WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE REPORT—February 1, 2008
Legislation would keep trauma care centers operating
By Rep. Hugh Floyd
A top priority for the 2008 legislative session is sufficient funding for trauma care in Georgia hospitals. Many trauma hospitals, like Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, treat patients who do not have insurance, and currently the state reimburses on 80 cents on the dollar.
In the House Government Affairs Committee, we are considering HB 973, which is the Georgia Trauma Support Act of 2008. This proposal would implement a $1 per month surcharge on wireless telephone service to generate much-needed funding for trauma care in our state.
The bill has strong bipartisan support. It is vital that we keep these trauma care units in full operation, or other hospital will be flooded with cases they are not prepared to handle.
The joint House-Senate Transportation Funding Study Committee has issued its recommendations for addressing a serious shortfall in state funding for much-needed improvements to the state’s highway system and other projects.
In addition to calling for greater efficiency in state Department of Transportation operations and an expanded use of public/private partnerships, the committee is recommending two potential methods of raising revenues for road building:
- A statewide, 1 percent transportation sales tax that would replace the current 7.5 cents per gallon motor fuel tax. This proposal would require a constitutional amendment, which must be approved by two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate and by a majority of voters in the next statewide general election.
- A regional SPLOST, under which counties could join together and implement a special one-cent local option sales tax to fund regional transportation needs if a majority of voters in those counties approve.
Both of these recommendations will be introduced in the form of legislation to be considered during the current session and are certain to generate much debate as a solution to traffic congestion in the metropolitan Atlanta area and the need for better highways throughout the state.
On Jan. 29, House members adopted legislation that would modify the state’s sex offender laws with regard to residency restrictions. HB 908 would address the law’s provisions that were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Georgia.
The current law requires registered sex offenders to move from their residence if a school or day care center opened within 1,000 feet of their home. The court ruled that provision amounted to an unconstitutional taking of property.
HB 908, which now goes to the Senate for its consideration, provides that if a registered sex offender has purchased a home and is in compliance with the law at the time of purchase, he or she can continue to reside there if a school, church or day care center later opens within the 1,000 foot radius.
Legislation that would impose tougher criminal punishments for dog fighting in Georgia was adopted by the House on Jan. 28. HB 301 would make it a felony offense to own, transport, train or sell a dog for the purposes of fighting, or to advertise, host or bet on a dog fighting event. Attendance at a dog fight would be a misdemeanor for the first offense.
Awareness about cracking down on dog fighting in Georgia was raised during the case of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who is serving time in federal prison after pleading guilty to dog fighting offenses in Virginia. HB 301 moves to the Senate for its consideration.
Georgia consumers wanting to stop identity theft would be able to freeze their credit reports under legislation that passed the House on Jan. 30. HB 130 gives consumers control of their credit reports for the first time by allowing them to pay a fee of up to $3 to each of the three credit rating agencies, totaling $9, to stop the buying and selling of their credit information. The Senate will now consider the measure.
On Thursday, a majority of the House voted in favor of HB 881, which would make the petition process easier for the creation of charter schools in Georgia. There would be no limits on the number of charter schools, which would also receive more tax revenue under the bill. I voted against the measure because it would circumvent locally elected school boards and create another layer of bureaucracy at the state level. Local school decisions should remain at the community level.
- Rep. Hugh Floyd (D-Norcross) represents the 99th District (Gwinnett County) in the Georgia House of Representatives. Contact him at 611 Coverdell Office Building, Atlanta, GA 30334; by phone at 404-656-0314 or by e-mail at hughfloyd@mindspring.com.
