Other than the state budget, the most important bill of 2018 might be the Transportation bill, HB 930, which creates a regional transportation entity, the ATL, for governance and funding authority in 13 metro counties where 11 different transit authorities operate--including MARTA.  HB 930 has not yet been voted out of the Transportation Committee, but I anticipate a House floor vote on Wednesday, and significant impact for DeKalb County.

Gun Bills  

There is hope this week for positive action on HB 541, 657,and SB 99 which offer solutions to real problems with gaps in our gun laws.  HB 541 closes the gaps in definitions of domestic violence offenses that prevent a convicted offender from purchasing a gun.  This is already federal law, but Georgia is not up to date on compliance, based on definition of offenses.  SB 99 will repeal the law that   requires a purging every five years of mental commitment records maintained by Probate Courts.  These records are necessary to conduct background checks for gun purchases, and Georgia is the only state that allows  such a purging--1000's of records wiped off the books every year!   HB 657 creates a felony offense for someone who sells or give his gun to a convicted felon, and this bill has already passed the House. 

HB 10, banning assault weapons, and HB 651 prohibiting bumpstocks have been ignored by the Republican leadership.  Disappointing to say the least.                         

Governmental Affairs  Committee Debacle

A weird partisan stunt was allowed in the Government Affairs Committee this week that is hard to explain.  A bill that had been introduced on Tuesday, that was not on a Wednesday committee  agenda, or included in the committee folder, was brought forward for a vote by the Chair. HB 961 introduced by the two Republican DeKalb representatives, Taylor and Hansen, was voted out to eliminate the DeKalb County CEO form of government--no notice to the public, the delegation, or the County elected officials.  The exercise of raw power, against committee rules and practice, to make a partisan statement for no substantive gain makes us all look bad. Even if you prefer a county manager form of government for DeKalb, which I do, partisan wedge votes and actions make progress less likely. The AJC had a good article on this stunt. 

Survey results and New Question

I am very glad  that 100's of you choose to record your vote and opinion with my newsletter  survey.  Thank you.      

In the last newsletter, you voted  55% to use the predicted state tax "windfall"  from the new federal tax law to fund needed services rather that create new tax reductions. The tax bill moving through the Legislature will cut the income tax rate from 6% to 5.75%, so the "windfall" will be given back. 

SURVEY QUESTION OF THE WEEK--

Should the Transit Bill include a provision that allows DeKalb County to vote by referendum to add a one-half penny of sales tax for transit funding?

Reply to survey here. 

Activities --

 
We are pleased this year to have Naomi Marshall interning with us. Naomi is British (parents live in England, went to school in Scotland) and a graduate of the University of St. Andrews. She is currently a Robert T. Jones scholar at Emory working toward her Masters in Bioethics. She has been accepted, and we hope she will stay, into the Emory PhD program in her field of Social Anthropology. Emory's competition is only Oxford and we hope that Spring in Atlanta will win her over! She is a bright, delightful young woman and we are happy to have her working with us.
 

Chief Justice Harris Hines gave the State of the Judiciary this week at the Capitol

and we were happy to be visited at the Capitol by a group from Decatur High School

And the best news is that Spring has come to the Capitol (and they closed off Mitchell St. so that we don't have to take our lives in our hands as we go from the Capitol to the Legislative Office Building). 

I am busy!  Please come join me at the Capitol for one committee meeting or for all day.  You are welcome!