Sen. Ross Tolleson: Update from the Capitol

Your Georgia Desk:

 TOLLESON: Update from the Capitol

By: Sen. Ross Tolleson (R- Perry)

The Senate cleared a big hurdle this week as we surpassed Crossover Day on Monday, March 3.  As expected on day 30, the Senate worked until dinner time to pass 27 bills 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.

Last week 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.

Two pieces of legislation that I am carrying passed the Senate on Monday.  Senate Resolution 896 passed 49-3 and would establish the Joint Study Committee on the Georgia Legacy Program to examine possibilities for the protection and conservation of our great state’s natural resources and land.  Senate Bill 333 passed 44 to 9 and clarifies that property owners are not unfavorably affected by listings on the Environmental Protection Divisions’ (EPD) hazardous site inventory.  This inventory is a list of sites provided by the EPD where there has been a known or suspected release of a regulated substance into the environment above a reportable quantity.

In the Natural Resources Committee, we heard numerous important bills which were passed out of committee:

House Bill 904 provides a right to an administrative hearing to property owners whose property is listed in EPD’s hazardous site inventory on or after July 1, 2014.

House Bill 549 establishes water emergency response procedures that will improve response times and allow EPD to allocate resources more effectively.

House Bill 740 provides that full-time military personnel on active duty and their dependents are considered residents of Georgia for certain hunting and fishing privileges.  HB 740 passed the Senate on Friday.  With numerous military bases scattered across our state, it is important that our brave full-time service men and women have recreational rights. 

House Bill 783 revises the implied consent warning for hunting under the influence to clarify that a person’s hunting privileges will only be suspended if the person is convicted of hunting under the influence.

House Bill 786 reduces the amount of time required to satisfy the residency requirement for a lifetime sportsman’s license from 12 to three months for purposes of obtaining a Type I (infant) license.  HB 786 passed the Senate on Friday.

House Bill 908 will extend the sunset date for tire fees which is a current law that imposes a $1 fee on each new replacement tire sold in the state.

House Bill 777 enacts the Interstate Boating Violator Compact, an agreement between at least two states that allows the home state to treat a boating conviction of one of its residents in another state as if the conviction had occurred in the home state.

I was honored to welcome different leadership groups from District 20 to the Capitol.  Thanks to Adult Leadership Warner Robins Regional, Pulaski Leadership and Perry Leadership for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit.  Our continued partnership is invaluable to the work conducted at the Capitol not only during the legislative session, but throughout the year.

For several more weeks, I will continue spending a lot of time at the Capitol working for you.  If there are any issues you wish to have addressed, I would love to hear from you.  I look forward to continuing my service on behalf of my constituents in the 20th Senate District.  Georgia is on the right track.  I am confident that the steps we take this year will mean lasting prosperity for future generations of Georgians.