This past week Georgia lawmakers met for legislative days 33 through 35, leaving only 5 legislative days remaining before the end of this year’s legislative session which will Sine Die March 28th, 2024. Last Thursday, the House and Senate celebrated the late Speaker David Ralston’s birthday and unveiled a new portrait in his honor.

We are also deeply saddened by the news that our friend, the Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson, was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. Our thoughts and prayers are with the former Senator and his family at this time.

In transportation news, House Bill 617 by Chairman Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper) passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee this past week. The bill aims to 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. Further, it would create a Georgia Freight 2050 Program that would be administered by the Georgia Department of Transportation, which is intended to provide a framework for future funding of freight & logistics infrastructure. This bill largely aims to codify current efforts by GDOT and would solidify the legislature’s involvement in freight and logistics planning and subsequent future funding opportunities. This bill is currently pending in the Senate Rules Committee.

SB 374 by Senator Larry Walker (R-Perry), which comes at the request of the Surveying & Mapping Society of Georgia, passed out of the House Regulated Industries Committee this past Thursday. The bill would allow “de-coupling” of the professional land surveyor exam and experience requirements to allow surveyors to take their exam directly after completing their educational requirements. It also reduces the years of experience needed based on whichever educational pathway an aspiring surveyor choses to take. Any individual who receives the requisite educational requirements through a bachelor’s degree will only be required to have three years of field experience, while individuals who earn an associate’s degree will be required to earn five years of field experience. Lastly, any individual who receives a high school diploma may be eligible for a PLS license after receiving at least eight years of field experience. In all cases, applicants must have 18 credit hours of applicable coursework. The bill was amended in a subcommittee to include some experience requirements clarifications for soil and water conservation technicians and soil classifiers to clarify that at least two of the four years of experience required for these professionals must be obtained after their educational requirements are met and further clarifies what applicable experience will be required. On Thursday, the House Regulated Industries Committee passed an amendment recommended by Representative Dale Washburn (R-Macon) to allow any professional engineer who passes the professional land surveying licensing exams and meets the experience requirement to obtain a PLS license without obtaining the required 18 semester credit hours of surveying coursework.

The proposal to create a temporary moratorium on the sales tax exemption for the equipment used for high-technology data centers, HB 1192 by Representative John Carson (R-Marietta), which narrowly passed the House by a vote of 96 to 71, also narrowly passed the Senate on Thursday by a vote of 27 to 22. If signed by the Governor, the bill would go into effect on July 1, 2024 and would allow any data center facility to apply for a certificate of sales tax exemption before that point. Chairman Hufstetler stated that there is ambiguity in the tenant exemption (i.e. whether facilities owned by a parent company who received the sales tax exemption certificate can allow tenants to also receive the exemption) that he intends to address in another bill.

Numerous local bills received consideration over the last week. HB 1414 by Representative Scott Hilton (R-Peachtree Corners), which would create the Peachtree Corners Community Improvement Districts, passed the Senate and his now headed to the Governor’s desk for final approval. HB 1443 by Representative Betsy Holland (D-Atlanta), which allow MARTA to enforce bus or transit only lanes and authorizes them to use monitoring devices to enforce civil monetary penalties for the illegal use or parking of vehicles in those lanes, is still being considered by the House. HB 1330 by Representative Doug Stoner (D-Smyrna), which would create the Mableton Development Authority, has passed the House and is awaiting final approval in the Senate, which will likely take the form of the “local consent calendar” which allows local bills (which are generally non-controversial and agreeable to all parties) to be considered in bulk fashion. Additionally, Representative Matthew Gambill introduced HB 1472 (R-Cartersville) which proposes to create the Bartow County Community Improvement Districts. This bill is currently pending in the House Intragovernmental Coordination Committee.

This week, lawmakers will meet for legislative days 36 through 38.

LEGISLATION ACEC GEORGIA IS FOLLOWING:

Industry & Professions 

HB 880 by Representative Bethany Ballard (R-Warner Robins): proposes to allow military spouses with an existing occupational license in good standing from another state to bypass licensure board approval in order utilize their out-of-state license to work in Georgia. The committee substitute still allows military spouses to bypass the board if they have not received a decision from the board within 30 days and allows the board to revoke them exemption if the board finds that the individual is not in good standing or not qualified. A Senate amendment added a provision that would allow professional licensing boards to promulgate rules for this new provision.

Status: Assigned to the House Regulated Industries Committee; passed the Regulatory subcommittee of House Regulated Industries; passed out of the House Regulated Industries Committee; passed the House 168 to 0. Passed the Senate Veterans, Military, & Homeland Security Committee; passed the Senate 54 to 0. The House must “agree” to changes through another floor vote before being eligible for the Governor’s signature.

ACEC Georgia opposes this legislation.

HB 982 by Representative Matt Gambill (R-Cartersville): would require the State Workforce Development Board to develop, approve, and annually publish a high-demand career list identifying careers that are experiencing the most critical workforce shortages.

Status: Assigned to the House Higher Education Committee; passed the House Higher Education Committee; passed the House 161 to 1. Passed out of the Senate Higher Education Committee; passed the Senate 53 to 1.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation.

HB 1190 by Representative J Collins (R-Villa Rica): would allow the division director of the Professional Licensing Board Division (PLBD) of the Secretary of State’s office to issue a license to an individual who has applied for licensure who has not received a response within 60 days from the board in which they applied. We don’t believe this legislation directly affects engineers or land surveyors, as the PELS Board is not under the PLBD’s jurisdiction, but we are monitoring.

Status: Passed the House Regulated Industries Committee; passed the House 167 to 0. Passed the Senate Regulated Industries Committee.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation.

HB 1199 by Representative Clary Pirkle (R-Ashburn): proposes to streamline and simplify the process for which the state auditor reports statistics on architectural and engineering firms. The legislation would change the frequency with which reports are required (from monthly to annually) and states that the report shall include the percentage of the total work done by each such firm for any state entity.

Status: Passed the Government Affairs Committee; passed the House 166 to 0. Passed the Senate Government Oversight Committee.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation.

HB 1371 by Representative James Burchett (R-Waycross): deals with premises liability. Currently, if individuals come onto a property, regardless of whether that property is personal, commercial, or public, and they are injured by a third party that the owner is not privy to, the injured individual can sue the property owner. This legislation would clarify that if an individual comes onto a property with intent to commit a felony, or is injured on a property in a high crime area, that individual cannot sue the property owner.

Status: Passed the House Judiciary Committee. Passed the House 168 to 0. Assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

ACEC Georgia is reviewing 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 or other unknown or undisclosed reason, and creates a “preclearance” process for determining 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 in 2023. Currently in the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation

SB 374 by Senator Larry Walker (R-Perry): this bill comes at the request of the Surveying and Mapping Society of Georgia (SAMSOG). The bill proposes to revise education requirements for land surveyors by reducing the number of years of experience required and would allow decoupling of the exam and experience so that new surveyors in training can take their professional examination after completing the required education requirements rather than after completing their experience after several years of being out of school. This bill was amended to include changes to work experience requirements for soil technicians and soil classifiers. This bill currently includes a provision that would allow professional engineers to become land surveyors if they pass land surveying exams, but would exempt them from the necessary 18 credit hours of education. We’re currently working on addressing this amendment.  

Status: Passed the Senate Regulated Industries & Utilities; passed the Senate unanimously. Assigned to the House Regulated Industries Committee.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation

SB 426 by Senator Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia): aims to address “direct action”. The bill proposes limiting the number of ways in which an insurer can brought into a case involving a trucking accident. Currently, the state of Georgia allows a plaintiff to sue both a trucking company and their insurer, which has increased insurance premiums on businesses and consumers alike. The proposal would ban direct action except (1) when a trucking company enters/or is currently in bankruptcy or (2) when company officials are inaccessible after multiple attempts to serve them with the lawsuit.

Status: Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee; passed the Senate 46 to 2. Passed the House Judiciary Committee. Currently pending in the House Rules committee.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation

Transportation 

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. It would also create a Georgia Freight 2050 Program to be administered by the Georgia Department of Transportation that is intended to provide a framework for future funding of freight & logistics infrastructure.

Status: Passed out of the House Transportation Committee on 2/1/2024. Passed the House 168 to 0. Passed the Senate Transportation Committee. Pending in the Senate Rules committee.

ACEC Georgia supports this legislation

HB 946 by Representative Lee Hawkins (R-Gainesville): aims to increase TSPLOST availability. This proposal revises the current TSPLOST law to allow a county and the city(ies) within that county that make up 50% of the total county population to sign an intergovernmental agreement which would allow the proposed TSPLOST to be levied at 1%. Currently, if all of the cities within a county do not agree, the maximum amount that can be charged in a TSPLOST is 0.75 percent. Any cities that do not sign the agreement would be considered absent municipalities and will receive a share of the collected tax based on their proportionate share of the total municipal population within that county. Further, if all cities within the county sign the agreement, the tax may be levied up to six years, rather than five.

Status: Passed the Ways & Means committee; passed the House 173 to 1. Passed the Senate Finance Committee. Currently in the Senate Rules Committee.

ACEC Georgia supports this bill

HB 1443 by Representative Betsy Holland (D-Atlanta) would allow MARTA to enforce bus or transit only lanes and authorizes them to use monitoring devices to enforce civil monetary penalties for the illegal use or parking of vehicles in those lanes.

Status: Assigned to the House Intragovernmental Coordination Committee.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

SB 353 by Senator Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming): is a combination of the last 3 years of GDOT annual housekeeping bills. The provisions include: updating GDOT board voting procedures (allowing for email notifications); a clean up of terms to all RFPs to allow for RFPVs, which would be a RFP with versions; a clean-up of terms for alternative contracting methods; conforms the length of modular housing units that can move on roadways with federal standards; allows a coroner to designate an individual in absentia to officially establish a death on Georgia’s roadways; and clarifies that open records or data cannot be used to determine personally identifiable information of individuals moving along Georgia’s roadways.

Status: Assigned to the Senate Transportation Committee. The committee passed the bill unanimously. This bill passed the Senate on Jan 29. This bill has passed the House Transportation Committee; passed the House 152 to 0 on 2/16. This bill has been signed by the Governor.

ACEC Georgia supports 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; passed the House 134-38. Passed the Senate State & Local Governmental Operations Committee. Currently pending in the Rules committee.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

Local Government 

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: Passed the House Ways & Means Committee; passed the House 163 to 0. Passed the Senate Finance committee; currently pending in Rules.

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, previously the bill only dealt with single family home construction, this bill was amended in the Senate Economic Development Committee to include multi-family homes. This bill also creates exemptions to the shot clock for natural disasters, feasibility planning, or state of emergencies.

Status: Passed the House Governmental Affairs Committee; passed the House 127-43. Passed the Senate Economic Development & Tourism Committee with the multi-family home construction moratorium. Passed the Senate 42-12 with an amendment on waiving impact fees for workforce housing projects (SB 136). This bill is currently in a conference committee and is pending one more vote of approval in both chambers.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 516 by Representative Derek McCollum (R-Chestnut Mountain): is the annual GDOT housekeeping bill. Currently, GDOT is not required to negotiate any contract for the construction or maintenance of a public road involving the expenditure of $200,000 or less. 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. This past week, the Senate Transportation Committee amended the bill to allow the City of Atlanta to utilize wayfinding kiosks on state roads ahead of the World Cup. This provision is set to sunset in 2026. This bill will be heard again in committee Monday afternoon.

Status: Passed out of the House Transportation Committee; passed the House 167 to 2. Assigned to the Senate Transportation Committee.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

HB 1044 by Representative Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia): current state law requires all local governments to utilize a competitive selection process for any public works project estimated to be $100,000 or more. This proposal would raise the threshold for local governments and state agencies from $100,000 to $250,000. Last year, the Governor vetoed the bill because he wanted it to include state agencies. The new proposal addresses that concern; however, GDOT has requested to be removed from the bill.

Status: Passed the House Governmental Affairs Committee; passed the House 154 to 8. Passed the Senate Government Oversight committee. Currently pending in the Rules Committee.

ACEC Georgia supports this bill

HB 1407 by Representative John LaHood (R-Valdosta) deals with service delivery strategies. This proposal would require written analysis from cities and counties on the services to be provided in any given area, would establish service delivery strategy mapping standards throughout the state, and would require mandatory mediation for local governments who are unable to compromise. Those governments unable to compromise will risk losing their local government status.

Status: Passed the House Government Affairs Committee; passed the House 167 to 0. Passed the Senate State & Local Governmental Operations Committee. Currently pending in the Rules Committee.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring legislation

HB 1414 by Representative Scott Hilton (R-Peachtree Corners): would create the Peachtree Corners Community Improvement Development Districts.

Status: Assigned to the House Intragovernmental Coordination Committee. This bill passed the House through the local calendar (local bills are usually placed on a list of bills for bulk consideration called the local calendar). Passed the Senate State & Local Governmental Operations Committee; passed the Senate. Currently eligible for the Governor’s signature.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring 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. Passed the Senate 49-4. Passed the House Governmental Affairs Committee—Dugan has resigned, but another Senator is rumored to be interested in picking this legislation up.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this legislation

SB 171 by Senator Max Burns (R-Sylvania): originally proposed to provide lien rights for contactors who preform work for a development authority if the development authority does not pay for that work. However, all mentions of lien rights have been stripped from this legislation. It currently only deals with development authority directors or members and their training requirements.

Status: Passed the Senate Economic Development & Tourism Committee; passed the Senate 50 to 2. Passed the House Governmental Affairs Committee; passed the House 174 to 1.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring legislation

SB 333 Senator Clint Dixon (R-Gwinnett): proposes to create the City of Mulberry. The city would be compromised of part of unincorporated Gwinnett County and would have a total population of 35,000. Proponents of the city state that there would not be property taxes, and that the proposal is about local control and comes as a response to crowded schools, traffic congestion, and apartment density. This bill would allow all individuals affected to vote to approve the city. SB 333 is the companion bill in the Senate.

Status: Passed the Senate 30 to 18. Passed the House 101 to 63. The Governor has signed this bill; a referendum will be held in November for voters in the affected area to approve the city’s charter.

ACEC Georgia is monitoring this bill