ATLANTA — Marijuana, horse racing, driving with cellphones, child sexual abuse, the minimum wage and college athletics are some of the topics of pre-filed legislation so far.
With campaigns concluded, Georgia lawmakers are filing bills ahead of the legislative session that starts Jan. 12. As of Wednesday, 17 general bills and one constitutional amendment have been filed in the House of Representatives while senators have only filed two bills and one amendment.
Marijuana was one of the most talked about topics in the last session, and it is likely to be again. House Bill 1 by Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, is his second attempt to legalize medicine derived from marijuana for the control of a limited number of health conditions. The House and Senate each passed different versions last year but couldn’t agree on one in common, making him confident of success this year.
“I think we’re better prepared,” he said. “Last year, we kind of hit the ground running.”
Peake headed a temporary committee this fall that held hearings across the state, attempting to air all concerns and emphasize his opposition to legalizing recreational use of marijuana.
However, two of the three Senate bills deal with pot, both by Sen. Curt Thompson, D-Tucker. Senate Bill 7 would also allow its medical use, and Senate Resolution 6 would permit recreational use.
The other Senate bill would bar undocumented aliens from getting a driver’s license, sponsored by Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus.
Typically, lawmakers introduce 1,500 pieces of legislation by the end of a 40-day session of the General Assembly. Two out of every three won’t pass, most of those never even getting a public hearing.
“Any elected official can introduce any legislation they want,” Peake said.
And they can also tack amendments onto other lawmakers’ bills, sometimes preventing them from passing, as happened to Peake’s medical-marijuana bill last session.
“None of us know, with any particular bill we introduce, what will happen to it,” he said.
HB 2, and the only constitutional amendment filed so far in the House, would legalize wagering on horse racing. It’s another attempt by Rep. Harry Geisinger, R-Roswell, but he was hopeful last session that this new effort would get across the wire now that elections are over with.
Among the general House bills are ones that would prohibit cellphone use while driving except with hands-free devices, make it illegal to knowingly jeopardize the competitive eligibility of a college athlete, boost the state’s minimum wage, limit what drone aircraft can photograph and bar racial profiling by police.
The newest, pre-filed bill, HB 17, would extend the period in which victims of childhood sexual abuse can file suit. Currently, the statute of limitations prevents lawsuits more than five years after the victim’s 18th birthday. The bill, by Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, would extend that by 30 years.
“Many times, the child who is victimized never reports the crime for fear of not being believed by adults,” he wrote in a draft newspaper column. “Other times, child victims are so young that they are unaware of what acts are being done to them and lack the verbal capacity to describe the act, leading many victims to act out harshly or engage in other destructive behaviors as they age. Typically, it is not until well into adulthood that the survivor of the ordeal has the ability to confront their perpetrators.”
Despite these pre-filed bills getting an early jump, they may not be the most significant of the session. Gov. Nathan Deal has signaled intentions to sponsor bills to reform child welfare and to ease the transition back into society after incarceration for adult and youthful offenders. He usually unveils his bills roughly a month after the session has begun.
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