SWGA Politics

State Senate Bills I Find Interesting (SB197 – SB210)[ February 28, 2009 – 6:42 am]by Jeff Posted in » Commentary

Conclusions:

SB 197: SUPPORT
SB 198: OPPOSE
SB 199: SUPPORT
SB 200: OPPOSE
SB 201: SUPPORT
SB 202: OPPOSE
SB 203: OPPOSE
SB 204: SUPPORT
SB 205: OPPOSE
SB 206: SUPPORT
SB 207: SUPPORT
SB 208: SUPPORT
SB 209: OPPOSE
SB 210: SUPPORT
[Commentary]

These Representatives Care More About GA Power’s Profits than Georgia Citizens[ February 27, 2009 – 1:41 pm]by Jeff Posted in » State

The following is a list of all YEA votes on Senate Bill 31.

From the area I normally cover here on SWGA Politics:

State Representatives:
Mike Cheokas (D-Americus)
Carol Fullerton (D-Albany)
Buddy Harden (R-Cordele)
Jay Powell (R-Camilla)

State Senators:
John Crosby (R-Tifton)
John Bulloch (R-Ochlocknee)
[Full State List]

A Note to my readers connected to GA Power by jobs or families’ jobs[ February 27, 2009 – 4:54 am]by Jeff Posted in » State

My position on SB 31 was NOT against GA Power as a company. Indeed, as was said by virtually everyone on the floor of the House yesterday – both for and against the measure -, GA Power is a good corporate citizen. NO ONE denied that. All of the GA Power employees I’ve ever known have also been some of the nicest people I’ve ever known. Again, I don’t remember anyone on the floor of the House or even in the blogosphere denying that.

Our concerns were simple:

1) SB 31 causes ratepayers to experience a rate increase in a time when paying their power bill is hard enough already. GA Power can borrow the money at 4% interest rate, yet the average GA family has $6,000 in credit card debt with an average interest rate of 14%. This means that for every dollar that GA power is paying $0.04 in interest on for its construction debt, that family is having to pay $0.14 on its credit card debt. Looking at it in just those terms, this means that the family is paying 350% more interest than GA Power.

Furthermore, apparently many of the pro-SB 31 crowd were worried about GA Power’s credit rating (for a company that size, it is called a ‘bond rating’). And here I ask: Which is more likely to experience a lowered credit rating: A company that makes BILLIONS of dollars a year or a family that makes $30K per year? Ga Power has been known for GENERATIONS as one of the safest companies to invest in. This means that people have known for DECADES that Ga Power was going to be there, be stable, and be productive. And that is quite a testimony to the overall company, as not very many companies – particularly in the current economic climate – can say that anymore. So again I ask, who is in more danger of a lowered credit rating and the negative consequences it entails: A mutli-BILLION dollar a year, highly stable, highly reliable company that has been around for decades, or a family of four making $30K a year with $6,000 in credit card debt and who knows how much in a mortgage?

The answer to that seems clear to me.
[Continue Reading]

These Representatives Care about GA Citizens[ February 26, 2009 – 6:53 pm]by Jeff Posted in » State

The following is a list of all NAY votes on Senate Bill 31.

From the area I normally cover here on SWGA Politics:

State Representatives:
Winfred Dukes (D-Albany)
Bob Hanner (D-Parrott)
Ed Rynders (R-Albany)

Gerald Greene (D-Cuthbert) was excused from the House today, he told me via email that was against this bill.

State Senators:
George Hooks (D-Americus)
Freddie Sims (D-Albany)
[Full State List]

State Senate Detailed Voting Record, Day 22[ February 25, 2009 – 5:59 am]by Jeff Posted in » State

Go over to GLW and check out my latest post for them. It is a nearly-live record of the Senate’s activities yesterday. (I had set my computer at home to download the live feed, and I wrote up the blog based on that. Still much faster than the overnight turnaround on the voting records and certainly much faster than the one week turnaround on GPB posting the video.)

My commentary on the day’s measures:

SB 20, SB 30, SB 38, SB 76, SB 79, SB 89, SB 105, SB 120

Senate Votes This Session and How Local Senators Voted[ February 23, 2009 – 6:46 pm]by Jeff Posted in » State

This will follow the same format as the House post, and I would like to put the same note at the beginning of this post as well:

If any Senator would like to explain their vote, they are more than welcome to contact me and I will post their explanation here.

SB 1: PASSED Yea: 50 Nay: 0 Not Voting: 4 Excused: 2
Yea: Bulloch, Crosby, Hooks, Sims

SB 13: PASSED Yea: 54 Nay: 0 Not Voting: 1 Excused: 1
Yea: Bulloch, Crosby, Hooks, Sims

SB 39: PASSED Yea: 52 Nay: 3 Not Voting: 0 Excused: 1
Yea: Bulloch, Crosby, Hooks, Sims

SR 44: ADOPTED Yea: 53 Nay: 2 Not Voting: 0 Excused: 1
Yea: Bulloch, Crosby, Hooks, Sims
[Continue]

House Votes This Session and How Local Representatives Voted[ February 23, 2009 – 6:21 am]by Jeff Posted in » State

Here’s how this one will work: I’ll list the bill number followed by the overall house vote in parenthesis, all in bold. On the next line, I’ll detail any yea votes from area Representatives, and on the line below that I’ll detail any nay votes from area Representatives in italics. On the third line, I will list any not voting/excused votes from area Representatives in underline.

I welcome any Representatives who wish to explain their votes to contact me and I will list your explanation on this blog.

HB 117: PASSED: Yea: 148 Nay: 0 Not Voting: 21 Excused: 11
Yea: Cheokas, Dukes, Fullerton, Greene, Hanner, Harden, Powell, Rynders

HB 143: PASSED: Yea: 117 Nay: 55 Not Voting: 2 Excused: 6
Yea: Cheokas, Greene, Hanner, Harden, Powell, Rynders
Nay: Dukes, Fullerton

HB 141: PASSED: Yea: 161 Nay: 5 Not Voting: 5 Excused: 9
Yea: Cheokas, Fullerton, Green, Hanner, Harden, Powell, Rynders
Not Voting/Excused: Dukes

HB 60: PASSED: Yea: 165 Nay: 0 Not Voting: 6 Excused: 9
Yea: Cheokas, Fullerton, Green, Hanner, Harden, Powell, Rynders
Not Voting/Excused: Dukes

HB 49: PASSED Yea: 170 Nay: 0 Not Voting: 7: Excused: 3
Yea: Cheokas, Dukes, Fullerton, Greene, Hanner, Harden, Powell, Rynders
[Continue]

Bills Co-sponsored by Local Representatives, Feb 23 update[ February 23, 2009 – 5:12 am]by Jeff Posted in » State

Bills introduced in the House sponsored or consponsored by local Representatives since the Feb 1 update:

State Rep Mike Cheokas (D-Americus) has cosponsored HB 275 and sponsored HB 518.

State Rep Winfred Dukes (D-Albany) has cosponsored HB 290.

State Rep Carol Fullerton (D-Albany) has yet to cosponsor any legislation.

State Rep Gerald Greene (D-Cuthbert) has sponsored HB 75, HB 87, HB 105, HB 284, HB 285, and HB 432 and cosponsored HB 248, HB 312, HB 464, HB 479, and HB 506. Note here that HB75, HB87, and HB105 were actually in January, I simply forgot to list them on the Feb 1 update.

State Rep Bob Hanner (D-Parrott) has cosponsored HB 529.

State Rep Buddy Harden (R-Cordele) has cosponsored HB 273, HB 368, and HB 369.

State Rep Jay Powell (R-Camilla) has sponsored HB 478 and HB 479.

State Rep Ed Rynders (R-Albany) has not sponsored any new legislation in February.

This leaves the current count of bills as (listed from greatest to least, with number in parenthesis):

Greene (11: 6 sponsored, 5 cosponsored)
Cheokas (8: 2 sponsored, 6 cosponsored)
Harden (8: 1 sponsored, 7 cosponsored)
Powell (7: 3 sponsored, 4 cosponsored)
Hanner (3: 3 cosponsored)
Rynders (2: 1 sponsored, 1 cosponsored)
Dukes (1: 1 cosponsored)
Fullerton (0: none)

State Senate Bills I Find Interesting (SB181 – SB196)[ February 22, 2009 – 6:28 pm]by Jeff Posted in » Commentary

Conclusions:

SB181: SUPPORT
SB182: OPPOSE
SB183: OPPOSE
SB184: SUPPORT
SB185: OPPOSE
SB186: OPPOSE
SB187: OPPOSE
SB188: OPPOSE
SB189: OPPOSE
SB190: SUPPORT
SB191: SUPPORT
SB192: OPPOSE
SB193: SUPPORT
SB194: OPPOSE
SB195: OPPOSE
SB196: SUPPORT
[Commentary]

State Senate Bills I Find Interesting (SB165 – SB180)[ February 20, 2009 – 7:13 pm]by Jeff Posted in » Commentary

Conclusions:

SB165: SUPPORT
SB166: OPPOSE
SB167: OPPOSE
SB168: OPPOSE
SB169: OPPOSE
SB170: OPPOSE
SB171: OPPOSE
SB172: OPPOSE
SB173: SUPPORT
SB174: SUPPORT
SB175: OPPOSE
SB176: OPPOSE
SB177: TBD
SB178: SUPPORT
SB179: OPPOSE
SB180: OPPOSE
[Commentary]