sine Die

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Gold Dome Update: Sine Die

By: Sen. William Ligon (R- Brunswick)

The Georgia General Assembly adjourned the 2014 Legislative Session at midnight, March 20, ending months of hard work at the State Capitol. During the final two days of Session, the Georgia Senate worked hard to pass over 90 pieces of legislation prior to the midnight deadline on Sine Die.

Sine Die, which is also the 40^th legislative day, marks the final day legislation can be approved and travel to the Governor’s desk. The Governor now has 40 days to consider the merits of hundreds of bills and decide whether to veto or sign these measures into law.

Since 2014 was the second session of the 152^nd biennial term, the Georgia General Assembly will begin a new term next January. All legislation that did not achieve final approval is now dead and must be re-introduced next year. This will provide the Georgia General Assembly with a fresh slate as we begin taking up bills at the beginning of next year’s session.

In the final hours of the 2014 Legislative Session, the Senate passed House Bill 60, a comprehensive weapons carry bill. HB 60 is the product of countless hours of thorough deliberation in a specially-appointed conference committee made up of members of both chambers. Before the final gavel struck the well on Sine Die, the House and Senate came to a compromise and passed HB 60, which will serve to protect Georgians’ right to lawfully carry a weapon.

The finalized version of HB 60 includes the following provisions:

Weapons are banned in churches unless leadership decides to “opt-in” and allow weapons to be carried on the premises
Permits weapons to be legally carried in bars, but allows property owners/lessors to refuse entry or remove any person carrying a weapon
Prohibits the restriction of the lawful possession of firearms in public housing (unless required by federal law/regulation)
Permits the use of silencers for hunting only on personal private property, or private property where the owner has given explicit permission for another individual to hunt with a silencer
Allows schools to give written authorization to certain individuals who are allowed to carry weapons on school property, at school functions or within school safe zones
Eliminates the requirement that license holders get re-fingerprinted when renewing a license and also expands the ability for private vendors to conduct fingerprint screenings.
Reduces fines for violators who are licensed and lawful weapons carriers
Expands the exemption from several weapons carry laws for all state and federal judges, judges of probate, juvenile, and magistrate courts, full-time judges of municipal and city courts, and permanent part-time judges of municipal and city courts from compliance with these laws, if they are otherwise qualified to receive a weapons carry license

In the final days of session, two bills related to the medical care of our youngest Georgians were combined to create the “Kids Care Act.” This bill stopped short of final passage this year and will have to be reintroduced during the next legislative term. HB 885, which combined language from SB 397, would have provided insurance coverage for kids with Autism and allowed for continued research and the use of certain Cannabis Oils to treat children’s seizure disorders.

The Senate also took action on a number of other bills and resolutions this week, including:

HB 715 removes the 35/65 percent formula for developed versus undeveloped land on Jekyll Island and instead retains the spirit of that formula by limiting the Jekyll Island State Park Authority to a maximum of 1,675 acres of total developable land area.

HB 729 modifies several provisions of the current Title Fee Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) concerning used, out-of-state, leased and passenger vehicles. These changes include: basing transactions on current fair market value, allowing kit cars to be valued at more than retail and permitting owners of passenger cars to prepay annual registration fees.

HB 776 requires various agencies to provide information for compiling statewide and county master jury lists. The bill also requires prospective jurors to answer questionnaires concerning their qualifications.

HB 810 revises the HOPE Eligibility Requirements for incoming freshman students who obtained a GED or graduated from a non-eligible high school or home school program.

HB 915 allows a parent or guardian to request a security freeze to their child’s consumer credit report when that child’s identity has been stolen.

HB 983 clarifies the Georgia Agriculture Tax Exemption program by defining what products or services are exempt from sales taxes when purchased for agriculture. The bill also outlines tax exempt status of contractors.

HB 990 gives oversight of expanding Georgia’s Medicaid program to the Georgia General Assembly. Under this legislation, the state legislature would have to pass a bill or adopt a joint resolution in order to increase the income threshold for Medicaid eligibility.

It has been a pleasure to represent the 3^rd Senate District at the Georgia State Capitol. If there is anything I can do to serve you, please feel free to contact my office. For more information regarding a specific piece of legislation, you may access the Georgia General Assembly website at http://www.legis.ga.gov/.