Sen. Mike Dugan: Update from the Capitol

Your Georgia Desk:

Sen. Mike Dugan: Update from the Capitol

The Senate cleared a big hurdle last week as we surpassed Crossover Day on Monday, March 3.  As expected on day 30, the Senate worked until we had all 27 bills passed before the midnight deadline.  The Crossover deadline means legislation must pass its chamber of origin in order to still be considered a ‘live’ bill for the remainder of the session.  Because this is the end of a two-term legislative session, all bills that did not pass the Senate on Crossover Day must be re-introduced into the legislative process during the 2015 session.

Two weeks ago, the Senate granted final approval to the FY 2014 Amended Budget, and therefore was immediately transferred to the Governor for his signature.  This Thursday, the Senate came one step closer to fulfilling our constitutionally-mandated duty of passing a balanced state budget, appropriating $20.8 billion for the FY 2015 General Budget.

Since the House and Senate have both insisted to their versions of the budget, a conference committee will be held sometime next week to compromise on a final version of the budget.  A conference committee is a committee made up of Senate and House leaders who will work to negotiate the differences to finalize the annual budgets.  Once the committee has come to an agreement, the budget must be approved by both legislative bodies before heading to the Governor’s desk for ultimate approval.

This week I presented House Bill 740 to the Senate.  HB 740 provides that full-time military personnel on active duty and their dependents are considered residents of Georgia for certain hunting and fishing privileges.  With numerous military bases scattered across our state, it is important that our brave full-time service men and women have recreational rights while at our military bases and when they return from overseas. This bill passed unanimously and now goes before the Governor.

Passed Senate Legislation:

Senate Bill 98 bars health plans offered through a Georgia state or federal health care exchange, as well as the State Health Benefit Plan, from covering abortion services except in the case of a medical emergency.

Senate Bill 276 designates Georgia as a “Purple Heart State,” honoring our combat wounded veterans for their service and sacrifice in allowing the United States of America to maintain its independence. 

Senate Bill 281 would require the State Health Benefit Plan to offer at least one high deductible health plan paired with a health savings account.

Senate Resolution 783 proposes an amendment to the Georgia Constitution to prevent the Georgia General Assembly from re-enacting future ad valorem taxes. The ad valorem tax is a minor source of revenue in Georgia, reaching a peak of only $80 million prior to its phase out. Currently, the state’s largest revenue streams include the individual state income tax and the sales and use tax.  The constitutional amendment prohibiting the collection of ad valorem taxes will not apply to public utilities, railroad companies or airlines, or administrative functions that are subject to local ad valorem taxation.

I was proud to recognize the State Champion Holy Ground Baptist Academy football team from the well this week. A large contingent of the team, cheerleaders, coaches, administration and parents made the trip over so we could present them with a formal proclamation recognizing their great accomplishment. I hope this is the first of many for this great group.

The General Assembly will convene again on Monday, March 10 for Day 35 of the 2014 Legislative Session.  Although we are near the end of the legislative session, I look forward to seeing many of you at the State Capitol and encourage you to reach out to me with any issues that you feel should be of importance to your elected officials.  As always, it is a pleasure to serve the 30th Senate District. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 404.656.0036 or via email at mike.dugan@senate.ga.gov.