Sen. Judson Hill: Capitol News Session Weekly Update # 5

Your Georgia Desk

Sen. Judson Hill: Capitol News Session Weekly Update # 5

Greetings from the Capitol !

We have been in Session for about a month completing day 15 of the 2015 Session.e Senate and House Committees are meeting and debating issues and bills relevant to each specific committee. The job of the committees is to gather a group of Senators with knowledge on a topic and get testimonies from people outside of the Senate to share information and oft times advocate on proposed legislation in order for the Senators to make informed decisions for their constituents. More Bills are beginning to make their way onto the floor for a vote. Of note is the legislature has passed a Resolution setting the last legislative day for 2015 – April 2nd.

Below is a list of notable legislation that has been introduced in the Senate or passed the past week.

2015 Legislation of Note Passed or Introduced this Week in the Senate:

SB 3: The Supporting and Strengthening Families Act” passed to allow parents to temporaility trabsfer custodial oversight to another adult during times when extenuating circumstances impact the ability to propoerly care for a child.

SB 8 / SR 7: Rachel’s Law / the Safe Harbor for Sexually Expolited Children Fund Commission passed the Senate to increase criminal and civil penalties for perpetrators of human trafficking. It includes certain proetctions for and increases the statute of limitations on sexual exploitation crimes.

SB 86: This was introduced to prooses to create an alternative to medical malpractice litigation whereby patients are compensated for medical injuries to provide for filing of and disposition of applications, appellate review, and administrative expenses. A similar bill titled the Patient Compensation Act has been under consideration in prior legisltive sessions.

SB 87: This Bill was introduced to amend the Georgia Code so as to limit the use of specialty board designations by physicians unless the physician was Board certified.

SB 92: This Bill was introduced to establish an Education Savings Account program to provide for qualifications and requirements, management of accounts, participating schools, responsibilities of parents, and the Office of Student Achievement.

SB 103: This Bill was introduced to change the laws to authorize the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday.

S R 155: I introduced a Resolution calling on the US Congress to adopt and submit to the states a balanced budget amendment to the US Consititution and to balance our current United States budget.

HB 75 – The Amended FY2015 Budget passed the Senate adopting a $21.1 billion supplemntal budget runs through June 30, 2015, and increases for K-12 education growth and public health inititaives.This budget admens the FY2015 budget passed last session to make adjusts for revenues and program changes such as education.

Please check weekly for my Session Newsletter for updates from the Capitol.

I encourage you to periodically review our high priority issues that we intend to address during this Session.

But more importantly, as always, I ask for your comments, suggestions, and questions as we work together to develop an atmosphere that fosters job creation, fiscal responsibility, world-class educational opportunities for our children, and address our transportation and infrastructure challenges while protecting the rights of every Georgian.

If you would like additional information regarding a specific piece of legislation, you may access the Georgia General Assembly website at www.senate.ga.gov

Other News

Alzheimers Day at the Capitol

Last Thursday was Alzheimers Day at the Capitol where dozens of people visited their state capitol to advocate for greater awareness and to share their stories about the devastating impact of alzheimers and dementia on Georgians and their families. Much assistance is needed as this disease grows and affects more and more people every year and often times places long term financial strains on families. My wife, Shelly, was a featured speaker as she shared her story about her father who currently suffers with dementia and lives in an assisted living home.

Stay In Touch

Shelly and I appreciate your friendship and support. I wanted to let you all know that I am on Twitter and I invite you to follow me there: http://twitter.com/Judsonhill

To visit my Facebook page go to: www.facebook.com/judsonhill. I am posting regular updates from the General Assembly while we are in session, and will continue posting about issues related to state government throughout the year.

All the best,