ATLANTA – The state House of Representatives Monday passed a bill that would limit the ability of local governments to impose lengthy moratoriums on the building of single-family houses.
The Housing Regulation Transparency Act, which passed 127-43, would prevent local governments from extending moratoriums that bar the building of single-family homes beyond 180 days.
“[The bill] allows them to declare a moratorium for any reason for 180 days, but they cannot continue to extend moratoriums over and over again,” said the bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Dale Washburn, R-Macon.
“If a local community can just declare a moratorium and say, ‘We just don’t want anyone else coming,’ – well, then we’re allowing them to build economic walls around that county and city.”
The bill also allows local governments to waive impact fees for houses that are 2,500 square feet or less in order to incentivize more single-family construction, Washburn said. Local governments sometimes impose impact fees to cover the infrastructure costs of new housing developments.
The bill drew the support of a newly formed housing coalition made up of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Home Builders Association of Georgia, the Georgia Association of Realtors and Habitat for Humanity. The Georgia Municipal Association and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia do not oppose the bill, Washburn said.
A separate bill sponsored by Washburn that would have prevented counties or municipalities from regulating a long list of building design elements drew stringent opposition from local-control advocates and did not make it out of committee this session.
The bill now moves to the state Senate for consideration.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – The state House of Representatives passed legislation Monday defining antisemitism and incorporating it into Georgia’s 2020 hate crimes law.
House Bill 30, which passed 136-22, would establish as part of state law the definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental organization founded by Sweden’s prime minister in 1998.
Like the hate crimes measure the General Assembly adopted following the murder of Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery near Brunswick, the bill provides for additional penalties when crimes are committed because of the victim’s identity, in this case because he or she is Jewish.
The bill’s chief sponsor, state Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, cited an outbreak of antisemitism that occurred in Atlanta’s northern suburbs in January when Jewish families awakened on a Sunday morning to find antisemitic flyers in their driveways.
While Jews make up only 2% of Georgia’s population, they’re the victims of about 60% of hate crimes committed across the state, Carson said.
“Antisemitic incidents are on the rise,” he said. “This bill is necessary.”
Rep. Esther Panitch, D-Sandy Springs, the only Jewish member of the House, was among those who found flyers in her driveway that day.
“House Bill 30 would not stop those flyers,” she said. “But it would make sure that if, God forbid, someone shot a Jew, it would be a hate crime.”
Some of the bill’s opponents raised concerns it could be used to stifle free speech. Others argued crimes against Jewish citizens already are covered under state law and questioned establishing a definition for antisemitism when there is no legal definition in Georgia law for crimes against Blacks, Latinos, or Asian-Americans.
“There’s no place for hate in our beautiful, diverse state,” said Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn. “[But] antisemitic acts are covered under the current hate crimes statute.”
But Panitch said the bill would ensure Georgia’s Jewish citizens are protected from hate crimes.
“Protections for Jewish people do not come at the expense of anyone else except antisemites,” she said.
Students Hannah Lee and Cameron Hammett share their opposition to the voucher bill with Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan. (Photo courtesy Georgia Youth Justice Coalition)
ATLANTA – The state Senate Monday approved a bill that would provide Georgia students residing in low-performing school districts $6,000 to spend on private school tuition.
“This is a money-follows-the-child bill,” said Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, who sponsored the “Georgia Promise Scholarship Act.” “[It] levels the playing field for parents who want to get their kids out of the lower 25% of all schools in the state.”
While the original bill would have applied to most students in Georgia, Dolezal added a last-minute amendment limiting the scholarship to just those residing in the attendance zones of the lowest-performing 25% schools in the state.
The bill essentially allows the redistribution of state funding from public to private schools, Dolezal said. Districts would be able to hold on to the local funding portion of each student’s education bill, which would, Dolezal said, increase the amount of funding available to local districts.
The bill would not apply to those who are already studying in private schools or being homeschooled.
Parents who wish to spend the money at private or virtual schools would be able to do so. They would also be able to spend the money on home-schooling and other expenses such as tutoring by a certified educator, curriculum purchase costs, and transportation to and from schools.
“The parent never has access to the money directly – it’s all administered by a third party,” said Dolezal. The $6,000 would not be considered taxable income and the funds would be limited to eligible educational expenses.
The bill passed on a 33-23 party line vote, drawing vehement criticism from Senate Democrats.
“Private school vouchers undermine public schools by diverting desperately needed resources away from the public school system, which serves all students, to fund the education of a few,” said Sen. Freddie Powell Sims, D-Dawson.
If just 2% of Georgia students – around 35,000 – use the scholarships, that would divert around $210 million from the public schools annually, Sims said.
“There is no fiscal note on this bill, something that should be required of any bill of this magnitude,” Sims added, referring to the financial analyses that are typically required for bills that impact state finances.
“The mean cost of annual private school tuition in Georgia is nearly $12,000 – this shatters any illusion that $6,000 would help low-income Georgians access private schools,” added Sims. She also said the bill would leave rural students out in the cold since such students may not have access to private schools.
“Everywhere it’s been tried, it’s worked,” said Cole Muzio, president of the Christian organization Frontline Policy Council. He said private schools offer scholarships that can help families make up the difference between $6,000 and the full tuition cost.
But some Georgia students disagree.
“Voucher bills … threaten to defund our public schools, sending public dollars to private schools which are unaccountable and inaccessible to most of Georgia’s students,” said Hannah Lee, a Coweta County student. “My school deserves equitable funding, and my classmates and I deserve the adequate education our legislators have promised us.”
The bill now moves to the House for consideration.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Legislation that would increase participation in Georgia’s medical cannabis program in an effort to resolve lawsuits filed by losing bidders sailed through the state House of Representatives Monday.
House Bill 196, which passed 170-2, would increase the number of medical cannabis production licenses the state awards to 15, up from the current six. That would allow the nine companies that went to court after they were denied licenses a new opportunity to compete.
The General Assembly first legalized possessions of cannabis oil for medicinal purposes back in 2015. However, it wasn’t until 2019 that lawmakers passed legislation allowing commercial businesses to grow marijuana indoors, convert the leafy crop into low-THC cannabis oil and sell the product at dispensaries they own.
The 2019 law created a state commission to oversee the program by issuing six licenses to winning bidders, two Class 1 licenses allowing marijuana to be grown in spaces up to 100,000 square feet. Class 2 licenses were to be awarded to the other four for a smaller growth space of up to 50,000 square feet.
The two Class 1 licenses have been awarded. The winning bidders, Botanical Sciences LLC and Trulieve Georgia, are ramping up their operations in Glennville and Adel, respectively.
But the remainder of the program is lagging because of the court cases.
“Let’s fix the system,” state Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, the bill’s chief sponsor, urged House lawmakers Monday. “Let’s get it moving and go forward.”
In an effort to avoid future legal tangles, Powell’s bill calls for putting the state commission that oversees the medical cannabis program under contracting rules set by the Georgia Department of Administrative Services. Appeals would be referred to Georgia’s Statewide Business Court.
The bill also would allow the commission to increase the number of dispensaries that sell medical cannabis as the number of Georgia patients eligible for cannabis oil increases. For every 5,000 patients added to the state registry, an additional Class 2 license could be awarded. An additional Class 1 license would be authorized for every 10,000 additional patients.
ATLANTA – The state Senate gave quick passage Monday to legislation aimed at accommodating what is expected to be an influx of electric vehicles plying Georgia highways.
Under Senate Bill 146, which passed 55-1, utilities selling electricity to EV owners charging either at home or at public charging stations would charge by the kilowatt hour rather than according to the amount of time a charge takes.
Georgia must bill EVs by the kilowatt hour to qualify for $135 million in federal funding to build a network of charging stations across the state.
“This bill is a framework, a structure to get us started,” Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, told his Senate colleagues Monday. Gooch co-chaired a joint legislative study committee that held hearings last summer and fall to develop policies aimed at welcoming the EV industry to Georgia.
On Monday, Gooch cited Gov. Brian Kemp’s pledge to make Georgia a national leader in electric mobility.
“The creation of this framework is definitely a step in that direction,” Gooch said.
Besides the kilowatt hour mandate, the bill also authorizes the Georgia Department of Agriculture to oversee inspection and permitting of public EV charging stations and the state Department of Revenue to calculate how much to tax EV owners to offset the anticipated loss of gasoline tax revenue that will occur as more motorists switch to EVs.
The legislation would not take effect until the beginning of 2025 to give the two state agencies time to prepare for their new responsibilities.
The Georgia House of Representatives passed a similar EV bill last week. House and Senate negotiators are expected to resolve their differences and come up with a final version of the measure.
