ACEC Georgia Capitol Update
There are only five legislative days left, but it will take the next two weeks to get through them. That still leaves very few days to get things done before the spring to the finish line. Several committees have already had their final meetings of this session and more will follow this week.

Patience starts to wear a little thin at this point in the session, with legislators, lobbyists and Capitol staff all looking forward to March 30 like students looking forward to the first day of summer break.
Transit
The Senate Transportation Committee met last Monday afternoon and held up their end of the bargain by replacing HB 930 (the House's transit bill) with the language from SB 386 (the Senate's transit bill), just as the House had done the previous week. Both transit bills now sit in the Rules Committees of their respective chambers and it is expected that both chambers will vote on the other's transit bill on the same day this week. The goal is to get the two different versions worked out in a Conference Committee made up of three senators and three representatives, which will be appointed to iron out the differences between House and Senate. Neither were added to the agenda for today's session, so we can expect them to be on the calendars for Wednesday or Friday.
Statewide Procurement Registry
HB 489 is the legislation that would create a "one stop shop" listing of all local government procurement in Georgia. The legislation was passed out of the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee last Tuesday afternoon. The bill is now eligible to be voted on by the full Senate and we expect Chairman Mullis to add this to the Senate calendar at some point this week. 

With few changes from the original version and spirit of the bill, there hopefully will be no problem getting an "agree" from the House to the Senate's changes, which would send the bill off to the Governor's desk for a signature.
Just a reminder, HR 158 would create a constitutional amendment that would allow the legislature to dedicate funds for specific purposes outside of the general appropriations process. For example, this would allow for 100% of professional licensing fees to be dedicated back to fund the operations of that licensing board. We understood that the Senate Appropriations Committee initially had some reservations about the bill, but though not yet posted, there is rumor that the bill may get a hearing Wednesday afternoon.

As previously reported, HR 1374 is the study committee legislation that would look into the process whereby individual licensing boards could set their own customer service and enforcement levels, as well as the licensing fees to support those service levels. The bill had a hearing last Tuesday afternoon, with strong support being voiced by the committee members. However, there was no vote as it was a "hearing only." ACEC Georgia's team worked tirelessly last week "on the ropes," whipping votes for the potential next hearing. 

As things go sometimes, there was a meeting notice put out Thursday morning for another hearing with a vote later that afternoon. Rep. Buzz Brockway (R-Lawrenceville), candidate for Secretary of State and co-signer of the bill, presented the legislation for Rep. Brett Harrell (R-Snellville), who had a schedule conflict. The presentation of the bill went well and the bill was approved by a unanimous vote. The bill is now eligible to be called up in the Rules Committee. With the bill sponsor being Rep. Harrell, who is also Vice Chair of the House Rules Committee, we have our fingers crossed that we might see the bill on the House floor this week.
Fast Act
This bill, SB 2, has been modified, substituted, decorated, stripped and much more since its inception in the 2017 legislative session. Just as a reminder, the bill by Sen. Mike Dugan (R-Carrollton), the FAST Act ("Fairness, Accountability, Simplification, and Transparency - Empowering Our Small Businesses to Succeed"), seeks to eliminate duplicative rules, regulations and red tape to create a more efficient and transparent permitting process for Georgia businesses. It would require state agencies and local governments to set forth a specific turnaround time for processing licenses, permits and approvals. In a previous form of the legislation, there were some complicated portions that included bifurcated payments and expedited permitting options. 

After a failed vote of 66-106 on the House floor on Crossover Day, the legislation received a reconsideration vote of 129-33 to give it another chance at a later date. This allowed the Rules Committee to strip the bill and apply a previously removed section for a voluntary certification program known as "Ready for Partnership Georgia," which would provide a process for review, renewal and revocation of such certificates. This watered-down version of the bill passed the House on March 5, 2018 with a vote of 160-5. 

The Senate Chamber disagreed to the House amendment last Wednesday, sending the bill back to the House for what we predict will be an "insist" on their behalf... sending SB 2 to Conference Committee. With this in mind, ACEC Georgia's legislative advocacy team met with our coalition partners and hammered out some edits of our own in order to have something concrete to offer the conferees that local governments and business partners could agree to. We have shared our new version of this legislation with ACCG and GMA, and will continue to try to earn their support and a positive result in the Conference Committee. 

For highlights from the new proposed version of the legislation, email Sully or Jennifer.
Mimosa Mandate
As we were publishing the Capitol Update last week, SB 17 (aka "the Better Brunch Bill" or "Mimosa Mandate") was being heard in the House Chamber. Originally authored by Rep. Brett Harrell, and taken up last session by Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford), this bill would allow local governments to authorize by referendum the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages on Sundays starting at 11 a.m. (current law prohibits this activity until 12:30 p.m.). 

Rep. Meagan Hanson sponsored the legislation in the House. After much deliberation on the legislation in the chamber, the bill received a vote of 97-64 Monday afternoon. There were many arguments of religious concern that were combated with comments of, "even Jesus turned water into wine." 

The legislation now awaits the Governor's signature. In that likely scenario, each county and municipality will then have the option to pose the question to sell before 12:30 p.m. to their local voters.
Week Ahead
The General Assembly will meet today, Wednesday and Friday this week, taking us through Legislative Day 38. This week will have a few final committee meetings and longer days in the chamber moving legislation. We still remain quite vigilant on the possibility of other bills being used as "vehicles" to be amended with language from bills that may have already died or for things that may be unwanted.
Legislation ACEC Georgia is following
HB 59 - By Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) modifies Georgia's existing historic structures tax credit by eliminating the caps on non-residential structures and by making the tax credits more readily transferable.  STATUS: Passed out of House Ways & Means Committee February 27, 2017 and Full House March 3, 2017. Passed out of Senate Finance Committee by substitute on March 22, 2017. The bill was recommitted to the Senate Finance Committee and passed out on Wednesday with an amendment adding a tax credit for electric vehicle manufacturers. The bill is now in Senate Rules. 

HB 150 - By Rep. Allan Powell (R-Hartwell) would allow the State Road & Tollway Authority (SRTA) to place a hold on the motor vehicle registration of anyone who fails to pay tolls, after sufficient notice and opportunity to respond and pay the tolls and associated fines. It would also allow unpaid tolls and fines to be collected via state income tax refund set-off. More importantly, the version which passed the Senate on the final day of last year's session also includes language that extends the sunset on use of the Consumer Price Index in calculating Georgia's motor fuel excise tax for an additional four years, to July 1, 2022. STATUS: Senate Passed on March 30, 2017. House agreed to Senate version 145-23 on January 30, 2018. It is now on the Governor's desk awaiting signature. 

HB 189 - By Rep. Sheila Nelson (D-Augusta), the "Contract Cancellation Act" would require any service contract with a state agency or local government to "contain specific performance and cost parameters" and require the service provider to submit quarterly reports to the governing authority showing the provider's compliance with those performance criteria. It would also allow all contracts to contain a provision allowing the governing authority to unilaterally terminate the contract if the contractor fails to comply with the performance criteria or if projected annual costs exceed the cost established by the contract. Obviously, performance and cost criteria can be affected by conditions outside of the service provider's control, including acts of God (such as weather), actions of third parties or even the actions (or inaction) of the governing authority itself. This bill did not move until very late in the process and we are still working alongside other stakeholders (AGC, ABC and AIA) to understand the motivation behind the bill (i.e. what exactly is the problem this bill is trying to solve?) and to work with the Senate committee to educate them on the potential unintended consequences of this legislation. STATUS: Passed out of the House Government Affairs Committee on March 1, 2017 and the full House on March 6, 2017 by a vote of 156-13. Assigned to the Senate State & Local Government Operations Committee. This bill was gutted and amended to add language for election and voting systems rendering it harmless for now. It passed out of committee March 9, 2018 and is now in Senate Rules. 

HB 204 - By Rep. Brett Harrell (R-Snellville) would prohibit anything other than actual ad valorem property taxes from being included on property tax bills (i.e. no solid waste or stormwater fees on tax bills). There has been significant opposition to this legislation from local governments, particularly local stormwater authorities. The Senate passed a substitute version that gutted Rep. Harrell's original bill and replaced it with language exempting 501(c)(3) charitable tax-exempt corporations from the definition of innkeeper. Sen. Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville) chaired a Joint House Senate Study Committee which explored issues relating to stormwater fee collections, including placing them on property tax bills. Consensus of that joint committee seemed to fall on the side of leaving that issue alone. STATUS: Passed out of the House Ways & Means Committee on February 16, 2017 and out of the full House on February 28, 2017 by a vote of 111-61. Passed out of the Senate Finance Committee by substitute on March 22, 2017. Bill has been recommitted to and is now pending in the Senate Finance Committee. 

HB 271 - By Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) seeks to clarify and expand shore protections in coastal Georgia. STATUS: Passed out of the House Natural Resources & Environment Committee on February 23, 2017 and the full House on March 3, 2017 by a vote of 174-0. Assigned to Senate Natural Resources and the Environment Committee. 

HB 489 - By Rep. Tom McCall (R-Elberton) is a great, common sense bill that would require all local governments in Georgia to advertise local government bid opportunities for goods, services and public works with the Georgia Procurement Registry managed by the Georgia Department of Administrative Affairs, in addition to the official legal organ and other media outlets. This would create a "one stop shop" listing of all local government procurement listings in Georgia. ACEC Georgia supports this legislation.  STATUS: Passed out of the House Government Affairs Committee on February 15, 2018. Pending in House Rules Committee. This bill received a favorable vote of 172-0 on the House Chamber floor on Crossover Day. The legislation was assigned to Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee where it received a favorable vote on March 14, 2018. The bill is now in Senate Rules. 

HB 673 - By Rep. John Carson (R-Marietta) would require all drivers in the state of Georgia to use a hands-free device when driving. There would be a fine from $150-$300 for your first offense up to a defensive driving course and incarceration for subsequent offenses. STATUS: Passed out of the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee on February 22, 2018. This bill was heard in the House Chamber on Crossover Day and passed 151-20 and was assigned to Senate Judiciary where it awaits a hearing. There are two committee meetings scheduled this week with no agenda posted at this time. 

HB 694 - By Rep. Brett Harrell (R-Snellville) would require each distributor to file motor fuel taxes electronically by the twentieth day of each calendar month for the preceding month's activities. However, this week the Senate Finance Committee added language from Sen. William Ligon exempting non-profit hotels from the taxes created and collected in HB 170. ACEC will continue to fight this revised version of the legislation (not the original bill or its intent) and any other legislation that attempts to affect HB 170. ACEC Georgia opposes this legislation in its current form. 
STATUS: Assigned to House Ways & Means Industries Committee where it was passed out on January 29, 2018. The full House chamber passed the bill 161-0 on January 31, 2018. Passed out of the Senate Finance Committee by substitute on F ebruary 22, 2018. The bill was recommitted to the committee and the committee has a hearing this afternoon. However, the bill is not on the agenda at this time, but can be added at the Chairman's discretion.
 

HB 791  - By Rep. Chuck Efstration (R-Dacula), similar to HB 674, would waive the government's sovereign immunity in cases for declaratory judgments or other injunctive relief. STATUS: Passed out of the House Judiciary Committee on February 23, 2018. This bill passed 177-0 in the House Chamber on Crossover Day and was assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

HB 833 - By Rep. Paulette Rakestraw (R-Hiram) is a housekeeping bill introduced on behalf of SAMSOG dealing with certain educational and licensing requirements for land surveyors, most notably eliminating the hydrology related educational and examination requirements for all surveyors (unless they opt-in). ACEC Georgia supports this legislation.  STATUS: Passed out of the House Regulated Industries Committee on February 14, 2018 and full House Chamber on February 23, 2018 157-6. The bill now awaits a hearing in the Senate Regulated Industries Committee. 

HB 899 - By Rep. Dominic LaRiccia (R-Douglas) would prohibit the use of a lack of previous experience with the specific construction delivery method to be used on a project (such as CM at risk or design-build) as a disqualification of bidders for that public works project, as long as the bidder is otherwise qualified to do that type of work and scale of project and meet bonding requirements. ACEC Georgia supports this legislation.  STATUS: Passed out of the House Governmental Affairs Committee on February 22, 2018. This bill passed out of the House Chamber on Crossover Day with a vote of 167-0. The legislation was assigned to the Senate Economic Development Committee where it was favorably passed out on March 14, 2018. The bill is now in Senate Rules.

HB 930 - By Rep. Kevin Tanner (R-Dawsonville) would reconstitute the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) as the new governing entity for all transit planning, capitol project approval and funding in metro Atlanta, with all existing transit agencies (MARTA, Cobb Transit, Gwinnett Transit, etc.) continuing to serve as transit operators. The 13 counties already under GRTA would be divided into 10 districts, with a representative from each district who would be elected by state legislators in a manner similar to the GDOT Board, but with the addition of county commission chairs and a mayor from the district as additional "voters". In addition, the Speaker and Lt. Governor would have appointees to the board and the Governor (or his designee) would serve as chairman. CIDs could create special taxing districts of less than an entire county (think Cumberland CID in Cobb County for transit to SunTrust Park and The Battery). GRTA would be the conduit for all funding and ultimate approval of capital projects. The bill creates a new 1% transit-only T-SPLOST, that could be put in place for up to 30 years. There would also be an additional 50 cent per ride fee placed on all ride share programs (i.e. Uber, Lyft) and a 1% sales tax on all concessions at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. All transit modes within the Atlanta region would be branded "ATL" - a name first suggested by Sen. Brandon Beach. ACEC Georgia supports this legislation.  STATUS: Passed out of the House Transportation Committee on February 23, 2018. Will be voted on by the full House on February 28, 2018. This bill passed 162-13 out of the House Chamber on Crossover Day with the amendment to allow Cobb to participate county-wide, rather than by creating a special district around the Cumberland area. The bill had a hearing Monday afternoon and was stripped of the language to add the language of SB 386 as agreed to by both chambers. The bill passed out unanimously and is in Senate Rules. 

HB 995 - By Rep. Mark Newton (R-Augusta) would require a company to disclose all payments received by the contractor within the last five years when entering a contract with cities, counties and other governmental entities. The penalty for failing to do so could result in disqualification of the bid. STATUS: This bill was assigned to the House Governmental Affairs Committee where it received a favorable vote on February 27, 2018 and passed out of full House Chamber on Crossover Day with a vote of 175-0 and was assigned to the Senate Economic Development Committee where it received a favorable vote and passed out on March 14, 2018. The bill is now in Senate Rules. 

HB 998 - By Rep. Wendell Willard (R-Sandy Springs) is to establish "Business Courts" that would deal exclusively with business-related litigation, by creating the Judicial Council the Office of Business Cases and provide for the referral and acceptance of cases into such office from the superior and state courts. STATUS: The legislation passed out of the House Judiciary Committee on February 23, 2018. 

HR 158 - By Rep. Jay Powell (R-Camilla), that would amend the Georgia Constitution (if approved by the voters) to allow all fees collected by a state government agency to be appropriated back to that agency. ACEC Georgia supports this legislation.  STATUS: Passed out of the House Ways & Means Committee on January 29, 2018 and the full House on February 14, 2018 by a vote of 166-1. Now pending in Senate Appropriations Committee with potential hearing this week. 

HR 943 - By Rep. Marc Morris (R-Cumming) is a resolution proposing to create a Joint Georgia-North Carolina and Georgia-Tennessee Boundary Line Commission to work on the issues surrounding the erroneously marked boundary line between Georgia and its neighbors to the north. STATUS: Passed out of House Committee on Interstate Cooperation on February 5, 2018. Passed the full House on February 13, 2018 by a vote of 159-3. Pending in Senate Rules Committee. 

HR 993 - By Rep. Chuck Efstration (R-Dacula) is a resolution proposing to amend the Constitution so as to create a business court with state-wide jurisdiction. STATUS: The legislation passed out of the House Judiciary Committee February 23, 2018 and Full House Chamber on February 28, 2108 with a favorable vote of 142-25. The bill awaits a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

HR 1091 - By Rep. Deborah Gonzalez (D-Athens) is a resolution that would create a House study committee to assess the possibility of an Athens to Atlanta Rail Line (similar to the "Brain Train" proposal that was promoted several years ago). STATUS: Pending in the House Transportation Committee. Being a resolution and a House study committee, the bill is not subject to Crossover Day and is still eligible to pass this session. 

HR 1374 - By Rep. Brett Harrell (R-Snellville) is a resolution proposing to create a House Study Committee on Professional Licensing Boards Operations and Funding to look at the possibility of allowing each licensing board to govern and fund itself through licensing fees under the Secretary of State's Office. STATUS: The legislation was assigned to the House Special Rules Committee and passed out on March 15, 2018. The bill is now in House Rules. 

SB 2 - By Sen. Mike Dugan (R-Carrollton) the FAST Act ("Fairness, Accountability, Simplification, and Transparency - Empowering Our Small Businesses to Succeed") seeks to eliminate duplicative rules, regulations and red tape to create a more efficient and transparent permitting process for Georgia businesses. It would require state agencies and local governments to set forth a specific turnaround time for processing licenses, permits and approvals as well as associated fees, including making available an expedited process available for an additional fee. If the agency fails to meet its timeline, the fee for that service would be reduced. ACEC Georgia supports this legislation.  STATUS: Passed out of the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee on February 15, 2017 and the full Senate on February 17, 2017. Passed out of House Small Business Development Committee on March 28, 2017, but was recommitted by the full House on March 30, 2017. Passed again out of the House Small Business Development Committee on February 15, 2018 and will be voted on by the full House on Wednesday, February 27, 2018. This bill failed 66-106 on Crossover Day, but was given a second chance in a successful motion to reconsider, which allows the bill to come up again for a vote at a later time. The legislation was recommitted to the Rules Committee and amended to gut the bill except for an amendment adding the "Ready for Partnership Georgia" piece that was previously in the bill. The bill was passed out of Full House Chamber with a favorable vote 160-5. The Senate "disagreed" last week sending it back to the House. We expect the bill to go to conference committee. ACEC Georgia has drafted some amendments we will discuss with conferees in hopes of arriving at a compromise version. 

SB 3 - By Sen. Lindsey Tippins (R-Marietta), the "Creating Opportunities Needed Now to Expand Credentialed Training (CONNECT) Act" would expand career education in grades 6 through 12, including new opportunities for internships, apprenticeships and cooperative learning and to provide a means of industry credentialing for those programs. It also requires closer collaboration between the Georgia Department of Education and the Technical College System of Georgia relative to identifying and addressing critical workforce needs through career education. ACEC Georgia supports this legislation.  STATUS: A Conference Committee was appointed on March 30, 2017 to hammer out the differences between the House and Senate versions. The conference committee was adopted in both chambers last week and the bill was sent to the Governor's desk to be signed. 

SB 17 - By Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford) is the so-called "Mimosa Mandate" bill (formerly known as the "Better Brunch Bill") to allow local governments to authorize the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages on Sundays starting at 11:00 a.m. (current law prohibits this activity until 12:30 p.m. on Sundays). STATUS: Passed out of Senate Regulated Industries & Utilities Committee on February 7, 2018 by a 6-4 vote and out of the full Senate on February 13, 2018 by a vote of 38-18. The legislation was heard in the House Regulated Industries Committee and favorably reported on March 7, 2018. The bill received a passing vote of 97-64 in the House on March 12, 2018. The legislation now awaits the Governor's signature. 

SB 89 - By Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth) would create a Georgia Freight Railroad Program within GDOT and would facilitate the expenditure of additional appropriations by the General Assembly for purposes of improving freight and passenger railway and crossing infrastructure. ACEC Georgia supports this legislation.  STATUS: Passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee on February 7, 2017 and the full Senate on February 15, 2017 by a vote of 49-0. The bill passed out of the House Transportation Committee on March 15, 2018 and is now in House Rules. 

SB 232 - By Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega), the "Facilitating Internet Broadband Rural Expansion (FIBRE) Act" would create incentives for public and/or private entities to expand gigabit or higher broadband services to areas within the state where such services are not currently available.  STATUS: Assigned to Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee. This bill passed 55-0 in the Senate Chamber on Crossover Day and was assigned to the House Ways & Means Committee. 

SB 315 - By Sen. Bruce Thompson (R-White) would create the new crime of unauthorized computer access to protect individuals and businesses from ransomware and other computer related attacks. ACEC Georgia supports this legislation.  STATUS: Passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee on February 1, 2018. Passed by substitute by the full Senate on February 12, 2018 by a vote of 41-11. The legislation awaits a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee. 

SB 319 - By Senator John Albers (R-Alpharetta) the "Consolidation of Fire Safety Services in Georgia Act" would create a new Department of Fire Safety, led by a Commissioner of Fire Safety and would combine the myriad fire safety related departments, inspectors and training activities into one, unified agency. STATUS: Passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee on February 13, 2018 and passed the full Senate on February 21, 2018 by a vote of 49-3. Pending in House Insurance Committee. 

SB 324 - By Sen. John Albers (R-Alpharetta) would allow any municipality to contract with any county abutting that municipality's corporate limits for the construction and maintenance of a bridge within the limits of both the municipality and county. STATUS: Passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee on February 8, 2018. Passed the full Senate on February 26, 2018 by a vote of 50-2. The legislation was assigned to the House Transportation Committee where it awaits a hearing. 

SB 338 - By Sen. William Ligon, Jr. (R-Brunswick) makes numerous changes to the state administrative procedure act designed to create greater public involvement in and legislative oversight of the state agency rule making process. STATUS: Passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 1, 2018 and the full Senate on February 8, 2018 by a vote of 37-18. The bill was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee where it passed out with a favorable vote on March 15, 2018. The bill is now in House Rules. 

SB 353 - By Senator Lee Anderson (R-Grovetown) would establish civil enforcement and penalty authority in the Safety Fire Commissioner for violations related to the regulation of boilers and pressure vessels. STATUS: Passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee on February 1, 2018 and the full Senate on February 12, 2018 by a vote of 53-0. The bill was assigned to the House Insurance Committee where it received a favorable vote on March 9, 2018. It is now in House Rules. 

SB 386 - By Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) creates a new transit-only SPLOST that a county could impose to fund transit capital improvements. This new Transit SPLOST would be exempt from the existing cap on local sales taxes (allowing Fulton & DeKalb counties to use this new funding tool). Local governments would enter into an intergovernmental agreement with MARTA for the provision of transit services and MARTA would be operator of those services. A new "Atlanta-region Transit Link 'ATL' Commission would be created within the existing Georgia Regional Transportation Authority to serve as the Atlanta region's transit planning entity (along with the Atlanta Regional Commission). ACEC Georgia supports this legislation.  STATUS: The bill had its first hearing last week. Assigned to Senate Transportation Committee where it passed out on February 23, 2018. This bill passed out of the full the Senate Chamber on Crossover Day with a vote of 51-4. The legislation was heard in the House Transportation Committee last week where it was gutted and replaced with the language from HB 930 and received a favorable vote. The bill is expected to be heard on the floor after the House version passes out of the Senate Committee. 

SB 402 - By Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) would have Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) create and implement a long-term policy for right-of-ways in Georgia for broadband services and other communication technologies. The bill would also require DCA to oversee the Georgia Broadband Ready Community Site designation program which would require at least 1 gigabit of broadband service all public services per site. This is one of a three part legislative initiative. STATUS: Assigned to the Senate Regulated Industries Committee where it passed out of committee on February 20, 2018. It passed out of the full Senate Chamber on February 23, 2018 with a vote of 52-0. The bill awaits a hearing in House Ways & Means. 

SB 404 - By Sen. Matt Brass (R-Newnan) encourages the use of residential fire sprinkler system by prohibiting local water systems from charging a fee for standby water service for sprinkler system connections. STATUS: Assigned to Senate Natural Resources and Environment. This bill was heard in the Senate Chamber on Crossover Day and passed 34-14. The bill was assigned to the House Governmental Affairs Committee where it was passed out on March 15, 2018. The bill is now in House Rules. 

SB 425 - By Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) is identical to HB 833 (see above), which would eliminate the hydrology related educational and examination requirements for all surveyors (unless they opt-in). ACEC Georgia supports this legislation.  STATUS: Assigned to the Senate Regulated Industries Committee where it received a passing vote on February 23, 2018. The bill was passed out of the full Senate Chamber on Crossover Day with a vote of 52-0. The legislation was assigned to the House Regulated Industries committed where it received a favorable vote on March 7, 2018. The House passed the bill with a vote of 158-6 and sent it back to the Senate for an "agree." 

SB 426 - By Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) is the "Broadband Infrastructure Leads to Development Act" (BILD Act), would limit the ability of local governing authorities to prohibit, regulate, or charge for use of public rights of way, under certain circumstances, to wireless providers in order to facilitate the growth of broadband services in rural areas of the state. This is part one of a three-part legislative initiative to achieve this goal. STATUS: Assigned to the Senate Regulated Industries Committee where it received a favorable vote on February 23, 2018. The bill passed out of the full Senate Chamber on Crossover Day with a vote of 52-2. The legislation was assigned to the House Energy, Utilities, and Telecommunications Committee where it received a favorable vote on March 14, 2018 and is now in House Rules. 

SB 432 - By Sen. John Albers (R-Alpharetta) would provide for the expiration of certain tax credits relating to exemptions from state sales and use taxes. The dates range from 2019 to 2022 and the subject of the tax exemptions covers a large spectrum of items, places, and organizations. STATUS: Passed out of the Senate Finance Committee on February 22, 2018 and the full Senate on February 26, 2018 by substitute by a vote of 53-0. Pending in House Ways & Means. 

SB 445 - By Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) This is a GDOT housekeeping bill that does a few things, including making certain contract and bonding requirements for federal-aid projects apply to all projects, prohibiting "camping" on GDOT property or right-of-way and changing certain pricing requirements for acquiring or disposing of right-of-way properties. STATUS: Passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee on February 22, 2018 and the full Senate on February 26, 2018 by a vote of 52-0. The bill was assigned to the House Transportation Committee where it received a favorable vote on March 15, 2018 and is now in House Rules. 

SB 451 - By Sen. Larry Walker III (R-Perry) would modify the authority of the State Soil and Water Conservation Commission, and regulations in consultation with Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources. STATUS: Passed out of the Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee on February 23, 2018. This bill was heard in the Senate Chamber on Crossover Day and received a passing vote of 49-2. The legislation was assigned to the House Natural Resources & Environment Committee where it awaits a hearing. 

SB 460 - By Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) companion bill to SB 386 (see above). STATUS: Passed out of Senate Transportation Committee on February 23, 2018 and full Senate Chamber on Crossover Day with a vote of 51-2. The legislation was assigned to the House Transportation Committee where it awaits a vote. 

SR 502 - By Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) encourages the Congress of the United States and Federal Agencies to do all within their powers to develop policies and funding sources to help bring high-speed broadband access to rural America. STATUS: Assigned to Senate Rules Committee and was passed out on January 25, 2018. The full Senate Chamber passed the bill 50-0 on January 31, 2018. It is currently waiting to be assigned to a House committee. 

SR 882 - By Sen. Bert Jones (R-Jackson) This resolution would create the "Senate Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Operations and Authority Creation Study Committee" to consider whether "transfer of operations of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to an authority." STATUS: Pending in the Senate Transportation Committee (note that since this is a Senate Resolution for a Senate study committee, no action by the House or Governor is needed and this resolution is not subject to the Crossover Day rule). The legislation was favorably reported out of the Senate Transportation Committee on March 7, 2018.
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