Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for March 2, 2015

In Memoriam

During his service in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955, Leonard Nimoy was stationed at both Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, and for eighteen months at Fort MacPherson in Atlanta. In 1955, Nimoy directed and acted in the Atlanta Theater Guild production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Wimbish House in midtown Atlanta.

In 2009, Nimoy appeared together with William Shatner at Dragon Con.

Over the weekend, Linda Womack, the doyenne of professional lobbying at the Georgia General Assembly, died.

In her decades on the marble floors, Linda was known as one of the first female lobbyist, and through her professionalism and grace, she paved the way for the fuller participation in state politics by the women – legislators, lobbyists, and other – who would follow.

The last time I spoke to Linda, we talked about having lunch at The General Muir, near the campus of Emory University, for whom she lobbied. We never found time, so one day this week, I’ll lift a reuben sandwich in her memory.

If you wish to take the true measure of a person whose career has been spent in politics, ignore the politicians. Lobbyists are most often on their best behavior around them. Pay attention to the expressions of grief from the administrative assistants, clerks, and others who toil every day with lower profile duties. From those you’ll learn a more important lesson – how they treated others when no one was looking – and by this measure also, Linda’s career was exceptional.

Georgia History

The United States Congress passed the first Reconstruction Act on March 2, 1867.

On February 28, 1874, Georgia Governor James M. Smith signed legislation creating the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

On March 2, 1874, Gov. Smith signed legislation allowing anyone fined for a criminal conviction to arrange for a third party to pay the fine in exchange for the convict’s labor.

On March 1, 1875, Governor James Smith signed legislation making cruelty to animals a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $50.

On February 29, 1936, the United States Army Corps of Engineers recommended building a dam at Clarks Hill, South Carolina to control flooding near Augusta.

On March 2, 1850, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the beginning of construction of Buford Dam, which would create Lake Lanier.

President Lyndon B. Johnson attended ceremonies at Lockheed in Marietta for the first C-5A aircraft to come off the assembly line on March 2, 1968.

Under the Gold Dome Today

9:00am – 10:00am	House Rules – 341 cap
12:00pm – 1:00pm	Senate Rules Upon Adjournment – 450 cap
1:00pm – 2:00pm	Senate Insurance & Labor – Sub – 125 cap
1:00pm – 2:00pm	Senate Public Safety Committee – 310 clob
1:00pm – 3:00pm	Senate Education & Youth – 307 clob
1:30pm – 2:30pm	Senate Public Safety – General Welfare & Safety Sub – 310 clob
1:30pm – 3:00pm	House Fleming Sub of Judiciary Civil – 606 clob
1:30pm – 3:30pm	House Judiciary Non Civil – 132 cap
2:00pm – 3:00pm	House Interstate Coop – 403 cap
2:00pm – 3:00pm	House Approp Public Safety Sub – 341 cap
2:00pm – 3:00pm	House Juvenile Justice – 506 clob
2:00pm – 3:00pm	Senate Ethics Committee – 310 clob
2:00pm – 3:00pm	House Elections Sub of Gov’tal Affairs – 605 clob
2:00pm – 4:00pm	House Agriculture & Consumer Affairs – 415 clob
2:30pm – 3:00pm	House Academic & Curriculum Sub of Education – 514 clob
2:30pm – 3:30pm	House Admin/Licensing Sub of Insurance – 514 clob
3:00pm – 4:00pm	Senate HHS Healthcare Delivery Sub – 328 clob
3:00pm – 4:00pm	Senate Judiciary Non Civil – 307 clob
3:00pm – 4:00pm	Senate Approp – Public Safety – 310 clob
3:00pm – 4:00pm	Senate Interstate Coop – 318 clob
3:00pm – 4:00pm	Senate Agriculture & Consumer Affairs – 450 cap
3:00pm – 5:00pm	House HHS – 606 clob
3:00pm – 5:00pm	House Education – 506 clob
3:00pm – 5:00pm	House Transportation – 406 clob
3:30pm – 4:30pm	Senate Approp – Insurance – 341 cap
4:00pm – 5:00pm	House Jacobs Sub of Judiciary Civil – 403 cap
4:00pm – 5:00pm	Senate Judiciary – 307 clob
4:00pm – 5:00pm	Senate Transportation – mezz 1

Senate Rules Calendar

SB 101 – Soil Erosion and Sedimentation; provide for buffer against coastal marshlands within which certain land-disturbing activities are prohibited (As Introduced) (Substitute) (NR&E-1st)

SB 108 – Insurance; provide the requirements for maintaining a risk management framework (As Introduced) (I&L-9th)

SB 125 – State Road and Tollway Authority; authorize the collection of tolls for the management of traffic flow (As Introduced) (TRANS-21st)

House Rules Calendar

Modified Open Rule

HB 51 – Taxes; amount payable at redemption of property; change provisions (Substitute)(Judy-Benton-31st)

HB 99 – Property; joint tenants divorce or have marriage annulled under certain circumstances; provide tenancy in common (Substitute) (Judy-Lumsden-12th)

HB 185 – Insurance; Standard Valuation Law; extensively revise (Ins-Shaw-176th)

Modified Structured Rule

HB 18 – Professional engineers and land surveyors; defense, aviation, space or aerospace companies from complying with provisions; exempt (RegI-Spencer-180th)

HB 197 – Debtor-Creditor Uniform Law Modernization Act of 2015; enact (Substitute)(Judy-Jacobs-80th)

HB 233 – Georgia Uniform Civil Forfeiture Procedure Act; enact (Substitute) (Judy-Atwood-179th)

HB 316 – Professional corporations; practice of medicine and surgery and optometry shall be considered the practice of only one profession; provide (Substitute)(RegI-Reeves-34th)

HB 340- Alcoholic beverages; sales on Sunday during Saint Patrick’s Day holiday period; change certain provisions (Substitute)(RegI-Petrea-166th)

HB 394 – Georgia Board of Nursing; revise provisions relating to powers and duties; provisions (H&HS-Cooper-43rd)

Structured Rule

HB 234 – Tax collection; days in which the Federal Reserve Bank is closed in the list of days that excuse late filing or payment; include (W&M-Rutledge-109th)

Committee Notes

House Bill 170, the Transportation Tax Bill, returns to the House Transportation Committee meeting in its most current form today.

House Resolution 418 by State Rep. David Clark, would encourage showing the movie America: Imagine the World Without Her to eighth and eleventh grade students, and will be presented to the House Education Sub-Committee on Academic Achievement and Curriculum at 2:30 today.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear two bills today presenting restrictions on “no-knock warrants.” Senate Bill 154 by Judiciary Chairman Jesse Stone will be heard and action may be taken today, while Senate Bill 159 by Sen. Vincent Fort will receive a hearing only.

The Senate Ethics Committee will hear several bills today:

• Senate Bill 127 would waive late-filer penalties for a number of filers due to widespread problems with the Georgia State Ethics Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission’s filing database; in my personal opinion, this waiver is warranted.

• Senate Resolution 27 by Sen. Josh McKoon would lower the age requirement for service in the State Senate to 21.

Lobbyist News

A lobbyist forgot he had a gun in his briefcase before going through the security screening at the Capitol last week.

The gun was detected by an X-ray machine when the lobbyist passed through a main entrance.

“Under Georgia law he was allowed to exit the building, secure the weapon and return to the Capitol.

No charges were filed.

This is the first legislative session requiring all lobbyists to go through screening.

“On a case-by-case basis we speak with the individual in question. In this case, there was no doubt to the trooper that this was unintentional by the gentleman’s reaction,” [Captain Mark] Perry said.

At this point, I think that the screening requirement for lobbyists is going to stay and there will be no more talk of a “Fast Pass” that would allow some folks to bypass the security screening.

The North Carolina Ethics Commission opines that no reportable transaction occurs when a lobbyist beds a legislator in the Tar Heel State.

Joal H. Broun, the secretary of state’s lobbying compliance director, sent a letter to the commission on December 15 inquiring whether, um, intimacy between lobbyists and the people they are lobbying violates ethics laws. On Friday, the commission released its answer: The passionate and unwise may carry on!

The opinion, which is almost romantic if you can get past the legal jargon, essentially says that your body is a temple and sharing it with anyone else is a priceless gift—emphasis on priceless: Sex has no value, according to the commission, and so it doesn’t need to be disclosed.

“Consensual sexual relationships do not have monetary value and therefore are not reportable as gifts or ‘reportable expenditures made for lobbying’ for purposes of the lobbying law’s expenditure reporting provisions,” the commission says.

North Carolina has had what seems like an unusually high number of lobbyist-government official affairs become matters of public debate.

I am reminded of something the legendary Chicago political consultant Eli Gold once said, “People lie and politicians are people.” The same can be said of most any foibles displayed by our elected representatives and those who seek to influence their actions.

Railroad News

Norfolk Southern last week outshopped the rebuilt SD-40 road number 3170, repainted in the classic Southern Railways “Tuxedo” paint. The most interesting part of this repaint for rail geeks like me is that NS painted little “F” letters on the long-hood end, visible in the photo above. This means that the 3170 is set up to operate “Long Hood Forward,” a practice NS retained long after it went out of fashion.

As a bonus, here’s a great shot of the other NS locomotive currently wearing Southern Railways paint, the Southern Heritage unit pictured at Atlanta’s Inman Yard.

In other news, a local model railroad club recently donated a layout to Wellstar Kennestone Medical Center.

“This seemed the most appropriate place for this and we are pleased to be a part of it. Michelle loved this place,” said Bob Wood, the North Atlanta Rail Baron member who presented the train display to WellStar. “Maybe this will inspire kids to learn about the history of the railroads.”

The assembly of the railroad took four weeks for the 22-member Rail Barons group to complete. Home Depot donated the foundational materials to build the village.

“I’ve seen some doctors and fathers and seniors playing with the train and I think that’s lovely because it’s important that we always find joy in playing and that we seize every opportunity to share play with children,” Beckford said.