Georgia Sen. William Ligon (Credit: Georgia Senate official photo)
ATLANTA – Legislation aimed at protecting the pristine environment of the Satilla River corridor in southeastern Georgia is moving in the General Assembly late in this year’s legislative session.
The House Natural Resources & Environment Committee approved a bill Wednesday that would prohibit landfills from being built within three miles of the river’s highwater mark.
The Satilla, a blackwater river contained wholly within the state of Georgia, is a unique resource for fishing and paddling that draws visitors from across the state, said Sen. William Ligon, R-Brunswick, who introduced the bill into the Senate.
“It’s a winding, slow-moving river … with a lot of wildlife,” Ligon told committee members. “It’s really a state treasure.”
Ligon’s bill was prompted by a controversial proposal to build a landfill in Brantley County in the area the legislation aims to protect.
The measure would not affect that project because it is currently the subject of a lawsuit, Ligon said. However, it would prohibit construction of future landfills in that area, he said.
Ligon noted that the state has invested in the Satilla River corridor by creating a wildlife management area there and funding marsh restoration efforts.
“There are certain areas that are proper for landfills and certain areas that are not,” he said. “You wouldn’t take your garbage can and put it in your living room.”
The committee approved the legislation 12-6, sending it next to the House Rules Committee, which decides which bills go to the full House for a vote.
Supporters will have to move quickly to pass the bill. Wednesday is Day 38 of the 40-day legislative session.
ATLANTA – Legislation that would let victims of human trafficking petition the courts to vacate convictions for crimes committed while they were being trafficked gained final passage in the Georgia House of Representatives Tuesday.
The House unanimously passed The Debbie Vance Act, named for a survivor of human trafficking. Like others who have emerged on the other side of human trafficking, she faced obstacles to moving on with her life, said Georgia Rep. Bonnie Rich, R-Suwanee, who presented the bill on the House floor.
“Victims of human trafficking often come out with criminal arrests and convictions … that can prevent these victims from getting a job, housing and education,” Rich said.
The legislation, which originated in the Senate, is part of a package of human trafficking bills Gov. Brian Kemp has made a priority of his administration for this year’s General Assembly session.
A bill the Senate passed last week would punish convicted human traffickers who transport victims via commercial vehicles by banning them from obtaining a commercial driver’s license.
A third measure would criminalize improper sexual contact by a foster parent.
ATLANTA – The fee landfills charge for storing coal ash in Georgia would increase under legislation that cleared the state House of Representatives Tuesday.
The House voted 142-15 to increase the coal ash fee from $1 per ton to $2.50 per ton, matching the fees charged for other items. The increase is intended to discourage an influx of coal ash being transported to Georgia from power plants in surrounding states like North Carolina and Florida.
“We certainly don’t want out-of-state coal ash to come to our state,” Rep. Steven Meeks, R-Screven, told his House colleagues before Tuesday’s vote.
Under the bill, 20% of the revenue generated by the coal ash fees would go to local governments for recycling, litter control and improvements to areas adjacent to landfills such as repairs to local roads affected by the hauling of solid waste to landfills and beautification initiatives.
“It generates a lot of money and does a lot of good things,” said Rep. Terry Rogers, R-Clarkesville.
The House incorporated two related bills into the coal ash fees measure, including the imposition of a $1 fee on each tire sold in Georgia. The funds generated by the fee would go into the state’s Solid Waste Trust Fund.
The bill also would require the director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to produce an annual report outlining how the money in the trust fund is being spent.
Because of the House changes, Senate Bill 123 must now return to the Senate before gaining final passage.
ATLANTA – A proposal asking Georgia voters whether to legalize casinos, horse racing and sports betting in the Peach State is back on the table in the General Assembly.
The House Regulated Industries Committee approved a resolution Monday calling for a statewide referendum on all three forms of legalized gambling. The same panel approved a gambling vote in March, but it failed to reach the House floor for a vote before lawmakers took a three-month break to discourage the spread of coronavirus.
While that seemed to doom the measure for this year, it’s back up for debate during the final week of the 2020 legislative session because supporters inserted it into another proposed constitutional amendment identical to legislation that already had gained final passage.
Lawmakers have been debating legalized gambling in Georgia for years, arguing among other things that voters deserve the chance to decide the issue once and for all.
“Whether you’re for or against the bill, allow the people to vote,” Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, a leading supporter of legalized gambling, told committee members Monday.
Stephens, chairman of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee, has pitched legalized gambling throughout the years-old debate on the issue as a way to attract tourists and conventions to Georgia.
The state needs a boost to its economy particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced businesses across Georgia to close their doors, he said.
Stephens said casinos, racetracks and sports betting also would inject needed additional revenue into Georgia’s HOPE Scholarships and pre-kindergarten programs.
The percentage of student tuition HOPE covers has been declining in recent years because of pressure on the lottery-funded program’s revenues resulting from growing enrollment in Georgia’s public colleges and universities.
The proposed constitutional amendment would create a fund that would cover the difference between HOPE scholarship awards and the actual cost of tuition for Georgia students from families earning below 50% of the state’s median income, Stephens said. A separate fund supported by gambling proceeds would help prop up the state’s budget reserves, he said.
If voters approve the statewide referendum, Stephens noted, no casino, racetrack or sports betting parlor could be built in a community without the approval of local voters in a second referendum.
“It can’t come to your backyard until your backyard wants it,” he said.
As has been the case since Georgia lawmakers started talking about legalizing gambling, opposition has been spearheaded by faith-based groups.
Virginia Galloway, regional field director of the Duluth-based Faith and Freedom Coalition, said gambling brings crime and corruption to states where it’s legal.
“Any state that’s got gambling in it, you probably wouldn’t want to live,” Galloway told the committee. “I don’t want my state to become Louisiana, New Jersey [or] Illinois.”
The measure the House committee passed Monday is one of two 11th-hour efforts in the General Assembly to move forward on legalized gambling. A bill that would allow sports betting in Georgia cleared a state Senate committee last Friday.
ATLANTA – Third-party companies that help set prescription drug prices would face tighter regulations under identical bills the Georgia House of Representatives and state Senate passed unanimously Monday.
Pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) negotiate between insurance companies and pharmacies to set drug prices.
But too often, PBMs hide behind unscrupulous practices that allow them to increase prices without sufficient oversight, said Rep. David Knight, R-Griffin.
Senate Bill 313, which cleared the state Senate in March, follows legislation the General Assembly passed last year to prevent PMS from steering patients to associated pharmacies with potentially higher costs.
The House amended this year’s bill as it went through the committee process to make it identical to House Bill 946, PBM legislation the House passed, also in March.
On Monday, Knight described the final product as a compromise between the various interested parties based on input from the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) and the governor’s office.
The compromise requires PBMs to provide greater transparency by publishing data on prescription prices online. The amended bill also gives the DCH authority over auditing drug prices affecting enrollees in Georgia’s Medicaid program and the health plan covering teachers and state employees.
“[This] will be the toughest PBM legislation in the nation,” Knight said. “We can finally bring transparency to drug pricing and give choice to our patients.”
Whichever of the two bills gains final passage from the legislature will go to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for his signature.
