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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 28
March 2, 2004
Back to PIO
Anyone who keeps a close eye on the state’s news wire has noticed
that Georgia has recently experienced a rash of people who attempt to
impersonate police officers by using multicolored lights, or strobe lights
to pull over unsuspecting motorists. Reports have come in about people
using these phony police lights to pull over cars in Cobb, Cherokee,
Douglas, and Gwinnett counties. HB 1287 seeks to put an end to this
type of behavior by making it a crime in the state of Georgia for any
unauthorized person to operate a motor vehicle equipped with or containing
a device capable of producing red and/or blue lights, or any spotlight
or strobe light with the intention of emulating a policeman or other
public safety officer; the bill would apply to all lights, regardless
of whether they are stationary, blinking, revolving, or flashing. Exemptions
were included to allow for the authorized operation of emergency vehicles,
buses, hazardous material transport vehicles, household and industrial
waste vehicles, and other vehicles with safety lights such as wreckers,
or trailers hauling oversized loads. Persons violating this code would
be guilty of a misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to one year imprisonment,
and up to $10,000 in fines.
The authors of HB 1287 submitted that impersonating a public safety officer on Georgia’s roadways not only represents a traffic risk, but usually leads to more serious illegal behavior. They claimed it would be better to stop these offenders before their action causes injury or death, or they graduate from nuisance to a full-fledged predator. Members agreed, voting 170-1 in favor of passage.
Georgia’s many school bus drivers will be able to rest easier if HB 1179 becomes state law. The plan would expand language already in Georgia code which allows for increased penalties against students, parents, or other persons who engage in assault and/or battery against a public school employee. Currently persons convicted of simple assault, simple battery, or battery against any public school employee while that person was on school property would be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high an aggravated nature. HB 1179 would extend this protection to school bus drivers by expanding the definition of “school property” to include public school buses, and public school bus stops. Furthermore, the measure would amend an existing law against disrupting or interfering with the operation of a public school, to include a ban on the disruption of the operation of a public school bus, or public school bus stop.
While some winced at an ever expanding list of offenses which are classified as high and aggravated misdemeanors by Georgia law, a majority of members recognized that HB 1179 simply extends to the state’s bus drivers the same protections from violence and threat that we already give to Georgia’s teachers. HB 1179 passed by a vote of 153-13.
The Georgia House has always been adamant about its support for hunting and fishing in this state, and the House passed two items today which will be well received by Georgians who consider themselves sportsmen.
HB 1362, which passed by a vote of 165-0, would make it easier for Georgia sportsmen and women to pass the skills of hunting and fishing on to their grandchildren. It would accomplish this goal by allowing Georgia residents who hold a lifetime sportsman’s license in this state to purchase a lifetime license for their nonresident grandchildren. The child must be under age 16, and proof of lineage would be required to establish the grandparent’s relationship to the child. The cost of the license for the nonresident grandchild would be twice the cost of an adult lifetime membership, or $1000. Georgia currently allows for the purchase of lifetime licenses for resident children at a reduced price. Additionally, HB 1362 would extend a sizeable discount to Georgians between the age of 60 and 65 who purchase the lifetime sportsman’s license. Residents over age 65 would receive the lifetime license free of charge.
The second piece of hunter-friendly legislation is HR 1401, which urges the state Board of Natural Resources to adopt a uniform, statewide open season for dove hunting in Georgia. The state currently operates under two zones, with Georgia’s northern half observing one season, and its southern region following different dates for the legal hunting of doves. The authors of HR 1401 said the current system is confusing, and makes it harder for law-abiding hunters to know exactly when dove hunting is allowed. Furthermore, they contended that there is no biological reason to split the hunting season for doves in Georgia. Therefore, members voted 169-0 to pass HR 1401 and send it to the Senate for consideration.
Finally, House lawmakers took advantage of an unassuming bill dealing with the state’s unemployment trust fund to extend some serious support to out-of-work Georgians who are finding an unfriendly job market. HB 1555 started out as a simple bill to eliminate a sunset provision on an alternative method for calculating unemployment benefits, and to extend the sunset on a provision allowing the Commissioner of the Department of Labor to establish contribution rates for employers paying into the state unemployment trust fund. During its trip through the House, however, the legislation picked up a significant amendment.
The new language in HB 1555 would extend unemployment benefits to persons looking for employment on a part-time basis. Currently, Georgia law only allows people who are seeking full-time employment to receive unemployment benefits. Supporters of the amendment claimed it is necessary for single mothers and mothers from low income families, who cannot afford childcare and are therefore needed at home to care for young children. Such people, they said, are willing to work, but are only able to seek part-time employment; they suggested it was an unfair and undue hardship on these honest, hardworking Georgians who are trying to balance parenthood with being a financial provider for their children.
Many balked at the amendment, saying the $2.5 million cost would be an expensive hit on the state’s unemployment trust fund. Others worried that the change would encourage people to game the system, and prolong benefits by avoiding the search for permanent employment in favor of a part-time job in a specific salary range. Still others wondered if the state should be encouraging part-time employment, which is financially less beneficial to the state, as well as the individual involved.
However, supporters countered that Georgians who work part-time and their employers contribute to the fund, and should therefore be able to collect benefits should they lose that part-time job. Furthermore, they noted that the additional cost is minimal when compared with the size of the trust fund, and especially small when compared to the $145 million in deferred payments that would result in the passage of HB 1555 without any amendments. After some debate, the amendment was passed by a vote of 93-77. HB 1555 then passed, as amended, by a vote of 120-48. It now goes to the Senate for further consideration.
Other items receiving passage on the House floor today include:
- HB 1206 (152-9)– would allow attorneys practicing in Georgia
to participate in the bail bond business; attorneys could not manage
or otherwise operate the business, and would be forbidden from serving
as both a bondsman, and attorney for the same client.
- HR 1322 (171-0)– creates a generic funding amendment for the Georgia
Constitution which would allow for the collection of funds from the sale
of specialty license plates; these funds would then be funneled to their designated
purpose. A yearly audit would be performed to ensure funds collected for a particular
purpose are used accordingly.
- HR 1402 (168-1)– seeks to ratify a departmental realignment of
Regional Development Center (RDC) boundaries. The new boundary would remove
Screven County from the Savannah River RDC and place it in the Coastal Georgia
RDC.
- HB 1599 (164-0)– this is the companion legislation to HR 1402;
it adjusts service delivery lines to match the new RDC boundaries ratified
in HR 1402.
- HB 1348 (171-0)– would allow insurance companies, or insurers to
provide refreshments such as food and drink at training, sales, and recruitment
seminars without violating the state’s anti-rebate laws.
- HB 1507 (166-0)– seeks to augment and expand Georgia’s seed
capital fund which is designed to boost economic development by providing
investment money for startup, or expanding Georgia small businesses; it also
establishes a ratio requirement of three private or outside entity dollars for
every seed capital dollar invested in a Georgia business venture.
Georgia House of Representatives
Public Information Office
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