Rep. Stuckey Benfield's preview of the 2006 Gold Dome session

REP. STEPHANIE STUCKEY BENFIELD'S 2006 LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW

The second regular session of the 148th Georgia General Assembly begins on January 9, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. Some of the major bills we expect to see debated this session include:

BUDGET: The FY2007 spending plan is expected to top $17 billion. State officials have reported that tax revenues are up 8% or $468.9 million so there should be plenty of breathing room to meet the needs of Georgia's citizens. Democrats are proposing to restore the nearly $1.1 billion in K-12 education cuts by the Perdue Administration. Adequately funding health care for the poor, especially Medicaid and PeachCare for children, will also be a priority for Democrats. Some funds will likely be put in a financial reserve or "rainy day" fund for the next economic downturn. There has also been talk about refunding some of the surplus funds back to the taxpayers.

EDUCATION: Parent groups and tourism officials will be pushing for a later start date for the school year. Class size reductions passed by the Barnes administration have been continually delayed due to budget shortfalls during the Perdue administration. With the expected budget surplus, Democrats will call for implementation of this much needed reform. Republicans may also revive bills from last session to require parental permission before students can participate in extracurricular activities, including gay support organizations. Gov. Perdue recently announced his plans to push for a constitutional amendment called the "HOPE Chest" to insure our state's lottery revenues are used solely for HOPE scholarships, pre-K classes or financial reserves. State School Superintendent Kathy Cox has made improving our middle schools a priority by requesting $7.6 million for tutoring students who fail the state's new promotion requirements and teacher training.

Georgia's teachers, who have had little or no salary increases and soaring health insurance costs in recent years, will likely get a pay boost of 6% or more this session.


EMINENT DOMAIN: In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruled in Kenlo v. New London that local governments may use eminent domain to condemn private property for economic development if the development qualifies as a "public use". The Supreme Court's decision deferred to state legislatures to restrict the definition of public use. In the wake of the Kenlo case, Georgia is likely to pass a law this session to limit local government's eminent domain powers against private property owners. We will likely see restrictions that eminent domain can not be used for any for-profit business and that it can only be applied to a genuinely declared area of blight.

ENVIRONMENT: Gov. Perdue has proposed offering a state income tax credit to encourage farmers, foresters and other land owners to preserve their land from development.

HEALTH CARE: The Department of Community Health's $2.057 billion Medicaid budget for FY2007 will keep Georgia's 1.5 million Medicaid patients on the Medicaid rolls, but there is not sufficient funding for any additional services. Federal funding for Peach Care for Kids, the state's health insurance program for low-income children, is guaranteed only through the end of FY2006. While Congress is not likely to end the program, there is concern about how much money Georgia will receive in the future. Gov. Perdue's new managed care initiative takes effect this year. The plan will move 1 million Medicaid patients into managed care programs. State officials expect the program to save $23.2 million in 2006 and $78.5 million in 2007.

HOME INSPECTION: Members of the trade group that represents home inspectors plan to urge lawmakers to add their industry to the list of professions licensed at the state level. Georgia's current law only requires inspectors to hand over paper copies about their work to their clients but does not broach licensing or exam requirements. While supporters of the added scrutiny say it will help weed out untrained or unscrupulous inspectors, others are concerned whether the additional bureaucracy is necessary.

IMMIGRATION: Senate Republicans are pushing legislation to block taxpayer-funded benefits for individuals who are not citizens. The bill would require anyone receiving state benefits in Georgia to prove he or she is a U.S. citizen or is legally present in this country. The measure would bar illegal immigrants, some of whom graduate from Georgia's public high schools, from enrolling in state colleges and universities.

JOBS: Delta Air Lines, one of Georgia's largest companies with an estimated 25,000 employees, filed for bankruptcy protection after racking up more than $10 billion in losses since 2001. This has resulted in the loss of 7,000 to 9,000 jobs and 7 to 10% cuts in employee pay. Sen. Kasim Reed (D-Atlanta) has proposed giving Delta an exemption on all state sales taxes to save the air line $80 million over the next 24 months and help Georgia's workforce.

JUVENILE LAW: Current juvenile law imposes a maximum sentence of only two years for children under the age of 13 years who commit murder. Legislation will likely pass to increase the length of incarceration in a juvenile facility until the age of 21 years.

SEX OFFENDERS: A bill has been prefiled that will significantly increase minimum prison sentences for sexual offenders, especially for offenses involving children under the age of 15 years. In some cases, the proposed law would prohibit the granting of parole for convicted sex offenders and would prohibit first offender treatment. The bill would also require many convicted offenders to register as "sexually dangerous predators" and wear electronic monitoring devices for the rest of their lives. The new law would also authorize the death penalty if a person who was previously designated as a "sexually dangerous predator" subsequently commits murder, rape or kidnapping.

TITLE LOANS: There are two bills likely to be considered this session affecting the car title loan industry. One would cap annual interest rates on title pawns at 60%, the same rate the law allows for most other types of credit. The other measure would force title lenders who repossess borrowers' cars to refund any cash left over after the vehicles are sold.

VOTING PAPER TRAILS: Georgia's touch-screen voting machines would be equipped to produce a paper trail to let voters verify their votes under legislation expected to be introduced this session. The bill will require the state to conduct a pilot test of paper printouts for voters in three counties in the 2006 election. A statewide rollout would be expected in 2008.

For more information on these bills, please visit http://www.legis.state.ga.us/. Feel free to contact Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield at the numbers listed on the front to express your views on these and other issues.