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RLC Georgia 2007 Legislative Update
By Chris Farris | April 22, 2007
I wanted to update the membership on the 2007 Legislative session which adjourned Sine Die on Friday. Lost in the drama over the budget, vetoed tax cuts, and a possible constitutional crisis, were several good bills which passed and some bad ones which were killed.
This year the RLC Legislative Committee took a position on 10 bills.
- Support SB 10 – Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act
- Oppose SB 155 – Mandatory HPV Vaccines for girls entering the 6th grade
- Oppose SB 43 – The “Guns in Parking Lot” bill
- Oppose SB 28 – Insuring Georgia’s Families Act
- Support HB 107 – Franchise Fee reform
- Support SB 12 – Zero Based Budgeting.
- Support SB 26/137 – Sunday Sales
- Support SB 5 – Delay implementation of the REAL ID Act.
- Support HB 269 – Commuter Rail Referendum
- Support HB 66 – The elimination of the State Income Tax
This bill provides school choice (vouchers or “scholarships) for parents of children with special needs. We supported this bill because we believe that choice brings about competition, and competition will improve the schools.  It passed the House and Senate in the final few hours of the session.
The RLC opposed this bill because it was a violation of a family’s privacy, and because the the human papillomarvirus is not airborne or otherwise easily contagious. This bill stalled in the Senate Rules Committee after a public outcry.
The RLC opposed SB 43 on the grounds that is violated an employers right to decide what materials may be brought onto their property. This poorly thought out bill pitted Gun Rights against Property Rights. We support both, but in this case where they conflict, the Legislative Committee sided with Property Rights. This bill failed to pass in either it original form or as an attachment to House Bill 89.
This will was an attempt to address the issues with employer and government provided health care. However it contained an anti-liberty provision that would mandated individuals buy insurance and authorized the state to garnish wages if said individual did not. It is for this reason we opposed SB 28, which died in committee, without a hearing.
House Bill 107 will impose greater transparency, breaking out the cost of government in the bills consumers receive each month. It will also impose fairness in taxation. Consumers will not be forced to pay the fees and taxes imposed upon a utility by political jurisdictions in which they do not reside and have no vote. This bill passed both houses.
This bill would require that once every four years, each department’s spending be reset to zero, and that the entire budget for that department must be reviewed and approved by the General Assembly – not just the new spending. This will lead to cutting wasteful or unnecessary line items saving the taxpayers money. This bill unanimously passed the Senate but was not addressed by the House
The RLC feels that the restrictions on the sale of alcohol on Sunday are a violation of an individuals right to transact business as there is no compelling public safety reason to keep this ban in place. SB 26 had problems in that irrationally distinguished between types of alchols in an apparent effort to benefit certain retailers over others. These defects were largely repaired in SB137, which passed out of committee only to die in the Senate Rules Committee. Its free market aspects are clear and passage of this measure should be a no-brainer for a party that believes in the free market.
This bill would have delayed Georgia’s implementation of the Real ID act until such time as the US Department of Homeland Security addressed several dangerous privacy issues with the bill. SB 5 was attached to a house bill regarding drivers license fees, but that amendment failed to pass the house and the Senate chose to remove the language from the House bill.
This bill would have required a public referendum before a county or municipality could obligate its citizens to subsidize unprofitable commuter rail projects. We agree, but the House did not act on this bill.
This bill would elimate the State Income Tax. We agree. but this bill was not heard in committee
We consider the passage of SB10, and HB107 along with the failure to act on SB43, SB28 and SB155 as RLC successes. In 2008 we plan to make Zero Based Budgeting, Sunday Sales, and SR 20, which in its latest form includes SR 5 and both limits the size of the budget and how the supplemental budget can be spent, as our top three legislative priorities.
I want to thank the RLC Legislative Committee for reviewing these bills and helping us draft our position statements. The 2007 RLC Legislative Committee consisted of Todd Pull, Clint Murphy, Walter White, David Suddoth, Jason Pye, Josh Ondich, Robbie Honerkamp, and myself.
Again, thanks for your support.
Chris Farris
Chairman
Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia
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