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GEORGIA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
ROOM 505, LOB 30334
404-656-5082 1-800-282-5800
Daily Report Number 15
February 10, 2004
Back to PIO
Public safety personnel would benefit from legislation passed on the House
floor today. HB 547 would forbid any insurance provider from implementing
a premium surcharge for any accident which occurred while the public safety
worker was operating in the line of duty. A degree of proof is required
by the legislation. Such proof could consist of the accident report, a
911 dispatch log record, or employing agency documents verifying the emergency
worker was acting in an official capacity at the time of the incident.
Current law extends this exemption if the worker is driving an official
vehicle in an official capacity.
The Georgia House has always shown great respect and support for the state’s many law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians. HB 547 passed by a vote of 164-0.
Also dealing with public safety, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is very careful about lending its name or image for the purpose of sponsorship. The General Assembly has previously passed legislation protecting the GBI name and image from unauthorized use. However, a number of organizations and causes have found a loophole in the law. These operators use the name and image of subdivisions within the GBI as implicit endorsements to benefit their agenda. HB 1192, which passed 167-0, would close this loophole by making it illegal to use the name or image of the GBI or any of its subdivisions without the written consent of the GBI director. Such subdivisions include the Division of Forensic Sciences (DOFS), Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC), and the State Crime Lab.
House lawmakers also voted 169-0 to approve HB 736, dealing with property
tax assessments. Lawmakers wanted to provide some protection for honest
property owners whose property tax assessments may have changed unexpectedly.
Therefore, the measure seeks to implement a statute of limitations on
the collection of assessed property taxes. The proposal would allow the
county tax assessor three years to collect adjusted assessments. The time
limit would be measured from the property owner’s tax return during
the year in which the adjustment occurred. However, the statute of limitations
would not apply in cases where a person intentionally tried to evade taxes,
or filed a fraudulent tax return. Furthermore, the property owner and
the county assessor’s office could agree in writing to extend the
three-year limit, if they so choose, to allow for a payment schedule.
Georgia’s worm farmers could soon be off the hook if HB 1101 becomes
law. The legislation reclassifies vermiulture, the act of worm farming
for use as bait, as a part of the state’s agriculture industry.
Worms grown through the practice of vermiculture would also be considered
an agricultural product. The reclassification allows Georgia’s worm
farmers to qualify for federal crop insurance to protect against a loss
of crop and income due to extenuating circumstances.
Supporters of HB 1001 pointed out that agriculture is Georgia’s most prolific industry, bringing in more than $57 billion annually. Such new and emerging forms of agriculture, they suggested, should be encouraged to ensure the state’s farm industry remains vital. The measure passed the House by a count of 169-1, and now goes to the Senate.
Finally, HB 1254 revisits Georgia law passed during the 2002 session which governs the closure of unsafe railroad crossings. The original law established guidelines to settle disputes between the railroad companies and Georgia’s county and municipal governments over the closure of certain grade crossings. The bill required companies to file a petition within the county or city government to close a rail crossing. City or county governments would then be given the chance to deny that request, with disputes being resolved by a mediation process within the state Department of Transportation.
Concern arose over the original bill’s petition requirement. Rail
industry representatives worried that failure to file a petition to close
could constitute an actionable offense should an accident occur at a particular
crossing. Furthermore, county and city governments were concerned that
any denial of a permit to close a crossing could also lead to similar
lawsuits. Some feared this could result in industry requests to close
all railroad crossings in the state, with county and city governments
afraid to turn them down, leading to a traffic nightmare.
Hoping to remedy this situation, the authors of HB 1254 included language
stating that neither the failure of a railroad to file a closing petition,
nor any decision of a local government to deny such a petition should
be considered a cause of legal action by a person seeking damages against
any of these entities. Members voted 121-46 in favor of passage. HB 1254
now goes to the Senate.
Other items receiving passage on the House floor today include:
- HB 1089 (162-0)– would allow the state Office of Treasury and
Fiscal Services, which manages the state’s cash resources, to
lend securities where little or no risk is involved.
- HB 1137 (174-0)– changes the name of the Indigent Defense Council
to the Georgia Public Defenders Standards Council so that its employees
are eligible to participate in the state Employees Retirement System.
Georgia House of Representatives
Public Information Office
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