Capitol Update Issue 9
Just two more legislative days remain! While there has been a lot of activity on some key legislation as we move into the home stretch, there has also been some solemn emotions around the Capitol with the passing of former Governor Zell Miller. He was a great Governor and Georgian and though he will be missed, his legacy lives on in both the HOPE Scholarship and HOPE Grants, which he brought into existence. Family services will be held tomorrow morning (Tuesday), after which he will be brought to the Capitol to lie in state before the executive state funeral on Wednesday. These events may have a logistical impact on scheduling for Legislative Days 39 and 40, and we can probably expect some late nights due to schedule interruptions.

We also remain quite vigilant for last minute amendments, closed door meetings and pushing legislation in the right direction through these final days.
Transit
Last week, HB 930 finally made it to a House-Senate conference committee which is tasked with hammering out the differences between the House and Senate versions of transit governance legislation. The bill was heard on the Senate floor on March 23, 2018 and received a passing vote of 47-3. The House conferees are Rep. Kevin Tanner, Rep. Jan Jones, Rep. Calvin Smyre and the Senate conferees are Sen. Brandon Beach, Sen. Steve Gooch, and Sen. David Lucas. The conference committee is meeting today (Monday) with the goal of having the final version of the bill to be voted on tomorrow (Tuesday).
Statewide Procurement Registry
HB 489 is the legislation that would create a "one stop shop" listing of all local government procurement in Georgia (the Georgia Procurement Registry). This bill passed out of the Senate Chamber on Friday, March 23, 2018, with a vote of 46-1. The House author of the bill (Rep. Tom McCall) has already requested an "agree" vote on the bill, which would send it the Governor's desk.
As previously reported, HR 1374 is the legislation that would create a study committee that will 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 legislation passed out of full House chamber with a vote of 165-1 last Wednesday, March 21, 2018. We expect meetings of the study committee to begin in the Fall. ACEC Georgia will keep you posted on meeting times and outcomes as they happen.

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. Chairman Jack Hill did have a hearing on the bill last week, but did not have a vote. We can assume, at this time, this legislation is dead for this year, but we have other options to explore next year concurrently with any recommendations that may come out of the study committee.
Fast Act
As previously reported, this 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. 

The House chamber "insisted" on their position on the legislation last week and we expect the same from the Senate this week -- sending the legislation to Conference Committee. As a reminder, ACEC Georgia's legislative advocacy team has shared some edits of our own with all interested parties in order to have something for the conferees to work from. With all parties on-board, we expect a seamless process in Conference Committee and will be happy to report an outcome after Sine Die. 

For highlights from the new proposed version of the legislation, email Sully or Jennifer.
Week Ahead
The General Assembly will meet tomorrow (Tuesday) and Thursday this week, bringing us to completion of the 2017-2018 legislative session on March 29 for Sine Die! 

We will be sharing live updates on Sine Die (Thursday) on our ACEC Georgia Twitter page... Follow @ACECGA to find out news as it happens.
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 on February 27, 2017 and Full House on 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 on the Senate calendar for Tuesday, Day 39. 

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. 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 electrical generation and distribution systems rendering it harmless for now. The neutered version passed out of committee March 9, 2018 and is on the Senate calendar for Tuesday, Day 39. 

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 where it passed out favorably on March 21, 2018. The bill is now in Senate Rules. 

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. This bill passed out of the Senate Chamber on March 23, 2018 with a vote of 46-1. The House has already requested an "agree" to the bill, which would send it the Governor's desk. 

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. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill out on March 23, 2018 and is on the Senate calendar for Tuesday, Day 39. 

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 February 22, 2018. The bill was recommitted and passed again on March 21, 2018 and is now in Senate Rules and needs to be read a second time. 

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. This bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 23, 2018 and is on the Senate calendar for Tuesday, Day 39. 

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 with a vote of 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 Senate passed this bill on March 23, 2018 by a vote of 42-1 with no substitute in the Senate sending it to the Governor's desk. 

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 Atlanta 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. The bill was heard by the full House on February 28, 2018. The 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 in the Senate Transportation Committee and was stripped of the language to add the language of SB 386 as agreed to by both chambers. The bill passed out unanimously. The bill was heard on the Senate floor on March 23, 2018 and received a passing vote of 47-3 with a Senate substitute, meaning the House would need to "agree." They "disagreed" and then both chambers "insisted" sending the bill to Conference Committee. The conferees are Rep. Kevin Tanner, Rep. Jan Jones, Rep. Calvin Smyre, Sen. Brandon Beach, Sen. Steve Gooch and Sen. David Lucas. The Conference Committee is to meet today (Monday) and vote on the report tomorrow (Tuesday).
 

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 passed the Senate Chamber on March 21, 2018 unanimously with a Senate substitute requiring the House to "agree" which we expect to be done this week. 

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) 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 where it had a hearing with no vote last Wednesday. 

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. This bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 23, 2018 and is on the Senate calendar Tuesday, Day 39.

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 was 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 passed the House chamber 165-1 on March 21, 2018. ACEC will be recommending a list of requested committee members. 

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 was 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 of 160-5. The Senate "disagreed" last week sending it back to the House. The House Chamber "insisted" on their position on March 21, 2018. We expect the Senate to do the same this week and appoint a Conference Committee. 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 the House Chamber on March 19, 2018. We can expect an "agree" by the Senate within the week.

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 passed out of the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee on March 23, 2018 and is now in House Rules.

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. The House Insurance Committee passed the bill on March 21, 2018 and is now in House Rules. 

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 passed on March 18, 2018. The bill is now in House Rules. 

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 on the House calendar for Tuesday, Day 39. 

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. This bill passed the full House Chamber on March 21, 2018 with a vote of 164-2 and we expect an "agree" from the Senate this week. 

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 and was 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 passed the House Ways & Means Committee on March 19, 2018 and passed the full House Chamber on March 23, 2018 with a vote of 161-6. On that day, the Senate "disagreed" and the House "Insisted" sending the bill to Conference Committee. The conferees are Rep. Jay Powell, Rep. Terry England, Rep. Sam Watson, Sen. Steve Gooch, Sen. John F. Kennedy and Sen. John Albers.  

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 passed the full chamber on March 21, 2018 with a vote of 116-52. We can expect an "agree" from the Senate. 

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. Assigned to House Ways & Means, the bill passed favorably out of committee on March 21, 2018 and is in House Rules. 

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 passed out favorably on March 19, 2018. The bill passed the full House Chamber on March 23, 2018 with a vote of 167-1. 

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. The legislation was assigned to the House Transportation Committee where it awaits a vote, but is unnecessary with the passage of HB 930 and stall of SB 386. 

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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