ATLANTA — A pair of bills to legalize the sale of fireworks in Georgia ran afoul of critics Tuesday from medical and fire-safety groups, but the sponsors agreed to combine them and move forward.
The proposals, House Bill 15 and HB 110, were independently crafted to allow Georgians to sell and use explosive fireworks like surrounding states. Current state law only permits sparklers.
“People are ignoring the law, and for me, that’s an affront to the law. Nothing makes law more ineffective as a whole than when people are ignoring it without consequences,” said Rep. Scott Turner, R-Holly Springs, the author of HB 15. “If you’re not enforcing it, you’re not getting any benefit from it being on the books.”
But Rep. Sharon Cooper, a fellow Republican from Marietta, drew on her career as a nurse to oppose it because 40 percent of accident victims are under age 15.
“You can’t imagine what it’s like to have a child in a burn unit scream when you debride their skin,” said Cooper, chairwoman of the House Health & Human Services Committee. “It’s just not worth it.”
She might have more sway except the bills are not being considered by the Health Committee. Instead, they’re pending in the Regulated Industries Committee, chaired by Rep. Howard Maxwell, R-Dallas.
“Of course, I buy mine in Alabama and bring them back,” he said.
Legalizing fireworks sales could create 1,000-1,500 jobs and pump $10 million into state coffers under a tax created by HB 110, said its sponsor, Rep. Jay Roberts, R-Ocilla. The money would we intended for firefighter training and the state’s trauma units.
That would be enough for each unit to treat two cases of typical burns caused by fireworks, according to David Tatum, lobbyist for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the nation’s largest pediatric hospital.
“It’s not that attractive,” he said. “We’ll still oppose it.”
Other opponents testifying included representatives of the Georgia Nursing Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, the Georgia Alliance to Stop Fireworks and Marietta Fire Chief Jackie Gibbs.
The committee delayed a vote until the bills are combined and changed to allow local governments to regulate who can sell the fireworks and where they can be used.
Follow Walter Jones on Twitter @MorrisNews and Facebook or contact him at walter.jones@morris.com.
