On Tuesday, we took a look at some of the study committees which had been working over the last few months on a variety of issues in preparation for next year’s legislative session. Today, a look at some of the prefiled legislation that may, or may not, impact the session.
Prefiles can be a difficult item to judge on their merits. Prefiled legislation may be a way for a lawmaker to simply make a statement. This may be a stand on principle or just for the folks back home on a particular issue. It can also be a way to grandstand during an election year or to try and use the item as a cudgel against other legislators.
It remains to be seen if the bump stock bill (HB 651 – the Georgia Firearms and Weapons Act) filed in November by Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D- 82 Decatur) will get any traction in light of the tragedy in Las Vegas but previous gun control efforts prefiled by Oliver were largely dead on arrival. Democrats have long been concerned about the ubiquity of guns in American society but in a Republican state such as Georgia, legislation focused on gun control will be very difficult to move forward except in the most extreme of circumstances. Whether the legislature determines bump stocks to be part of an extreme circumstance will be found out in the spring.
Oliver, along with Senator Elena Parent (D- 42 Atlanta), win the award for earliest prefiles, both in mid-November. Along with the bump stock bill, Oliver also filed HB 650 – a bill that would allow “local governments to relocate, conceal, obscure or alter certain monuments.” Parent filed twin legislation in the Senate (SB 302) the same day.
The bill is an attempt to allow cities in Georgia to make their own decisions regarding Confederate monuments and other markers – something currently forbade by state law which requires the state to intervene to alter a monument. Decatur and Atlanta are both high-profile cities in the middle of debating what to do with Confederate monuments and this bill would give them much more leeway. In a recent interview, House Speaker David Ralston (R- 7 Blue Ridge) said he sees history as the same in all parts of Georgia and was largely dismissive of the bill. Its outlook is not strong.
Senator John Albers (R- 56 Roswell) was busy on December 1 filing a number of Homestead Exemption bills to address property tax concerns in his district in Fulton County. He filed six different bills for the cities of Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton, Mountain Park, Roswell and the Fulton County school district. The bill would put a 3% cap on property tax assessment increases and also requires a referendum, which would allow the respective cities to vote on the cap and other pieces of the bill. Property taxes were also a big concern in Atlanta and other parts of Fulton County, look for other Fulton legislators to file similar bills or join Albers in his efforts.
Senator Josh McKoon (R- 29 Columbus), candidate for Secretary of State, dropped a bill (SB 309) last week to change some elections law. Announced on Facebook as he was handing the bill over to the Senate secretary, the bill would require all polls to close at the same time, 7:00 pm, whereas the law currently requires Atlanta to remain open until 8:00 p.m. It would also alter the jungle primary of special elections, requiring each party to nominate their own candidates.
McKoon pointed out the result of the election to fill the seat of former Senator Hunter Hill (R- 6 Atlanta), now governor candidate, which was won by two Democrats, despite Republicans outvoting them but splitting their votes five ways. McKoon is not the most popular member of the senate and Democrats are likely to point out the bill’s birth from a partisan election result.
There is still time for more prefiles and if any are significant, InsiderAdvantage will update the story.
