Your Athens-Centric Legislative Wrap-Up

How Local Lawmakers Voted on the Major Issues

originally published April 16, 2008

The chaotic General Assembly session has finally adjourned for this year, with legislators passing fewer significant bills than they normally do because of in-fighting among the Republican leadership.

How did Athens-Clarke County fare during the session? Here’s a look at bills that would have the most impact on the community - in addition to major issues of statewide interest - with attention to the votes by local legislators: Rep. Keith Heard, Rep. Bob Smith, Rep. Doug McKillip, Sen. Ralph Hudgens and Sen. Bill Cowsert.

Taxes

Speaker Glenn Richardson’s “GREAT” plan to eliminate all property taxes in Georgia was scrapped before it could come up for a vote, with Richardson substituting a measure to eliminate the ad valorem tax on auto tags instead, SR 796.

SR 796 initially was defeated by a 110-62 vote, which was less than the required two-thirds majority, as Bob Smith voted for it while Keith Heard and Doug McKillip voted against it. The tag tax measure resurfaced a few days later as HR 1246 and passed by a margin of 166-5, with Smith voting for it and Heard and McKillip opposing.

The Senate proposed a 10 percent reduction in state income tax rates as part of HB 1244, which it passed 49-6. Bill Cowsert and Ralph Hudgens voted for it.

The two tax cut proposals failed to survive the squabbling between Richardson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle in the session’s final days.

Legislators came closer to passing a regional tax for highway projects, SR 845, which would have enabled Athens-Clarke and other counties within the region to hold referendums on a special one-cent sales tax. The House passed SR 845 by a 134-34 vote in the session’s final minutes with Heard and McKillip voting for it, while Smith voted against it. The measure fell three votes short of the required two-thirds majority in the Senate, 35-18. Cowsert and Hudgens both voted for it.

Although legislators could not agree on a tax cut for working-class Georgians, they did adopt several bills that will provide tax breaks for corporate interests:

• HB 1100, a tax credit for film companies, passed with the support of all Athens lawmakers except Hudgens, who was excused from the vote.
• HB 272, a sales tax exemption for energy used in manufacturing passed with the support of all Athens legislators except for Smith, who did not vote.
• HB 670, an income tax credit for transporting wood residuals to a renewable biomass facility, passed with the support of all Athens legislators.
• HB 851, an income tax credit for the rehabilitation of historic homes and buildings, passed with the support of all Athens legislators except McKillip, who did not vote.
• SR 996 is a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow education property tax revenues to be used for redevelopment projects in a tax allocation district, nullifying a recent Georgia Supreme Court decision. It passed with the support of all Athens legislators.

Water and the Environment

The Senate and House adopted identical statewide water management plans in the form of SR 701 - which Hudgens voted for and Cowsert voted against - and HR 1022, which Smith supported but Heard and McKillip opposed.

SB 342 paves the way for developing more reservoirs, either through converting Soil and Water Conservation Commission flood control dams for water supply purposes or by impounding new reservoirs. The measure split the Athens-Clarke delegation, as Cowsert, Hudgens and Smith voted for it while Heard and McKillip voted against.

Cowsert, a first-term senator, was able to secure passage of SB 352, which will authorize the General Assembly to override rules and regulations developed by the state Environmental Protection Division. The bill has already been signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue. All members of the Athens-Clarke delegation voted for it.

HB 1281 prohibits local governments from enforcing water conservation rules that are stricter than those imposed by the state during a drought, unless they receive an exemption from the EPD director. Smith voted for it, Heard voted against it, and McKillip was excused from voting. Cowsert and Hudgens voted for it in the Senate.

Alcohol Sales

The state’s alcoholic beverage industry was unable to win approval of Sunday package sales, but several other measures were adopted that will make it a little easier to imbibe in certain circumstances.

• HB 1061, if signed into law, will allow Georgians to order wine over the internet or via telephone directly from wineries. Smith, McKillip and Cowsert voted for it, while Hudgens voted against it and Heard was excused from voting.
• SB 385 will allow limousine drivers to sell alcoholic drinks to their passengers. Smith, McKillip and Heard voted for it. Cowsert and Hudgens opposed it.
• SB 55 would allow persons who buy wine at a restaurant to take home the unconsumed portion of the bottle. All of the Athens-Clarke lawmakers voted for it.

Immigration

• SB 350 would make it a felony offense punishable by prison sentences as long as five years to drive without a license. The bill would apply to all unlicensed drivers but is intended to punish undocumented immigrants who drive without a license. Cowsert, Hudgens and Smith voted for it; Heard and McKillip voted against it.
• HR 413 would have declared English as the official language of the state and made it illegal to administer driver’s license examinations or print government documents in any language other than English. It was blocked in the House when Democrats prevented it from getting the required two-thirds majority for a constitutional amendment. Smith voted for it, while McKillip and Heard voted against it.

Education

• HB 881 will create a state commission that can approve applications for a charter school if the application is rejected by the local school board, and funnel public education funds to charter schools. Heard and McKillip voted against it, while Smith did not vote. Hudgens voted for it, while Cowsert voted against it.
• HB 1133 will provide an income tax credit for persons and corporations that make donations to private school scholarship organizations. Smith, Heard, Cowsert and Hudgens voted for it, while McKillip voted against.
• HB 1209 will allow public school systems to bypass state regulations in return for meeting specified performance goals as part of an “accountability contract.” Heard and McKillip voted against it, while Smith, Cowsert and Hudgens voted for it.
• SB 458 was Sen. Eric Johnson’s proposal to give private school vouchers to students from under-performing or non-accredited public schools. It passed the Senate with Hudgens voting for it and Cowsert opposed. It never came up for a vote in the House.
• Smith introduced HB 1228, a proposal that would have extensively restructured the Board of Regents and the University System with the intention of making the higher education system operate more effectively. He was unable to get the bill out of committee for a floor vote in the House, however.

Medical College Expansion

The Legislature continued to allocate funds to plan the expansion of the Medical College of Georgia, a project that eventually will include a regional or satellite campus at the University of Georgia. Lawmakers added $7.16 million to the $2.8 million already in the budget, bringing the total for planning expenses to nearly $10 million. The money is in the state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. All Athens-Clarke legislators except Smith, who missed the vote, voted to pass the final version of the budget.

Public Safety

• SB 145 was originally a “life without parole” bill that was amended by Rep. Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) to allow the imposition of the death penalty even if there was not a unanimous recommendation from the trial jury. Heard and Smith voted for Fleming’s amendment, while McKillip voted against it. When the bill was returned to the Senate, Cowsert and Hudgens voted with other senators to remove the Fleming amendment. SB 145, in either form, did not receive final passage.
• HB 89 is a gun bill that was amended at the urging of NRA lobbyists to allow persons with concealed weapon permits to carry firearms into restaurants, state parks, MARTA trains and workplace parking lots with the company’s permission. Cowsert, Hudgens and Smith voted for it, while Heard and McKillip voted against it.
• HB 77 provides for tighter state oversight of the installation of red-light cameras by local governments. The bill passed both chambers as Smith, Cowsert and Hudgens voted for it, while Heard and McKillip voted against.

Tom Crawford

Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report, an Internet news site at www.gareport.com that covers government and politics in Georgia.