As the legislative session winds down, county commissioners are encouraged to discuss certain bills that can potentially impact counties with their legislators. A list of bills and summaries can be found here.

Click here to access photos of the Legislative Breakfast.

Staff Contact: Governmental Affairs Associate Dante Handel; dhandel@accg.org  

House Bill 808, by Rep. Mike Cheokas, passed the Senate Finance Committee this week. This legislation raises the personal property tax exemption from $7,500 to $20,000. This means that those with personal property worth $20,000 or less will not pay the tax and anyone with personal property worth more than $20,000 pay on the entire amount. The impetus for the bill is to help small businesses.      

House Bill 871, by Rep. Clay Pirkle, allows the surviving spouse of a qualified disabled veteran to keep the qualified disabled veteran homestead exemption when moving anywhere else within the state of Georgia. Under current law, the exemption is not portable across county lines. This change will provide greater housing flexibility for surviving spouses. This legislation passed the Senate Finance Committee this week.  

House Bill 1239, by Rep. J. Collins, passed the Senate Public Safety Committee by substitute. The added language will help the Department of Revenue (DOR) to curb temporary operating permit (TOP) abuse by allowing DOR to create and maintain a TOP issuance system and suspend suspected bad actors. The penalties may be increased if the dealer appeals and is found to have committed violations. ACCG is supportive of this legislation.  

Senate Resolution 82, by Sen. Carden Summers, allows local governments to authorize the waiver of delinquent taxes at a tax sale for properties that remain unsold after two tax sales. This will help local governments to return these properties to an effective use. ACCG testified before the Ways and Means Committee alongside Sen. Summers to support this legislation. This resolution was an ACCG Policy Agenda item during last year’s session.  

Governmental Affairs Associate Dante Handel testifying in support of SR 82 in the House Ways and Means Committee.

House Bill 1052, by Rep. Chas Cannon, passed the Senate Finance Committee this week. This legislation allows conservation use valuation assessment (CUVA) properties to lease land to non-qualifying entities without breaching the covenant. ACCG is supportive of this legislation.  

Staff Contact: Associate Director of Governmental Affairs Martha Revelo; mrevelo@accg.org

House Bill 300, by Rep. Trey Kelley, introduces provisions regarding specific decommissioning requirements between the landowner and the solar farm operator or grantee. The grantee is responsible, through a decommissioning bond, for removing the solar panels and restoring the property to its pre-industrial condition upon lease termination. The bill preempts local governments from imposing additional financial insurance requirements when the landowner and grantee have an agreement. Associate Director of Governmental Affairs Martha Revelo testified on county concerns regarding preemption on financial assurances, such as double bonding, for the removal or decommissioning of solar power facilities. ACCG is working with the author to address some of the local government concerns.

Associate Director of Governmental Affairs Martha Revelo sharing ACCG’s concerns with HB 300 in the Senate Regulated Industries Committee.

House Bill 1146, by Rep. Ron Stephens, requires that the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) issue water permits to private companies where public service cannot be provided within 18-months. The proposed legislation raises concerns about establishing a precedent and its potential impacts on public health, environmental conservation, and local government planning, including current service delivery strategy (SDS) agreements. ACCG opposes this bill and continues to encourage counties to reach out to their senators about their concerns. This bill will be heard in the Senate Natural Resources Committee next Tuesday.

Senate Resolution 619, by Sen. Ed Harbison, creates the Senate Public Utility Once Source Billing of Local Governments Study Committee. This bill aims to investigate the feasibility and benefits of consolidating utility billing for local governments and school districts which could potentially benefit from lower rates per unit usage. By aggregating the total usage across all facilities within these entities, they may qualify for reduced rates from regulated public entities. ACCG supports this resolution.

House Bill 1033, introduced by Rep. Bob Leverett, passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Utility Worker Protection Act is designed to safeguard utility workers from threats or assaults by individuals while carrying out their official duties. ACCG supports this bill.

Staff Contact: Governmental Affairs Associate Gabriel Carter; gcarter@accg.org

House Bill 301, by Rep. Jason Ridley, passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee. The original language in this bill was stripped out and inserted with language that enhances penalties for local governments enacting, adopting, implementing, or enforcing any new “sanctuary policy” regarding illegal immigration. A sanctuary government is one that has adopted a regulation, rule, policy or practice that prohibits or restricts government officials/employees from cooperating with federal officials regarding immigration status information. This bill establishes penalties for sanctuary governments that include:

House Bill 1188, by Rep. Jodi Lott, passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee. This bill requires that any state, county, and municipal law enforcement agency that hires a law enforcement officer from another agency prior to 36 months after their mandated training must provide reimbursement to that agency for the total cost of training.

Staff Contact: Associate Director of Governmental Affairs Martha Revelo; mrevelo@accg.org

House Bill 946, by Rep. Lee Hawkins, successfully passed the Senate Finance Committee this week and is now in the Senate Rules Committee. This bill aims to modify the Single-County TSPLOST threshold, shifting from requiring 100% of qualified cities to sign the intergovernmental agreement to cities representing more than 50% of the municipal population to levy the 1% tax. This legislation is a 2024 ACCG Policy Agenda item. Please contact your Senators to support this bill.

Associate Director of Governmental Affairs Martha Revelo with Rep. Lee Hawkins and County Administrator Zack Propes. Rep. Hawkins and Propes testified in support of HB 946 the Senate Finance Committee.

Staff Contact: Governmental Affairs Associate Gabriel Carter; gcarter@accg.org

Staff Contact: Deputy Director of Governmental Affairs Todd Edwards; tedwards@accg.org    

Senate Bill 19, by Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, passed the House today. Under current Georgia law, clerks of superior court and probate judges can keep, as personal compensation, all the fees their offices are paid for processing U.S. passport applications. While this bill originally required these officers to divide the fees among themselves, their offices, and the county, it now only requires them to report, quarterly, the amount of money they receive to the county governing authority. ACCG supports this bill. 

Senate Bill 212, by Sen. Max Burns, passed the House Governmental Affairs Committee this week. This bill removes probate judges’ election responsibilities, effective January 1, 2025, following the completion of the 2024 general election. The 24 counties impacted by this change must establish an election board to carry out election responsibilities. ACCG is neutral on this bill.   

Please click here for a summary of SB 212. 

Senate Bill 171, by Sen. Max Burns, passed the House Governmental Affairs Committee. Resulting from the 2023 Senate Study Committee on Development Authorities, the bill limits the length of a development authority member's hold-over period after their term expires and requires members to complete annual training. ACCG is neutral on this bill.  

It is time for counties to review and update, if necessary, their ACCG County Legislative Coordinator (CLC). The CLC’s primary responsibilities are to relay pertinent information about current legislation to county commissioners and county management and to maintain an open line of communication with ACCG to ensure county-specific information is readily available for legislators. ACCG encourages all counties to participate in this network and designate a CLC prior to the legislative session. To confirm, update, or appoint your county’s CLC, please contact Tottianna Davis at tdavis@accg.org or 404-522-5022.

Click here to review your county's CLC from the 2023 session.

Watch the replay of the Virtual Legislative Update here. As a reminder, join the ACCG Governmental Affairs team every Friday at 9:00 a.m. during the legislative session. This is a recurring event, so county officials can access the meeting each week through this link.

Don't forget about the various communications tools that will help keep you informed and engaged. Click here to read all about them!

The Center Square - March 7, 2024

The Center Square - March 6, 2024