A few weeks ago, we took a look at some of the prefiled legislation for the upcoming session. Property tax changes, proposed gun-related restrictions and elections rules were some of the top items. A little less than a month later and there is plenty to update ahead of the first day of session on Monday.
Those election rules changes were filed by Sen. Josh McKoon (R- 29 Columbus) and he has been busy since then. McKoon also happens to be running for Secretary of State this year and a number of his prefiled bills deal directly with Secretary of State business.
Some of them are pretty simple bills – SB 312 would allow the Secretary of State to impose fees for expediting processing and filing of corporate documents that are required by that office. The bill would limit the expedited filing fees to less than $50.00 per filing.
A couple of them are not so simple, such as Senate Resolution 576 and Senate Resolution 577. Both of these resolutions call for proposing an amendment to the Constitution. That in and of itself is a political heft and won’t be easy. Specifically, 576 and 577 would allow the Secretary of State’s office to dedicate part or all of the proceeds from corporate filings and license fees the office receives to be used for the purpose of administering the prescribed duties of such office. The proceeds would not be required to be deposited into the general fund.
Any bill that would deprive the general fund is likely to receive some extra attention so expect more news from these.
Sen. Elena Parent (D- 42 Atlanta) filed SB 313 which would require legislators and department heads to attend courses related to sexual harassment and for these courses to be made available to state employees. “For too long, women in the workplace have experience harassment by supervisors and co-workers. The Georgia State Capitol is no exception,” said Parent in a statement.
Currently, training is given as-needed. “Everyone deserves to work in an environment that respects them, and SB 313’s educational requirements will go a long way toward making that a reality.”
Over in the House, there have been a couple new items. HB 659, filed by Rep. Kimberly Alexander (D- 66 Hiram and the Minority Caucus Treasurer), would add emergency medical technicians and paramedics into the list of persons who are immune to civil or criminal liability relating to their actions in connection with admission or discharge of a patient into or out of a facility.
It would also allow technicians and paramedics to have the power to determine whether a patient appears to be mentally ill and a physician could issue an involuntary treatment certificate based on their observations. However, a physician would still be required to personally examine the patient “as soon as practical.” Presumably, this would ease the transition or process for chronically mentally ill that otherwise may be admitted to a regular hospital, or worse, jail.
Finally, HB 658, introduced by Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R- 36 Powder Springs) and Rep. John Carson (R- Marietta 46), would remove the sunset date for the time an excise tax may be collected on hotel and motel rooms. Taxing visitors (although many may be from some other part of Georgia) is often an uncontroversial tactic in raising revenue but it may raise eyebrows to remove a sunset period. Stay tuned for more on this one…
