Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for March 23, 2018

King George III approved of the passage of the Stamp Act legislation on March 22, 1765 designed to pay for some of the costs the UK incurred in protecting the colonies, but it would lead to the movement that culminated in the American Revolution.

The British Parliament closed the Port of Boston on March 25, 1774, passing the Boston Port Act in retaliation for the destruction of $1 million worth of tea in the Boston Tea Party.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Beer and Wine Revenue Act on March 22, 1933, allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages, and later that year, the federal Prohibition was ended.

Flannery O’Connor was born on March 25, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia. She would come to be recognized as one of the greatest American fiction writers. O’Connor graduated from the Georgia State College for Women, now called Georgia College and State University. She returned to Milledgeville in 1951, living at the family farm, called Andalusia, until her death at age 39 in 1964.

The first Masters golf tournament began on March 22, 1934 in Augusta, Georgia.

Horton Smith won the first Masters tournament on March 25, 1934.

The state prohibition on all alcoholic beverages ended on March 22, 1935 with Governor Eugene Talmadge’s signature of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act.

On March 25, 1937, Governor E.D. Rivers signed legislation creating the Georgia Department of Labor; in 1945, the Commissioner of Labor was upgraded from statutory office to Constitutional.

Governor E.D. Rivers signed a resolution on March 24, 1939, calling for the return of “General” locomotive made famous in the Great Train Chase from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Georgia. It currently resides in The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Georgia. The other locomotive involved in the chase, The Texas, is displayed at the Atlanta Cyclorama in Grant Park  until late last year, when it was removed for restoration and will be displayed in the Atlanta History Center beginning in fall of 2018.

Elvis Presley was inducted into the United States Army on March 24, 1958.

On March 24, 1970, Gov. Lester Maddox signed legislation naming the Largemouth Bass the Official State Fish.

The United States Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment on March 22, 1972; it would fail to garner enough state ratifications.

On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Vice President Mike Pence will be in Atlanta today for the Georgia Republican Party’s dinner fundraiser.

At the Pence appearance at the Loews Atlanta Hotel, he’ll be joined by Gov. Nathan Deal and U.S. Reps. Karen Handel, Barry Loudermilk and Rob Woodall to highlight the package of $1.5 trillion tax cuts.

Today is Legislative Day 38.

8:00 AM SENATE EDUCATION AND YOUTH 450 CAP

8:00 AM HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS 341 CAP

9:00 AM HOUSE RULES 341 CAP

12:00 PM HOUSE JUDY (NON-CIVIL) 406 CLOB

UPON ADJOURNMENT SENATE RULES 450 CAP

SENATE RULES CALENDAR

HB 271 – Water resources; shore protection; revise various provisions (Substitute) (NR&E-7th) Petrea-166th

HB 684 – General appropriations; State Fiscal Year July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019 (Substitute) (APPROP-4th) Ralston-7th

HR 51 – Forest land fair market value; prescribed methodology; remove – CA (Substitute) (RULES-8th) Powell-171st

HB 85 – Ad valorem tax; methodology used to establish forest land fair market value; revise (Substitute) (RULES-8th) Powell-171st

HB 930 – Georgia Regional Transportation Authority; creation of certain community improvement districts; provisions (Substitute) (TRANS-21st) Tanner-9th

HB 735 – Income tax credit; expenditures on the maintenance of a railroad track owned or leased by a Class III railroad; create (Substitute) (RULES-51st) Bentley-139th

SR 989 – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA); withdraw Electronic Logging Device (ELD) regulations on the agriculture industry; encourage (AG&CA-50th)

HB 121 – Trusts; minor or unborn beneficiaries; change provisions (JUDY-23rd) Efstration-104th

HB 927 – Courts; certain information be provided to caregiver upon placement of a child; require (Substitute) (H&HS-45th) Nimmer-178th

HB 899 – Contracts; limitation on disqualification of bidders; change (ED&T-30th) LaRiccia-169th

HB 904 – Torts; effect of a landowner charging an admission price or fee; clarify provisions (Substitute) (AG&CA-19th) Hanson-80th

HB 65 – Low THC Oil Patient Registry; conditions and eligibility; change provisions (Substitute) (H&HS-28th) Peake-141st

HB 93 – Sales and use tax; no interest shall be paid on refunds; provisions (Substitute) (FIN-56th) Corbett-174th

HB 374 – Ad valorem tax; property; allow electronic filing of returns in certain cases (Substitute) (FIN-28th) Knight-130th

HB 314 – Georgia Agribusiness and Rural Jobs Act; enact (Substitute) (FIN-52nd) Shaw-176th

HB 410 – Condominiums; certain fees imposed on purchasers; provide for limits (Substitute) (JUDY-3rd) Powell-32nd

HB 489 – Local government; use Georgia Procurement Registry in addition to official legal organ to advertise certain bid opportunities; provide (Substitute) (ED&T-28th) McCall-33rd

HB 571 – Magistrates Retirement Fund; member in arrears for dues payments for 90 days shall be suspended; provisions (RET-8th) Watson-172nd

HB 696 – Sales and use tax; certain computer equipment sold or leased to certain entities for use in high-technology data centers; create exemption (Substitute) (FIN-51st) Kelley-16th

HB 721 – Motor vehicles; criteria by which the Department of Driver Services shall authorize licensed driver training schools to administer on-the-road driving skills testing; revise (Substitute) (PUB SAF-56th) Powell-32nd

HB 760 – Insurance; certain policies, definitions, and property insurance; revise (Substitute) (I&L-14th) Lumsden-12th

HB 763 – Education; student attendance protocol committees to school climate; expand (Substitute) (ED&Y-28th) Nix-69th

HB 782 – Crimes and offenses; provisions relating to permissible users with access to prescription drug monitoring program data base; revise (Substitute) (H&HS-20th) Rhodes-120th

HB 790 – State government; recommendations of the Court Reform Council; implement (Substitute) (JUDY-17th) Efstration-104th

HB 815 – Special license plates; Georgia Masonic Charities; establish (PUB SAF-56th) Martin-49th

HB 834 – Landlord and tenant; termination of a rental or lease agreement under circumstances involving family violence; provide (Substitute) (JUDY-23rd) Ballinger-23rd

HOUSE RULES CALENDAR

Modified Open Rule

SB 365 – Code Revision Commission; statutory portion of said Code; revise, modernize, correct errors or omissions in and reenact (CR-Willard-51st) Ligon, Jr.-3rd

SB 397 – Real and Personal Property; municipalities to hire state licensed real estate brokers to assist in sale; allow (GAff-Stephens-164th) Watson-1st

Modified Structured Rule

SB 191 – Petroleum Pipelines; regulation and permitting in this state; definitions; provide (Substitute)(GF&P-Buckner-137th) Jeffares-17th

SB 194 – Garnishment Proceedings; maximum part of disposable earnings subject to garnishment; change (Substitute)(Judy-Fleming-121st) Stone-23rd

SB 332 – Department of Natural Resources; hunter mentor program; provide (Substitute)(GF&P-Knight-130th) Harper-7th

SB 402 – “Achieving Connectivity Everywhere (ACE) Act” (Substitute) (W&M-Powell-171st) Gooch-51st

SB 451 – State Soil and Water Conservation Commission; formulate certain rules and regulations in consultation with Environmental Protection Division of the Dept. Of Natural Resources; remove authority (Substitute) (NR&E-McCall-33rd) Walker III-20th

Governor Nathan Deal‘s final criminal justice reform legislation passed out of the House Judiciary (Non-Civil) Committee yesterday, according to the Gainesville Times.

The proposal, which backers say seeks to keep fewer non-violent offenders behind bars, would give judges more leeway in forgoing cash bail for low-income offenders and more opportunities to impose community service rather than fines. It also enhances penalties for certain crimes involving firearms.

The bill, which has garnered bipartisan support, was altered since it passed the Senate last month in order to strike a compromise between the House committee and the Deal administration.

Chairman of the committee, Rep. Rich Golick, said that change alleviated concerns he had about a provision in the bill that would have allowed an officer to simply issue a ticket for those specific offenses.

“The discomfort for me would have been had they not had to go get printed,” Golick said. “I think we cure that by ensuring that (suspects) are processed and printed at the time.”

Some state legislators want to limit weekend early voting, while Democrats oppose, according to the Associated Press, via the Statesboro Herald.

 Georgia Republicans want to limit early voting so that no county can offer it on both on a Saturday and a Sunday.

Democrats are outraged; they say the plan is designed to help GOP candidates.

“They’re targeting likely Democratic voters to stifle the opportunity to cast a ballot,” said Sen. Lester Jackson, a Savannah Democrat and the chairman of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus. “Working-class Georgians need opportunities to participate in the governmental process.”

Under a bill sponsored by Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, counties would only be able to offer early voting on weekdays and one weekend day. County officials would get to choose whether the polls would be open on one Saturday or one Sunday, but not both.

“This gives parity for everybody in the state,” said Brass. “It doesn’t make sense for one person to be able to vote any extra time than any other person.”

Brass said it would be too expensive to mandate that all counties expand their early-voting opportunities, although he said he hasn’t analyzed how expensive such a proposal would be.

Passage of new fireworks legislation, House Bill 419, included some last-minute drama in the State Senate, according to the Dalton Daily News.

Right now, Georgia residents can shoot off fireworks starting at 10 a.m. and through 9 p.m. on most days. They can go much later for New Years and July 4.

A proposed fix would preserve certain holidays for all-day and all-night fireworks fun while letting local governments pass noise ordinances with stricter rules on fireworks. Other cities and counties, meanwhile, could allow the revelry to go past 9 p.m.

“It’s not just something city officials are asking for but their constituents are asking for — for some more local control on fireworks,” said Amy Henderson, spokeswoman for the Georgia Municipal Association. “When neighbors are upset, they call their council member, their mayor, their police chief.”

Under the proposal, Labor Day and Memorial Day weekend — but not the actual Memorial Day holiday — would be added to the list of holidays that city officials can’t touch.

Allowing fireworks during the Memorial Day weekend was a compromise. The proposal passed the Senate with a 47-to-4 vote and heads back to the House.

The Red & Black at UGA profiles the candidates for Athens-Clarke County Commission.

Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway attended a White House discussion on sanctuary cities with President Donald Trump, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

“When the president calls, you respond,” Conway told the Daily Post on Thursday. “It wasn’t a big decision to make, I just had to arrange how to get there.”

On Tuesday, Conway joined more than a dozen law enforcement officials, members of Congress, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Thomas Homan to “discuss the threat of the very lawless, in many cases, sanctuary cities,” Trump said at the meeting.

Conway’s brief comments specifically addressed the steps his agency has taken to cooperate with ICE.

“We’ve cooperated with our partners with immigration in the 20-plus years I’ve been sheriff,” he said during the meeting. “We started a 287(g) program with ICE in 2010. Since that time, we’ve interviewed more than 47,000 inmates as they came into our jail, and identified more than 17,000 as being illegal aliens.”

Conway said at the meeting that Gwinnett will “continue working with ICE” and that his agency “certainly appreciates everything that you folks are doing for us. We need the help.”

The Hall County Commission passed regulations on short term rentals, according to the Gainesville Times.

The vote stood 4-1, with Commissioner Jeff Stowe the lone dissenter after about an hour of debate over the proposed regulations. Commissioners softened much of the new rules, but added a two-night minimum to permitted rentals and set the groundwork for a complaint system to report homes.

After the meeting, Stowe said he agreed with 90 percent of the regulations’ content but voted against them because he believed the extensively revised document needed another vetting from the public before a final vote. That’s also why he didn’t comment on the rules during the meeting.

The proposed regulations created a property rights battle between the two sides of the issue at the meeting: Whose rights win out when the fight is between the homeowner who wants to monetize unused space and time in their home and the neighbor who paid good money for his or her home expecting some peace and quiet?

Many advocates of allowing vacation rentals said it’s not a binary choice, that most short-term rentals have existed alongside full-time residents on Lake Lanier without problems. However, opponents of short-term rentals came armed with stories of abuse from renters in neighboring homes, from burly bouncers stationed at the end of residential streets demanding “tickets” from people trying to get down their own streets to 75-person parties celebrating a 21st birthday one house over.

Rome City Schools discussed improving school safety, according to the Rome News-Tribune.

The City of Cave Springs received legislative authorization to raise it’s hotel-motel tax, according to the Rome News-Tribune.

Mark Barber has been appointed Valdosta City Manager, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

The Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce will hold two events featuring local legislators, according to the Newnan Times-Herald.

Launched in 2016, the State of Community series entails local legislatures giving an update on national issues that affect the state and Coweta community. The lunch will be held Wednesday, March 28 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Congressman Drew Ferguson will give the legislative update at the luncheon.

In addition to the State of Community Luncheon, the chamber will host its annual Pancake & Politics breakfast, a post-legislative session wrap-up, on Wednesday, April 11 from 7:45-9:15 a.m.

Coweta delegation members – Sen. Matt Brass, Rep. Lynn Smith, Rep. Josh Bonner, Rep. David Stover, and Rep. Bob Trammell – will discuss what happened during the latest legislative session, which ends this month.

The Coweta delegation also will participate in a moderated panel. Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, will provide legislative insights from the session as well as moderate the panel.