Wednesday, February 25, 2004
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Wednesday, February 25, 2004 |
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Legislative roundup Last week was an eventful one at the State Capitol with the Senate passing a new Senate redistricting map, and also passing one of the lifestyle issue, concerning gay marriage. The following are takes on the week in review supplied from Fayette and Coweta’s legislators. Sen. Dan Lee The State Senate passed Senate Bill 522, the legislation that redraws the boundaries for the Georgia Senate districts. The Bill passed the Senate mostly along bi-partisan lines, 32-23. “I am proud that each and every one of us is here to fix what is wrong with this [the current Senate] map,” Lee told his Senate colleagues during debate. “The [Federal] Court said that this map was unconstitutional when it was drawn and it gets more unconstitutional everyday. The judges have told us that these maps are ‘incredibly’ wrong. We have an opportunity to fix it today.” The current map splits 88 counties, while the map that passed splits only 33. The new map’s total deviation is less than two percent, while the current map’s total deviation is ten percent. “If I had a box of crayons and could draw the map of the district I would represent, it probably would look different than what you see up here,” Lee went on to say. “But that is not what this is about, it’s bigger than me, it’s bigger than you, it’s bigger than your district - it has to do with looking out for all of Georgia.” Sen. Valencia Seay The Legislature has passed the midway point, and with issues like same-sex unions and redistricting behind us, we can look forward to what lies ahead in the remainder of the 2004 Legislative Session. I would like to share with you what we have accomplished thus far — and what work we still have to accomplish for you, the people of Georgia. • Child Endangerment (SB 467) — Currently Georgia is the only state without a child protection law. This law changes the definition of cruelty to children and will make it unlawful to manufacture or possess methamphetamine in the presence of children. • Ethics (SB 517) — This legislation is a comprehensive ethics reform package that addresses campaign contributions, nepotism and lobbyist disclosures among other issues. • Education (SB 428/429/456) — We must ensure that our youngest citizens have the proper foundation, and that is education. Senate Bills 428, 429 and 456 are all legislative measures that will improve education administration and student performance. SB 428 will ensure that our children attend school regularly. SB 429 will make administrators more accountable and SB 456 will institute a more effective early education program in our state. • Faith and Family Services (SR 560) — This will provide for changes in the language of the state constitution that will allow faith-based organizations to assist Georgians with programs that the state cannot provide in these austere budget times. • Georgia Smoke Free Act (SB 507) — This bill would enact the Georgia Smoke Free Act to prohibit smoking in certain facilities and areas. • Regulatory Reform (SB 361) — Known as the Regulatory Reform Act of 2003,this will help small businesses by explaining, in advance, regulatory criteria, notices that are issued and summaries of proposed changes in regulations that could affect prospective businesses. • HOPE Scholarship (SB 471) — This bill would adjust the methods of eligibility and reporting systems for the HOPE Scholarship. • Game and Fish (SR 563) — This bill amends the Constitution to specifically state citizens‚ rights to hunt, fish and harvest game. • Forest Heritage (SB 480) — Known as the Forest Heritage Trust Act of 2004, this bill creates the Forest Heritage Trust Program which will protect and preserve forestlands as an element of Georgia’s heritage. • Child Molestation (SB 469) — This will protect children from convicted molesters by enabling judges to require perpetrators to be monitored by electronic surveillance or global positioning tracking systems in addition to jail time. The legislation also empowers the trial judge to restrict the offender from specific areas. • Tax exemption for soldiers (SB 393) — This bill assists the citizens who serve our state and country as members of the armed forces. It provides them with certain time extensions for payment of their ad valorem taxation. Sen. Mike Crotts Sen. Crotts (R-Conyers) is hopeful for a speedy passage of the Marriage & Families Act by the state House of Representatives. It is now in the House Rules Committee. “I am confident in the House Rules Committee that they will send this resolution, unamended, to the floor of the House for immediate passage so the people of the state of Georgia can voice their faith based values on the ballot in November,” said Crotts. “The amendment I introduced in the Georgia Legislature would take a big step in putting the sanctity of marriage beyond the reach of activist judges who are trying to rewrite the law to suit their own beliefs. They have already taken prayer out of our schools, the Ten Commandments out of our courthouses, ‘Under God’ out of the Pledge of Allegiance, and now they are trying to take the sanctity out of marriage.” Sen. Mitch Seabaugh Last week, we addressed a variety of issues. On Monday, the Senate approved a proposed Constitutional Amendment declaring that the state of Georgia “shall recognize as marriage only the union of man and woman.” After hours of debate,the legislation passed the Senate 40-14. The biggest issue we dealt with last week was redistricting. Last week, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia declared the current State House and Senate maps unconstitutional. Since the decision came down from the court, we have made a bipartisan effort to redraw the Senate districts. In doing so we aim to comply with traditional redistricting principles, which include: creating districts of the same size, complying with the Voting Rights Act, preserving communities of interest, and having compact and contiguous districts. The impact on my district is that I will now represent most of Coweta County, Tyrone, Peachtree City, South Fayette County, and West Spalding County. Though I do not technically represent any of these counties in its entirety, I will continue to work hard to serve the whole county. The House Budget was passed this week and the Senate is now working in sub-committee to better direct funds to the state’s priorities. Another bill of interest is the Georgia Smoke Free Air Act, which passed out of the Health and Human Services Committee yesterday. SB 507 would prohibit smoking in public places, including, but not limited to, bars,convention facilities, theaters, licensed childcare and adult day-care facilities, multi- unit residential facilities of all kinds, public transportation facilities,restaurants, shopping malls, and sports arenas. We anticipate a floor vote on this bill this week. Also this week we expect HOPE Scholarship proposals to be addressed in the Senate Education Committee. These proposals would “change the reporting system and method for determining the eligibility for HOPE scholarships.” The proposed changes of SB 471 would increase efficiency in spending for the scholarship.
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