With a little time to reflect after emerging from this year’s legislative session, it’s now time for the annual tradition of following up on what the heck just happened. Two prominent groups recently published their scorecards of how, in their eyes, lawmakers performed. Americans for Prosperity Georgia and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce are both ostensibly conservative groups but occasionally may see issues differently as it relates to business. Both groups generally shy away from more social issues.
Americans for Prosperity’s (AFP) stated goal is limited government and economic freedom. They chose a few bills that they feel define whether a legislator was working towards those goals or against them. There is then either a red X or a green check mark, with the occasional E for Excused or NV for Not Voting, based on how a legislator voted.
AFP chose five bills. HB 951 went by without much fanfare, mostly due to its bipartisan approval, but the bill allowed for a sales tax loophole for “large sporting events.” Essentially, by order of the NFL, this bill was needed to help Atlanta get a Super Bowl. Considering the amount of tax money Atlanta is spending on building a new stadium, getting a Super Bowl was seen as a key piece needed for the stadium’s success. AFP saw the bill as a favor to a particular industry or business and sought votes against. There were very few. Twenty-two Nays compared to 127 Yeas. All 22 Nays were Republicans.
AFP also chose HB 408, which extended the life of a local hotel/motel tax and allowed special interest projects to be funded by it. HB 34 allows terminally-ill patients to try potentially life-saving drugs even if they are not FDA approved. HB 798 expands the HOPE scholarship to high achieving home school students and HB 649 was the infamous lactation consultant bill that requires consultants to be licensed/approved by the state, although this was already being done by a private organization.
The number of legislators with perfect scores on the AFP scorecard is vanishingly small. Out of the possible 236 House and Senate members, only 12 had perfect scores.
The Georgia Chamber scorecard is much more in depth than the AFP version and can really only be understood by exploring it. The Chamber chose 15 bills and displayed a detailed description along with their position on the bill.
Sadly, there are no overlapping bills from the AFP scorecard but there is plenty to view. The bills chosen have a particular impact on both large and small business and the Chamber’s position is often based, at least partly, on business avoiding regulation or lawsuits that may have resulted from the bill’s passage. Several of the bills are likely unheard of by the average voter but perhaps not by the average franchisee or small business owner. The one bill included that made a lot of news is HB 170, the Transportation Funding Act. The TFA provides “dedicated, predictable and sustainable revenue for the repair and maintenance of statewide roads and bridges by generating more than $900 million derived from new and existing transportation sources.” The Chamber was in favor of the bill and, despite opposition from some conservative circles, passed with relative ease in the House 129-41 and 42-12 in the Senate. Nearly all the Nays were Republicans, with the exception of seven Democrats.
Read more here: http://www.gascorecard.com/state-legislators-scorecards/
and here: http://gachamberscore.com/
