Happy Crossover Day!

The Crossover deadline is upon us and your ACEC Georgia political advocates are ready for a long day and a potential midnight adjournment. Today is the last day for bills to be considered by the chamber in which it was introduced, so Representatives and Senators alike will be vying for their legislation to be heard in their respective chambers in order to keep their legislative proposals alive. Up today: tort reform proposals on the Senate side and a potential truck weights bill on the House side.

Last Thursday, the Senate dealt a harsh blow to a few controversial bills, after some lively debates. A proposal to legalize sports betting in the state of Georgia failed by a vote of 19-37. Likewise, the Buckhead City proposal failed with a vote of 23 to 33, and unfortunately, SB 197, one of the business community’s top priorities: the seat-belt non-use admissibility bill, also failed by similar margins (24-30). SB 197 would have allowed a defendant to introduce evidence of seatbelt nonuse to a jury in civil cases where damages are being awarded. Currently, under Georgia law, passengers are required to wear a seatbelt in a moving vehicle; however, if you are not wearing a seatbelt and you are involved in a car accident, the jury awarding damages is legally barred from knowing whether or not you are wearing a seatbelt.

Despite the blow to tort reform efforts with the failure of SB 197 in the Senate, a few more proposals remain alive. The “Apex Doctrine” would curtail the practice of deposing C-suite executives—whose company or business is involved in a lawsuit—who do not have unique knowledge of the issue being litigated. The House passed their own version of the Apex doctrine bill, HB 530, by a vote of 156 to 8. The Senate version, SB 200, is on the Senate’s debate calendar today. Further, SB 191 by Senator Shawn Still, which would eliminate the practice of suing a motor carrier and their insurance company at the same time, is also eligible for consideration today.

On the House side, HB 189, which originally proposed to increase the variance for all heavy-duty trucks to 12.5% on top of the 80,000-pound legal weight limit, has been modified for a 3^rd time. This legislation passed the House Transportation Committee a few weeks ago but was sent back by the House Rules Committee (which sets the agenda for bills to be debated on the floor), it was then modified to only allow the 12.5% variance for trucks carrying agricultural products and passed the House Transportation Committee again—but was sent back by the House Rules Committee. The final iteration to pass the House Transportation Committee proposes to increase the variance for trucks carrying agricultural products from 5% to 10%. If this bill does not pass the House today, it will not be eligible for consideration again this year.

While today is Crossover day, it’s important to note the exemption to this deadline: the budget. Currently, the final version of the amended budget (that has crossed over), which includes an appropriation of $300,000 for the operations of the Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Board, has not yet been released—though we don’t expect the current figure for the PELS Board to change. Additionally, the full budget proposal is still in the House Appropriations Committee and will not be debated today on the floor. We expect the Appropriations Committee to pass the full fiscal year 2024 budget in short order.

The week ahead:

After today’s festivities, we expect a slower week as lawmakers recover and begin to hear bills from the other chamber. Stay tuned for the budget!

LEGISLATION ACEC GEORGIA IS FOLLOWING 

When reviewing the below legislation, please note that the Rules Committee and Rules Calendar are different. Both chambers have a Rules Committee. This committee is charged with setting the Rules Calendar—that is the debate calendar for the entire chamber—when a bill is on the Rules Calendar it’s considered “on the floor”. If a bill is in Rules, that means it is in the Rules Committee in its respective chamber.

Budget & Appropriations 

HB 18 by Representative Jon Burns (R-Newington): is the amended FY 2023 budget, which modifies the state’s spending plan for the last 90 days of the current fiscal year ending on June 30th. It currently has $300,000 of the $500,000 requested by the Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (PELS) Board.

Status: Passed the House Appropriations Committee on February 1st. Passed the House by a vote of 170-1 on February 2nd. Passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on February 21st. Passed the Senate 54-1. The House and Senate have appointed what is known as a “Conference Committee” made up of three Senators and three Representatives, which will iron out the differences and credit a “Conference Committee Report” which both chambers will vote on before it is eligible for the Governor’s signature.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 19 by Representative Jon Burns (R-Newington): is the full FY 2024 budget. It currently has $1,027,895 of the $2.5 million requested by the PELS Board for the fiscal year beginning July 1. House subcommittees have begun reviewing requests. This bill is not subject to the Crossover deadline.

Status: Assigned to the House Appropriations Committee

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

Industry & Professions 

HB 128 by Representative Soo Hong (R-Lawrenceville): would revise provisions relating to minority, women owned, and veteran owned businesses procuring or involved in the procurement (as subs) of state contracts. The bill defines these types of qualified “classified” businesses and would expand the 10% tax deductions for payments to these small business subcontractors to all classified businesses. This proposal also aims to standardize and expedite the process of obtaining minority, women, or veteran owned business credentials by allowing the state to accept credentials from other certifying institutions.   

Status: Passed the House State Planning & Community Affairs Committee; this bill made the House Rules calendar for Crossover and will likely be heard and voted on today.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation

HB 267 by Representative Tyler Paul Smith (R-Bremen): would allow an individual to pursue a civil action and seek injunctive relief if an employer, other than a governmental entity, fails to withhold taxes properly from wages paid to an employee.

Status: Passed the House Judiciary Committee; this bill made the House Rules calendar for Crossover and will likely be heard and voted on today.

ACEC Georgia is reviewing this legislation

SB 3 by Senator John Albers (R-Roswell): "Reducing Barriers to State Employment Act of 2023". This proposal would direct all state entities to regularly assess the relevant academic background and experience requirements needed for each position within their agency, reduce those requirements which are arduous and unnecessary, and reduce the number of positions for which four-year college degrees are required as a condition of employment.

Status: Passed the Senate Government Oversight Committee. Passed favorably on the Senate floor, by a vote of 49 to 1. This bill has been assigned to House Governmental Affairs.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation

SB 157 by Senator Brian Strickland (R-McDonough): proposes several changes relating to the application process for occupational licenses in Georgia by individuals with criminal records. This bill clarifies what types of crimes would disqualify an individual from receiving a license, creates an appeals process for an individual who may have been denied a license based on their criminal record, and creates a “preclearance” process for predetermining whether an individual's criminal record will disqualify them from obtaining a license before paying and completing required education and training for that license. This bill aims to decrease regulatory burdens and streamline burdensome and onerous licensing processes.

Status: Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. Passed the Senate by a vote of 55-0. Currently awaiting committee assignment on the House side.

ACEC Georgia is reviewing this legislation

SB 186 by Senator Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming): would revise the premises liability law to limit the cause of action currently available for individuals injured by an unrelated third party on a landowner’s property. The bill would require a plaintiff to prove that the landowner compelled the third party’s action, had knowledge of a specific threat, or could have reasonably intervened in the situation that resulted in injuries to the plaintiff. This would also create a process for apportionment of damages between the third party and landowner.  

Status: Passed to the Senate Insurance & Labor Committee; this bill made the Senate Rules calendar for Crossover and will likely be heard and voted on today.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation

SB 195 by Senator Larry Walker (R-Perry): the original proposal would create a licensure by endorsement process for out-of-state applicants who possess a valid license for a profession and who apply for a Georgia license for that profession; however, this has been narrowed down to only active duty military and their spouses. The provisions require that license applicants have a valid license that is in good standing, have no complaints or pending complaints, have had the license for at least one year, do not have a disqualifying criminal record, pass any required examination on state-specific rules & regs, and pays all applicable fees. This bill would also create a shot clock of 30 days for a board to issue an expedited license by endorsement.

Status: Passed the Senate Veterans, Military, & Homeland Security Committee. This bill made the Senate Rules calendar for Crossover and will likely be heard and voted on today.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

SB 196 by Senator Ben Watson (R-Savannah): under current law, while it is illegal to not wear a seatbelt in the front seat of a vehicle, evidence of non-use is not admissible in court during a preceding regarding a vehicle accident. SB 196 would allow the admissibility of that evidence so that a defendant may present it when making their case in court. An amendment was added to exempt ride share services.

Status: Passed the Senate Transportation Committee. This bill failed on the floor of the Senate by a vote of 24 to 30.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation

SB 200 by Senator Bill Cowsert (R-Athens): is what is known as the “Apex Doctrine”. It would create a process for which a c-suite or other high level executive within a corporation can petition a court to show that a requested deposition is unnecessary or burdensome. Under current law, if a company is the defendant in a suit, the plaintiff may request a deposition of top-level executives, even when they are not involved in any capacity.

Status: Passed the Senate Regulated Industries & Utilities Committee; this bill made the Senate Rules calendar for Crossover and will likely be heard and voted on today.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation

SR 85 by Senator Larry Walker (R-Perry): would create a Senate study committee on occupational licenses. If the Senate were to vote to create this study committee, during the session interim, the committee would be tasked with reviewing occupational licenses and requirements for receiving these licenses.

Status: Assigned to the Senate Rules Committee

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

Transportation 

HB 52 by Representative Brad Thomas (R-Woodstock): is HB 1438 from last year, and as Rep. Thomas put it, this bill “Sine Died” on the last day of session last year. This was last year’s annual GDOT housekeeping bill and proposes to revise meeting notice provisions for the election of board members for the Department of Transportation as well as clarify other provisions regarding public-private partnership negotiations and exempt some records from public disclosure requirements. This bill was amended to include a separate provision that relates to the duties of coroners and county medical examiners regarding major interstate highway deaths, as well as increase the modular home transportation square footage limit by 4 feet to align with neighboring states’ restrictions.

Status: Passed the House Transportation Committee on January 30th. The House voted in favor of this bill, by a vote of 167 to 0. This bill has passed the Senate Transportation Committee. Passed the Senate with an amendment by a vote of 53 to 1 on Feb 22. This bill will require an “agree” by vote by the House before it can be considered eligible for the Governor’s signature.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation

HB 189 by Representative Steven Meeks (R-Screven): this bill, after undergoing several modifications, now proposes to add a 10% variance on top of the 80,000-pound truck weight limit for trucks carrying agricultural products only.

Status: Passed the House Transportation Committee on February 9^th by a vote of 18 to 11. This bill was recommitted to the House Transportation Committee by the House Rules Committee chairman. It was amended in committee to create this variance exemption for trucks carrying agricultural products only, and received a do pass recommendation from the committee by a vote of 12-7. Amended again to reduce the variance to 10% for agricultural products only. Is now eligible for consideration for the House Rules Committee.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation.

HB 288 by Representative Butch Parrish (R-Swainsboro): proposes to create an East Georgia Regional Airport Authority Act for the expansion of airport facilities in the City of Swainsboro and Emanuel County.

Status: Passed the House Intragovernmental Coordination Committee. Passed the House by a vote of 162-2. Assigned to the Senate Transportation committee.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 307 by Representative Alan Powell (R-Hartwell): deals with the regulation of electric vehicle charging broadly. It creates a framework which aims to allow for “competitively neutral policies” between electric suppliers (such as Georgia Power or EMCs) and non-providers to promote private sector investment. The proposal would require electric suppliers to create a separate subsidiary for electric vehicle charging infrastructure and provide the same rates, terms, and conditions of service for non-providers as the subsidiary receives. It would also prohibit electric providers from recovering costs for implementation and execution of EV charging from its ratepayers. The bill also allows for charging by the kilowatt hour (there are discrepancies as to whether kilowatt hour charging is allowed under current law) and endows the Public Service Commission with the authority to provide oversight of the industry and entities engaging in charging infrastructure.

Status: Assigned to the House Technology and Infrastructure Innovation Committee

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 406 by Representative Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper): is a proposal that combines four of the recommendations from the Joint Study Committee on the Electrification of Transportation. These recommendations include: vesting oversight and inspection powers over electric vehicle charging stations in the Agriculture Commissioner to ensure uniformity and proper maintenance is observed; allowing the existing motor fuel excise tax to be levied on electricity used to charge vehicles (by creating a kilowatt “gallonage equivalent”); allows the sale of electricity by the kilowatt hour. SB 146 by Senator Steve Gooch is the Senate companion bill.

Status: Passed out of the House Technology and Infrastructure Innovation Committee. Passed the House, 161-0; assigned to the Senate Regulated Industries Committee.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 617 by Representative Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper): is a freight & logistics planning bill, which would create a state-wide freight and logistics implementation plan which would be overseen by the planning director within the Planning Division of the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Status: Passed out of the House Transportation Committee; is eligible for consideration by the House Rules Committee.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation

HR 140 by Representative Viola Davis (D-Stone Mountain): is an urging resolution asking MARTA to reaffirm its commitment to extending its rail system alongside Interstate 20 in south DeKalb County. Urging resolutions are nonbinding, but if passed, they do provide a powerful nudge towards specific state entities to conduct whatever the resolution encourages the entity to do.  

Status: Assigned to the House Transportation Committee

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

SB 146 by Senator Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega): is a proposal that combines four of the recommendations from the Joint Study Committee on the Electrification of Transportation. These recommendations include: vesting oversight and inspection powers over electric vehicle charging stations in the Agriculture Commissioner to ensure uniformity and proper maintenance is observed; allowing the existing motor fuel excise tax to be levied on electricity used to charge vehicles (by creating a kilowatt “gallonage equivalent”); allows the sale of electricity by the kilowatt hour. This is the Senate companion to HB 406 (above)

Status: Passed the Senate Regulated Industries & Utilities Committee; this bill made the Senate Rules calendar for Crossover and will likely be heard and voted on today.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

SB 165 by Senator Russ Goodman (R-Cogdell): is the Senate version of HB 189, the truck weights bill, which would codify a 12.5% variance on top of the current legal limit for heavy duty trucks at 80,000 pounds. This bill has not been amended to be limited to trucks used for agricultural products only.

Status: Did not pass the Senate Transportation Committee—this legislation is dead for the session,

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

SB 167 by Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula): is an EV bill and the Senate companion to Rep. Alan Powell’s HB 307 mentioned above.

Status: Assigned to the Senate Regulated Industries & Utilities Committee; however, it failed to meet the Crossover deadline. 

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

SR 137 by Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula): urges EMCs and localities to develop competitively neutral tariffs for providing electricity for the use of charging vehicles.

Status: Assigned to the Senate Regulated Industries & Utilities Committee

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

Water & Environmental 

HB 206 by Representative Steven Sainz (R-St. Marys): would create Commercial Property Assessed Conservation, Energy, and Resiliency Development Authorities and would allow some qualifying entities to pay for qualifying energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements through commercial property-assessed clean energy (C-PACE) financing options.

Status: Passed the House Governmental Affairs Committee. Now in the House Rules Committee; may be heard on the floor today. As of writing, this has not made the Rules Calendar in the House.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 306 by Representative Tim Fleming (R-Covington): the original version of this legislation would have allowed energy cost savings measures, which include facility alterations, retrofitting, renovation, or new construction that reduces energy or water consumption or is designed to generate revenue, to be excluded from competitive bidding processes. The problematic provision regarding the exemption from competitive bid processes has been removed.

Status: Passed out of the House Governmental Affairs Committee by substitute (i.e, it was amended by the committee); passed the House 170-1. Assigned to the Senate Education & Youth Committee. 

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

Local Government 

HB 146 by Representative Derek McCollum (R-Chestnut Mountain): proposes to expand the definition of  “municipality” as it relates to water and sewer projects and costs tax (MOST) to include any municipality with a corporate boundary that extends into three or more counties.

Status: This bill received a hearing in the House Ways & Means Committee, but has not yet been considered for a vote.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 160 by Representative Gerald Greene (R-Cuthbert): proposes to create a community improvement district in the city of Albany.

Status: Passed the House Intragovernmental Coordination Committee. The House passed this bill by a vote of 166 to 0. This bill passed the Senate 54-0. It is now eligible for the Governor’s signature.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 193 by Representative Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia): proposes to raise the minimum dollar amount for bids for public works contracts which are required to go to a competitive bidding process from $100,000 to $250,000. This adjustment proposal is the result of inflation. The current $100,000 threshold was created in 2000 and has not been adjusted since its original passage.

Status: Passed the House Governmental Affairs Committee. Passed the House by a vote of 164-4. Has been assigned to the Senate Government Oversight Committee.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation

HB 220 by Representative Rob Leverett (R-Elberton): the original proposal would have allowed owners’ associations to pursue injunctive relief, without the need to first pursue or utilize other available or alternative remedies. This bill was amended to allow owners’ associations to pursue injunctive relief if a written notice is ignored for over 10 days.  

Status: Passed the House Judiciary Committee. Passed the House 144-22. Assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation  

HB 230 by Representative Mark Newton (R-Augusta): proposes to create a special purpose local option sales tax for a “coliseum capital outlay project”. The capital outlay project’s definition is narrowly tailored, with operation and ownership provisions limited to a consolidated government or one or more local authorities, among other very specific provisions. The SPLOST would be referendum led and would include 0.5% sales tax on applicable goods defined in the bill and a 0.5% sales tax on motor fuel when price per gallon is less than $3.00. The narrow definition indicates that this would very likely only affect Augusta-Richmond projects.

Status: Passed the House Ways & Means Committee. Passed the House 165-7. Awaiting Senate committee assignment.  

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 374 by Representative Brad Thomas (R-Woodstock): proposes to create a process by which residents and property owners can deannex out of a city (as long as they are within reasonable boundaries of the city’s limits) and become part of an unincorporated area of a county, without the need for legislative approval.

Status: Assigned to the House Governmental Affairs Committee; this bill is likely dead for the session.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 461 by Representative Brad Thomas (R-Woodstock): would clarify that the proceeds of regulatory fees charges by local governments be used only to fund the regulatory activity the fee is imposed for and prohibit local governments from utilizing these fees as a profit generator or to be utilized for general expenses.

Status: Assigned to the House Ways & Means Committee. Did not receive a hearing; likely dead for the session.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 514 by Representative Dale Washburn (R-Macon): places a shot clock of 180 or fewer days on moratoriums on new housing construction by local governments to eliminate the ability for local governments to conduct indefinite moratoriums.

Status: Passed the House Governmental Affairs Committee; is now in the House Rules Committee.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 516 by Representative Derek McCollum (R-Chestnut Mountain): is the annual GDOT housekeeping bill. Currently, GDOT is prohibited from negotiating any contract for the construction or maintenance of a public road involving the expenditure of $200,000 or more. The bill proposes to increase that limit to $500,000. The bill also revises various provisions of the public-private-partnerships including eliminating duplicative public comment processes.

Status: Passed out of the House Transportation Committee. Now in the House Rules committee.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 517 by Representative Dale Washburn (R-Macon): proposes to prevent local governments from regulating various building design elements, such as the style of porches and the number of bedrooms in a housing unit. Proponents of this legislation say this would reduce the cost of regulation and therefore reduce the cost of building new homes. Opponents of the bill state this is an overreach on local control.

Status: Assigned to the House Government Affairs Committee; has not yet passed the committee. Likely dead for the session.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

SB 113 by Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula): is a proposal to allow for the transition of existing services in a municipality to another newly incorporated municipality and to allow a new city to purchase existing water or sewer systems from the existing city. This bill is complimentary to the City of Buckhead City proposal below.  

Status: Passed the Senate State & Local Governmental Operations Committee. Made it to the Senate Rules calendar, but the Senate “tabled” the bill (which means the vote was postponed and can be called off the table to be voted on by the Senate again, but it likely will not since the Buckhead City proposal failed).

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

SB 114 by Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula): proposes to create the city of Buckhead City out of portions of Atlanta. If passed, the city would only be incorporated following a successful referendum.

Status: Passed the Senate State & Local Governmental Operations Committee. Failed on the floor of the Senate by a vote of 23-33 (needs 29 to pass).  

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

SB 136 by Senator Mike Dugan (R-Carrollton): would allow local governments to waive impact fees for workforce housing projects.

Status: This bill has passed the Senate Economic Development & Tourism Committee. Currently on the Senate Rules Calendar for Crossover.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

SB 156 by Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula): would revise county special purpose local option sales taxes (SPLOST), for consolidated governments only, to allow the proceeds of the SPLOST to be utilized to establish a maintenance reserve fund for newly approved projects. However, a limit of 5% of the annual proceeds of the SPLOST may be deposited into the reserve fund.

Status: Assigned to the Senate Finance Committee; failed to make it out of committee in time. Is dead for the session.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

SB 161 by Senator John Kennedy (R-Macon): creates cyber security requirements and an external data privacy program for contractors doing work with local governments. The external data privacy program would include quarterly scans for each of its employees’ personally identifiable information, an annual privacy risk assessment, annual privacy training, among other provisions. We are currently reviewing this legislation.

Status: Assigned to the Senate Science & Technology Committee; did not make it out of committee in time. Is dead for the session.

ACEC Georgia is reviewing this legislation

SB 171 by Senator Max Burns (R-Sylvania): would provide lien rights for contactors who preform work for a development authority if the development authority does not pay for that work. Currently, there are no remedies for situations where development authorities do not pay their contactors, this bill aims to give contractors a remedy for unpaid payments.

Status: Passed the Senate Economic Development & Tourism Committee. This bill made the Senate Rules calendar for Crossover and will likely be heard and voted on today.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation

SR 147 by Senator Derek Mallow (D-Savannah): is the bipartisan proposal for a Senate Local Option Sales Tax Study Committee. If the Senate chooses to adopt this resolution, a group of Senate members would meet over the summer and fall to discuss any potential pitfalls in local option sales taxes or opportunities to increase the overall value to the residents.

Status: Assigned to the Senate Rules Committee.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation 

SR 214 by Senator Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville): would create a Joint Study Committee on Local Options Sales Tax & Service Delivery Strategy. This committee would likely discuss any potential pitfalls in local option sales taxes or opportunities to increase the overall value to the residents, if passed by both chambers. Members would include legislators from both chambers.

Status: Passed the Senate Rules Committee. Is on the Senate Rules Calendar for debate today.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation.