SWGA Politics

Change HOPE to Need Based?

Senator Jack Hill, the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has introduced a bill to allow HOPE scholarships based on need, with the explicit intent that these scholarships “be targeted at the neediest students”.

Now, before going too far into this post, I should note that this is in ADDITION to current HOPE scholarships, it is NOT replacing them.

With that said, HOPE is one of those entitlement programs that is costing the State quite a bit of money – money that, as I’ve been discussing for the past week on this site, the State really doesn’t have right now. The problem for legislators is that, like Social Security at the National level, HOPE really has become the third rail of Georgia politics.
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Zombie Bill!

This one just won’t die!

Last year, one of the first bills I took on head on here on this site was HB 614, the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. I teamed up with Jason and others across the State – including Neal Boortz at one point! – to get this bill killed once it was brought to our attention, and it died in the Senate only to have a resuscitation attempt made in the House in the form of an amendment to another bill.

Now, it has been re-introduced in a new bill, SB 418, minus the “Prescription Drug Monitoring Program” title. 418 is largely the exact same thing as 614. Clearly, there are elements within the General Assembly that desperately want this measure to pass.
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Roosters in Subdivisions? Say It Aint So!

Lately, some “liberty” (I use the term loosely here) activists have gotten it into their heads that local governments are trying to persecute them.

How?

By saying “no” to roosters in subdivisions.

So they had their go-to boy, State Rep Bobby Franklin, introduce a bill that would preempt local control on this issue and mandate that no local government could prohibit gardening nor the keeping of chickens, goats, or rabbits – and nor could they require a permit for these activities.
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Open Letter to Members of House Government Affairs Elections Subcommittee

Dear Rep,

I know with the session starting back in full swing today, you really don’t have time to read a lot of emails, so I’ll make this short.

Please vote for favorable passage of Rep Reese’s HB 1141 in the Elections subcommittee meeting today.

I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but right now anyone who seeks to run for a statewide office under any banner other than Democrat/Republican/Libertarian must collect signatures from 5% of the registered voters in the state -roughly 50,000 signatures- on a nomination petition, just to be allowed to be on the ballot. This is in addition to the same filing fee D/R/L candidates pay. This represents an undue burden that has RARELY – if ever – been met. Rep Reese’s proposal changes this requirement to the lesser of 5% or 5,000.
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Ballot Access Bill Introduced in Ga House!

Last week, a ballot access bill was introduced in the Ga House that is much more compact than Senator Shafer’s Voter Choice and Ballot Access Act. Where Senator Shafer’s bill allows ballot access at ALL levels once a political body gains statewide access, this bill makes it easier for political organizations to run candidates statewide – and thereby possibly gain statewide ballot access.

This bill is Rep Bobby Reece’s HB 1141. What this bill does is essentially cuts the number of signatures required for an organization to gain statewide ballot access by a whole order of magnitude. Instead of having to get 1% of registered voters for a statewide race (roughly 50,000 signatures, per Jason Pye), this bill says that a minimum of 5,000 signatures are needed. It also says that for any other office, the lesser of 5% of the registered voters in the district or 5,000 signatures is needed.
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Government Chickens!

The age-old issue of legal tender has been reignited with the introduction yesterday of State Senator David Shafer’s “Sound Money in Banking Act”, SB 416.

This is an issue that was a central one in the Civil War and “Wild West” eras and per my history books was largely settled by the turn of the 20th century via a couple of acts of Congress and several Supreme Court cases.

But there are those who to this day want to revert our monetary systems back to the “good old” days when Cotton was King and the Stars and Bars flew high and proud. They claim that legal tender laws are unconstitutional and that paper money is not “sound”.
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In Committee Today: Thursday, February 11, 2010

Senate Education and Youth Committee (pdf)

• SB 298, Senator Valencia Seay’s bill making first aid certification a high school graduation requirement
• SB 132, Senator Vincent Fort’s Dropout Deterrent Act
• SB 386, Senator Don Balfour’s bill to establish a performance-based salary schedule for teachers

Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee (pdf)

• SB 237, Senator Jeff Mullis’ bill banning fuel price gouging during abnormal market disruptions
• SB 384, Senator John Bulloch’s bill allowing the Office of the Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner to regulate manufactured homes

Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee (pdf)

• SB 148, Senator Davis Shafer’s bill regarding the Georgia Occupational Regulation Review Law
• SB 150, Senator David Shafer’s bill repealing OCGA 43-22 regarding Junk Dealers
• SB 335, Senator Jack Murphy’s bill allowing local control on alcohol sales on premises within 100 yards of housing authority property

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Press Release: Libertarian Party Backs Voter Choice Legislation

ATLANTA – Legislation has been introduced in the Georgia General Assembly to give voters more choice at the ballot box by expanding ballot access to political bodies.

Georgia laws states that in order for a candidate to get on the ballot he must turn in petitions equaling 5 percent of the registered voters from the district he plans to run in. If a candidate plans to run statewide, he or she must get signatures from 1 percent of registered voters in the state.

The 1 percent rule also applies to parties attempting to receive a line on the ballot. Provided they are successful they are still not a “party” as defined by Georgia law, they are a “political body” and they must receive 1 percent of the registered vote in any statewide race to maintain that status. In order to receive an automatic ballot line for all candidates and major party status, a candidate for governor or president must receive 20 percent of the popular vote nationally in a general election. If a party falls below 20 percent, it loses major party status.
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In Committee Today: Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Senate Ethics Committee (pdf)

• HB 540, Rep Austin Scott’s bill regarding election law

Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee (pdf)

• SB 322, Senator Chip Pearson’s bill regarding zoning laws and property covenants

Senate Natural Resources and the Environment Committee (pdf)

• SB 321, Senator Chip Pearson’s bill regarding private reservoirs
• SR 859, Senator Judson Hill’s resolution urging the US Congress to adopt the broadest possible five year plan for offshore development from the Minerals Management Service of the Department of the Interior.

Senate Government Oversight Committee (pdf)

• SB 143, Senator Robert Brown’s bill regarding timeframes of appeals of actions by government agencies (Hearing Only)
• SB 254, Senator Chip Rogers’ bill allowing the State Properties Commission to enter into multiyear lease agreements
• SB 363, Senator Greg Goggans’ bill allowing the Georgia Student Finance Authority to use any state health insurance plan for its employees and their dependents (Hearing Only)

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Bill Criminalizing Abortion Introduced

Every morning, I do at least a quick scan of LEGIS for any new bills introduced, and I read the ones that happen to catch my eye for any given reason.

This morning there were a couple that caught my eye, though only one of them is the subject of this post.

The bill in question goes by a fairly innocent name – the “Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act” -and is introduced by a “Constitutionalist” – Barry Loudermilk -that clearly can’t read the Constitution.

This bill criminalizes “intent” to perform an abortion if the “intent” is in any way based on race, color, or sex of the fetus and makes performing an abortion with this “intent” a felony.
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