WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE REPORT—April 6, 2007

Murphy legislation would benefit Augusta area

By Rep. Quincy Murphy

With no more than seven legislative days remaining in the 2007 session of the General Assembly, there are three bills of local interest that I sponsored, which have passed the House of Representatives and are under consideration in the Senate.

HB 282 would grant a sales tax exemption on engines, parts and equipment used in the maintenance or repair of aircraft. This would benefit Landmark Aviation, a fine employer here in Augusta, and other such aircraft maintenance and repair businesses in Georgia.

HB 553 would change the terms and election cycles for members of the Augusta-Richmond County Commission, while HB 554 would do the same for the office of Marshal of Civil Court of Richmond County.

Hopefully, the Senate will give its approval to all of these measures to benefit the Augusta area.

This week, the House of Representatives will begin considering a number of key bills and resolutions adopted earlier in the session by the Senate.

One such bill is SR 20, currently in the House Ways and Means Committee, a proposed constitutional amendment, which would prohibit the General Assembly from increasing the annual state budget by a percentage that is more than the state’s population growth, plus inflation.

Once the spending cap is reached, any excess funds would be disbursed in the following order:

1. Full funding of K-12 public education
2. Restore the state’s reserve fund to 10 percent of the previous year’s revenue
3. Pay off state debt
4. Return excess to taxpayers

The resolution also provides that any budget from a previous year can be used as a baseline, and the limits can be suspended upon exhaustion of the reserve funds and a two-thirds vote by both the House and Senate.

Another significant piece of legislation is SB 148, which is in the House Science and Technology Committee.  It seeks to promote medical research into stem cells derived from blood and birth tissues but not from embryos. 

The House will also consider SB 145, awaiting consideration in the House Non-Civil Judiciary Committee.  The bill would allow Georgia’s 49 district attorneys to pursue sentences of life without parole against murderers who have not been convicted of a previous violent felony without seeking the death penalty. 

Other bills from the Senate that will be addressed in House committees are:

SR 309—a proposed constitutional amendment to allow the creation of infrastructure development districts (private cities).

SR 130—in the House Governmental Affairs Committee; and proposes a Constitutional amendment whereby the General Assembly, by law,  may create townships for the limited purpose of exercising the power of zoning; the regulation of land use and development within the boundaries of such townships; and provide for the funding and operation of such townships.

SB 169—in the House Higher Education Committee; and would offer eligible Georgia students a state funded education loan through the Georgia Student Finance Authority.

SB 89—in the House Governmental Affairs Committee; and would give local communities an alternative, other than forming new cities, for handling zoning matters.

Legislation I co-sponsored, HR 412, was favorably reported in the House Health and Human Services Committee. This legislation would create a House study committee on layperson training in CPR and automated external defibrillators.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported this week that the HOPE scholarship program has $744 million in reserve.  It is critical that we, as lawmakers, use this money in an efficient and fiscally sound manner to ensure Georgia students have access to the resources necessary to obtain a quality college education.  As a supporter of higher education, I intend to do so.