MMO Legislative Report

Mary Margaret Oliver

Email Newsletter

January 5, 2018

Dear Friends,

The 2018 General Assembly Session begins Monday at 10:00 AM, and we will not meet Tuesday in consideration of Monday night's

National College Football Championship game at Mercedez Benz Stadium--GO DAWGS! We will reconvene on Wednesday, January 10th,and then break for the week of MLK for budget hearings on January 16 and 17; we start back on regular daily Sessions on January 21. On January 11th, Governor Deal will give his State of the State and budget message on the House floor, and like all House Sessions, his speech will be live-streamed on the General Assembly web site. You are invited to tune in any day--join us from your home or office computer!

In predicting the issues and politics of this election year, I was quoted in the AJC in an article written by Greg Bluestein -

" "A lot of political theater" was how state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver summed up her expectations of the typical election-year session.... "I want to do some real work" she added, "and I have some hope that we won't waste all our time on posturing." " . You can read the article here.

The 2018 Session is Governor Deal's final year in office, and I will be following closely his last installment of Criminal Justice Reform measures, and his budget priorities. I am confident he will propose major improvements in funding for children's mental health services, will increase the budget reserves to two billion dollars, but may not include my HB 53 that expands Juvenile Court jurisdiction to include 17 year olds accused of delinquent acts into his agenda -- I am not giving up on this bill yet. I also feel hopeful/confident that regardless of the Senate bad acts regarding religious liberty legislation, that Governor Deal will protect Georgia from financial damage/embarrassment and veto any bill that may sneak through.

Below are several issues that I hope will interest you. Please email, call, or message me anytime about your priorities. Thank you, and please answer my survey questions below, or suggest other questions you may want me to ask newsletter readers.

Emory Annexation/Vista Grove

The annexation of the 744 acres of the Emory, CDC, and CHOA campus into the City of Atlanta was finalized by a vote of the Atlanta City Council in December. Just prior to the final vote, the City changed/reneged on its position that allowed the school children who reside on the Emory campus to attend Fernbank and Druid Hills schools. This reversal, that had previously been agreed to in writing, costs DeKalb County Schools $2.5 million. Senator Elena Parent and I are researching ways to undo this bad outcome that hurts DeKalb students and causes us not to trust APS in the future in relation to other possible annexations.

Cityhood discussions are also ongoing for a new city of Vista Grove which impacts HD 82. This group of advocates has not yet finalized its map, nor raised the necessary funds to pay for the legislatively required financial study for a new city. The other large proposed city of Greenhaven is further along in the legislative process, and much of the DeKalb delegation's public hearings in December engaged proponents and opponents of this proposal for the largest new DeKalb city.

Pre-Filed Legislation

I pre-filed HB 650 in December to return to cities, counties, and authorities the legal authority to determine existence, location, and presentation of Confederate monuments. I prepared this legislation at the request of the City of Decatur and DeKalb County, and thus far have received less than positive response from the Republican leadership. I thought "local control" was a value of the leadership, and I anticipate more action and advocacy on this issue.

I also pre-filed HB 651, to prohibit the sale of bump stock devices which can modify semi-automatic assault weapons into automatic assault weapons. This was the device used by the Las Vegas shooter. This bill will parallel HB 10 which prohibits the sale of assault type weapons, high capacity magazines and armor piercing bullets. I am hoping for a hearing on HB 651 when it is assigned to a committee to hear the justification for this dangerous device that cannot be used for hunting. Stay tuned.

Questions--Please participate!

1. What will be the final score of the Georgia v. Alabama National Championship game? Put your answer here . The winner or winners of this contest will be invited to join me on the House floor during a House Session as my guest to monitor all our daily activities.

2. Do you support any new city or cities for DeKalb County? Take survey here.

Activities--You are invited

Every day of the 40 days of the General Assembly include programs, events, and invitations for me to participate. Please join me anytime!

January 5--I joined Bill Nigut on Georgia Public radio 88.5 for a one hour preview of the 2018 Session, and all Political Rewind stories are available on-line to hear if you missed the live talk.

January 8th--WIN list, a group supporting Democratic women candidates, will host a lunch for newly elected women Representatives and Senators at Central Presbyterian Church.

January 17--Elena Parent and I will join Glenn Memorial Wednesday supper group to discuss the Session at 6:00 pm.

January 26--The Emory Lavista Parents Council meets at Henderson Middle School with legislators at 9:00 am.

Please contact me anytime with your questions or comments and visit our website at the link below and follow me on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links below. I look forward to working with you during the 2018 Georgia General Assembly, and I need your help and your support!! In the meantime, I will continue to report on issues that may interest you, and welcome your suggestions on how this newsletter may better serve you.

Mary Margaret

mmo@mmolaw.com

Law Office (404) 377-0485

Legislative Office (404) 656-0265

http://marymargaretoliver.org/