March 3, 2023
Volume 14, Issue 8
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Crossover Day is Monday
Major Issues Still in Play
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Crossover Day is Monday, March 6, and that is the deadline for bills to pass out of the chamber in which they originated. This is a critical time in the legislative process as the life of a proposed bill, whether or not it advances or fails, may be determined on Monday.
In today's Legislative Update, you will see bills of importance to counties that are up for consideration on Crossover Day. Please pay particular attention to the calls to action for bills listed in the Opposed or Support sections. It is extremely important for county officials to talk to legislators this weekend about bills of concern to counties. Please also monitor for Action Alerts from ACCG as the Governmental Affairs Team will need additional engagement from commissioners and other officials on Monday to help ensure Crossover Day is favorable for Georgia's counties.
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Reminder: Legislative Breakfast is Thursday, March 9
The 2023 Legislative Breakfast is less than one week away. ACCG looks forward to connecting county officials with state leaders for important updates and conversations about key legislation moving through the policymaking process.
Click here for more information on the event.
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Click here to review the list of this week's bills. |
Access the Legislative Tracking Database for a compilation of all bills ACCG is following. |
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Action Needed
Bills ACCG Opposes
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Amended Truck Weight Bill Passes Committee (Again) - ACCG Remains Opposed
Contact Your House Members and Members of the House Rules Committee to Share County Concerns
On Thursday, March 2, the House Transportation Committee passed another amended version of House Bill 189. ACCG remains opposed to this bill that presents a threat to the safety of Georgia's roadways and critical transportation infrastructure. Review ACCG’s summary of the bill and the HB 189 Talking Points. The as passed version of the bill would still result in nearly double the number of load restricted posted bridges in Georgia – see here for a map showing the impacts to bridges.
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Legislation to Prohibit Nontax Fees on Property Tax Bills Waits in House Rules
Contact Your House Rules Committee Members and Urge Them to Oppose
House Bill 322, by Rep. Sandra Scott, would prohibit local governments from including nontax fees on property tax bills. Over 50 counties currently include nontax fees on the tax bill. This could include garbage, stormwater, streetlight, fire, water, and other fees. This legislation would reduce collection rates, increase administrative costs, contribute to taxpayer confusion, and shift the burden to the feepayers actually paying their bills.
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Mandated Statewide Coroner Salary Bill Introduced Late but Still in Play
Contact Your House Members on the Governmental Affairs Committee
Currently, coroners in counties with less than 35,000 in population have base salaries set out in state law. House Bill 625 provides a base pay scale for all coroners statewide, likely significantly increasing a coroner’s salary. Furthermore, coroners are declared to be a “full-time” officer and shall be provided the same employment benefits received by other constitutional officers. The bill then mandates deputy coroners’ salaries be either half the coroner’s salary, or one quarter of the coroner’s salary plus a per-death investigation fee of $250. Furthermore, the coroner will be given the discretion to hire however many deputy coroners that he or she choses, despite the impact on a county’s budget. This bill will receive a hearing and a vote in the House Governmental Affairs Committee on Monday morning at 8 a.m.
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Deputy Director of Governmental Affairs Todd Edwards testifying against HB 625. |
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Attorney General Reimbursement Legislation Likely Called for a Vote
Contact Your Senators and Ask Them to Oppose This Bill.
A substitute of Senate Bill 31 was passed in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The substitute of this bill allows for a superior court judge to determine if the district attorney failed to perform their official duties by deciding not to prosecute, while the original version required the Attorney General’s Office to receive reimbursement from counties for the cost and expenses occurred when they elect to take on a case that district attorneys fail to prosecute. While this approach is more favorable, ACCG is still concerned that if the judge rules in favor of the Attorney General’s Office, then counties will be responsible for paying for this reimbursement. We are requesting that the funding for reimbursement come from the district attorneys line item in the state budget.
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Action Needed
Bills ACCG Supports
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Joint Study Committee on LOST and SDS Advances to Senate Floor for Full Vote
Contact Your Senators to Urge Their Support
Senate Resolution 214, authored by Sen. Frank Ginn, calls for a Joint Study Committee on LOST (Local Option Sales Tax), SDS (Service Delivery Strategy), and other negotiated local sales taxes. It passed the Senate Rules Committee and will be available on the Senate floor on Monday.
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Bill to Address Tax Commissioners Contracting to Collect City Taxes Passes Committee
Contact House Rules Committee to Urge Their Support
The House Ways and Means Committee passed House Bill 290. The bill now heads to the House Rules Committee. This legislation provides a uniform three-party contract between the county, city, and tax commissioner for the collection of city taxes. It also caps the tax commissioner’s side compensation at fifty percent of the minimum annual base salary based on county population.
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Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Waive Delinquent Taxes at Tax Sale Advances to Senate Floor for Vote on Monday
Contact Your Senators to Urge Their Support
Senate Resolution 82, by Sen. Carden Summers, was advanced by the Senate Rules Committee for a vote on the Senate floor on Monday, March 6. This proposed constitutional amendment would allow local governments to authorize the tax commissioner to waive delinquent taxes at a tax sale, which will clean up abandoned properties and generate revenue for the local governments.
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Housing Issues Getting Attention Under the Gold Dome
This week ACCG Executive Director Dave Wills, ACCG Policy Council Chair Henry Craig (Baldwin County), Columbia County Manager Scott Johnson, and Brantley Day (Cherokee County) from ACCG’s Housing Subcommittee, along with several officials from the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) met with the Governor to discuss housing policy. The Governor wants ACCG and GMA to look at policies that will promote more workforce housing. When companies bring new businesses to Georgia, they need a place for their workers to live close to their work without having to compute long distances. Having affordable housing for workers is becoming essential to attracting more businesses to Georgia.
The House Governmental Affairs Committee heard two bills, House Bill 514 and House Bill 517, in committee this week related to housing. HB 514 places limits on residential zoning moratoriums. ACCG asked for several amendments. Some of these were included in the substitute bill that passed out of committee. ACCG continues to work with the author on additional changes. HB 517 preempts local governments from adopting design elements on single-family and two-family residential units. This bill received a hearing and both ACCG and GMA opposed the bill.
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Mobile Home Preemption Bill Alive for Senate Consideration
Contact Your Senator(s) if Your County Has Concerns with This Bill
Senate Bill 213, by Sen. Max Burns, passed the Senate State and Local Government Committee this week. Under this bill, counties must allow new mobile homes to replace preexisting and nonconforming mobile homes (in a community/park or on other residential land) without enforcing any zoning, regulation or restriction and without imposing any conditions on the new home that are not required of the existing unit.
Please contact your Senator(s) if your county has concerns with this bill.
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Elections Bill Unseals Ballots and Election Materials for Public Inspection
Contact Your House Members if Your County Has Concern with This Bill
Currently, following the certification of elections, counties are required to keep one copy of the ballots and other election materials sealed in case they are needed for an audit or lawsuit. House Bill 426 unseals these ballots for persons to request to inspect them. As these ballots must be preserved to prevent them from being tampered with, county staff will have to handle each and every ballot for each person who wishes to inspect them so that person can determine whether election fraud has occurred.
Please contact your House member(s) if this legislation is of concern to your county.
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Bill to Adjust and Replace the Sales Tax Exemption on Manufactured Homes Advances to House Rules
Contact Your House Members and Urge Them to Oppose
House Bill 283, authored by Rep. Beth Camp, passed the full Ways and Means Committee and advanced to House Rules. The substitute eliminates the state sales tax exemption of 50% on the sale of manufactured homes. It replaces it with language limiting the taxable sales price for the first retail sale of new manufactured single-family structures to 60% of the invoice amount.
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Mental Health Bill Makes it Past Crossover
This week a substitute of House Bill 520, this year’s mental health reform legislation, passed out of the House Public Health Committee. Due to some concerns brought up by the Georgia Sheriffs' Association, the substitute removed the section regarding incompetency to stand trial. Even with these changes made, ACCG supports this bill and believes that it still achieves several of the objectives outlined in our Legislative Priority item. Nonetheless, on Thursday, this bill was brought to the House floor for a full vote and passed with an overwhelming majority.
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Virtual Legislative Update Replay
Watch the replay of this week's 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.
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Has your county registered for the 2023 Legislative Breakfast? Have you shared details about this event with and invited your legislators? If not, there is still time! The 2023 Legislative Breakfast will take place on March 9 in the Freight Room of the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot.
Attendees will receive briefings and updates from key state leaders and the ACCG Governmental Affairs team as pressing issues move through the state’s legislative process. They will also have the opportunity to hear firsthand from decision makers about the impact of proposed legislation and what it means to Georgia’s counties.
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Stay Connected and Engaged! |
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Weekly Friday Lobbyist Meeting Returns in Person
The Governmental Affairs team will host in-person meetings periodically on several Fridays during the 2023 legislative session. These meetings are for county contract lobbyists, county officials, and county staff who want to strategize and discuss legislation impacting counties in more detail. These in person meetings will occur on March 10 and March 24 from 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. in Room 328 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building. The building address is 18 Capitol Square, Atlanta, Georgia 30334 – right across the street from the Capitol.
ACCG Administrative and Policy Coordinator Tottianna Davis (tdavis@accg.org) will issue reminders about the meeting, including details such as the location and time. Please email her if you would like to be added to the distribution list to receive details.
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Policy Communication Tools
Don't forget about the various communications tools that will help keep you informed and engaged. Click here to read all about them!
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News You Can Use - Articles Related to ACCG Policy Issues
Articles covering some of ACCG's major policy issues are found here. Click the hyperlinked title to begin reading.
Axios - March 3, 2023
Capitol Beat - March 2, 2023
Capitol Beat- March 2, 2023
Access WDUN - March 2, 2023
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Questions? Email the
ACCG Governmental Affairs team:
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ACCG is YOUR county association. We are here to advance all Georgia county governments. Please feel free to contact a member of the Governmental Affairs team if they can assist in any way. |
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