By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@thecitizennews.com

State Sen. Greg Hecht is pleased with his first two years of work since making the transition from the state House to the Senate in 1998.

“We have a great agenda right now in the legislature: tax relief, tough law enforcement, education and consumer protection,” Hecht said following the end of the 2000 legislative session last week.

A Jonesboro lawyer, Hecht represents parts of Clayton, Fayette, Fulton and Douglas counties in the 34th District.

In addition to liking the legislature's general direction, Hecht said he is pleased that he has personally authored 15 bills that have passed both houses over the last two years.

Passed this year are:

” The Victim's Rights Bill: Senate Bill 228 allows victims of crimes to appeal the exclusion of evidence by a trial court judge from the prosecution's case in a trial against an accused criminal. Under current law, motions to exclude evidence are not appealable by the prosecutor, who represents the victims of a crime, but are appealable by the defendant in a case.

“Victims of crimes such as rape, armed robbery and other felonies deserve at least as much protection under the law as criminals,” said Hecht. “We must protect the rights of our victims of crimes.”

” A Mental Health care Ombudsmen Program, coauthored by Hecht with five other state senators who worked on the Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Study Committee during 1999. Senate Bill 479 provides for the training, screening and recruitment of individuals to oversee the provision of mental health care, mental retardation and substance abuse services.

It's aimed at preventing physical abuse of patients, preventing fraudulent billing practices and ensuring quality service, said Hecht. “Our community service boards and regional boards are doing tremendous jobs under tough circumstances,” he said. “However, at the same time, a number of regions have been audited. Some of these regions have shown fraudulent billing practices, absent documentation and a lack of sufficient care for our citizens with mental illness or retardation.”

” Georgia Mentoring Act of 2000: The legislation will establish a major emphasis on screening, training and gaining volunteers to mentor children having difficulties with academics. The bill provides for a program through the Children and Youth Coordinating Council's office to coordinate mentoring programs in all counties in the state. Besides screening and training volunteers, the program will reward counties with successful mentoring programs.

“Mentoring is a tremendous program for our children,” Hecht said. “The Mentoring Act will provide for a coordinated effort throughout the state to give children individualized assistance and encouragement.”

” Elder and Disabled Protection Act: SB 407 provides for enhanced penalties for the battery of elderly and disabled Georgians and requires anyone holding property for elderly and disabled Georgians while they seek health care to use it solely for the benefit of that person. In addition, the bill creates a crime for denying sustenance to elderly and disabled people while they are served by a long term care facility or by another custodian. Lastly, the bill sets up reporting requirements for certain professionals for reporting abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

“This legislation will punish those who financially exploit and physically abuse our disabled and elder Georgians who have taught us so much,” said Hecht. Our parents and grandparents have continued to be our source of strength, and we need to protect their future from con men and scam artists who defraud or exploit them financially.”

” A bill to expand the DNA database for convicted felons: The legislation will increase the database for DNA samples to be taken from all violent felons. The database will be used to try and track down missing or unknown suspects who leave saliva, blood, perspiration or another bodily fluid.

Upon the finding or gathering of a specimen with a DNA pattern, law enforcement will now turn to the database of convicted felons to determine the presence of a convicted felon at a crime scene. “DNA technology is the most advanced forensic technology we have,” said Hecht. “The use of this DNA technology upon convicted felons to locate missing criminal suspects is a tremendous step into the new millennium for crime detection.”

” Sales Tax Holiday Resolution: Hecht and Tim Golden introduced the resolution calling for a nine-day statewide “sales tax holiday” exempting from state and local sales tax back-to-school items such as clothing and school supplies during the first weekend in August.

The resolution urges the Georgia House of Representatives, where tax measures are required to originate, to pass legislation known as the “Georgia Family Sales Tax Relief Act of 2000.”

“This proposed legislation would save the working families of Georgia millions of dollars in taxes by making clothing and certain back-to-school items more affordable for their children and at the same time would boost sales for our local merchants,” said Hecht.

” SB 462: The bill targets fraudulent pre-need sales agents, burial companies which do not keep up and maintain grave sites, predatory solicitors for burial service and merchandise and companies charging exorbitant fees for placing markers on grave sites. The maximum charge allowed for an outside vendor to place a marker is limited to $50 under the bill, and the bill requires all consumers to be able to gain a price list without hidden charges and a copy of cancellation and refund policies of the cemetery or funeral director's place of business.

“At the time of death of a parent, spouse or child, the surviving family members are in a great deal of grief and vulnerability,” said Hecht. “While many of the companies and professionals in this industry respect this loss, others have taken advantage of this grief and vulnerability at this critical time in the consumer's life. This bill stops this exploitation and related fraudulent practices.”

The bill resulted from a year of statewide hearings where consumers complained about the same plots being sold to two different families, failure of several companies to maintain grave sites and companies allowing graves to be completely covered over by brush, plants and grass. Consumers complained of being charged $500 to $1,000 just to have a marker placed at a grave site.

” Technology Crimes Bill: SB 307, aimed at criminals using technology to create false universal product code labels and false receipts to rip off Georgia businesses, prescribes felony penalties for organized theft rings and individuals who gain merchandise at a lower price with false universal product code labels as well as criminalizing the act of returning merchandise to retailers with false universal product code labels and fake receipts.

According to the Georgia Retail Council, thieves of this kind and others rob the economy of $16 billion a year through these high technology crimes and shoplifting.

” Legislation to Protect Injured Law Enforcement, Firefighters and Public Safety Officers from Injuries Due to Violence/Fire: SB 377 and SR 204 call for a constitutional referendum to provide for differential pay by the state between workers' compensation benefits and the salary for up to a year for public safety personnel injured due to violence or fire. The cost of the bill is minimal as the State Indemnification Fund is presently over-funded, said Hecht.

“Our law enforcement officers, firefighters, deputies, prison guards, probation and parole officers perform inherently dangerous work. We must give them the message that we will protect them if they are injured in the line of duty due to violence or fighting a fire,” he said.

” Open Government Legislation: SB 295 requires counties and cities with over 5,000 residents to codify their local ordinances and provide copies to requesting citizens at a reasonable price. Cities with less than 5,000 residents must organize their ordinances and make copies available to the public under the bill.

Also, copies of all city and county codes must be made available to the state of Georgia. The codification deadline is Jan. 1, 2002 under the bill.

“Many cities and counties maintain organized published versions of their codes, [but] a number of cities and counties have versions of their ordinances in the bottom drawer of a clerk's office unavailable to the public,” said Hecht. “At the same time, residents are charged with violations of these ordinances and fined and punished as a result.

“All citizens of the United States deserve access to the ordinances under which they are being regulated,” he said.

Not passed was SB 461: The bill, which provides for the banning of cigarette vending machines as a means of access for cigarette sales, passed the Senate but stalled in the House Rules Committee. The bill was introduced to help prevent teen smoking, said Hecht, who quoted studies showing that teenagers are the main purchasers of cigarettes through cigarette vending machines.

“I am extremely appreciative of the opportunity to work in a bipartisan effort with Sen. Tanksley on proposed legislation which can improve the health of our children in Georgia,” said Hecht. “Vending machines are an access point for children for cigarettes which require no means of age identification to be presented. It is already illegal to sell cigarettes to minors, but we have given them access without enforcement against vending machine sales.

“I am disappointed the bill did not pass, but we will try again next year,” he said.

Hecht chairs the Senate Corrections Committee, is vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is chairman of an Appropriations subcommittee, and serves as a member on the Defense, Science and Technology Committee.