GSSA Workday Report and Legislative Day 37 Preview
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
The most important action still to be taken by the legislators this session is the passage of the FY19 budget. The budget is still under review on the Senate side of the legislature. It was announced on Tuesday that the Senate Appropriations Committee will meet on Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at 8:00 a.m. in 341 CAP. The Committee did give the Senate version a DO PASS. Click here to see the entire document of the Senate version of the budget. The budget will then be sent to the full Senate for a floor vote. Since the Senate version of the budget will most likely be different from the House version, a conference committee will be selected and will meet to agree on the budget. The agreed upon budget will be voted on by both the Senate and the House before the budget goes to the Governor for final approval or line item veto.
COMMITTEE MEETING RESULTS – Tuesday, March 20, 2018
House Judiciary Committee (non-civil)
SB 315 Computer Crimes; create a new crime of unauthorized computer access and to provide penalties.
SB 335 Human Trafficking
AMENDED Bill has been amended with HB1006
HB 1006 Sexual Offensives; Provide provisions for the crime of sexual assault by persons with supervisory or disciplinary roles. Adult employees and volunteers cannot inappropriately touch students in schools.
DO PASS (Substitute)
Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee
HB 642 Local Government. Tax district for the Atlanta beltline. Will affect area within a mile of the Atlanta beltline.
DO PASS (Substitute)
Senate Higher Education Committee
HB 392 “Move on When Ready Act” and dual credit courses, so as to allow funding for students taking dual credit courses at certain eligible postsecondary institutions which utilize nonstandard term. Military College of Georgia.
DO PASS
HB 713 HOPE scholarships and grants, by providing for eligibility requirements to receive the HOPE scholarship as a Zell Miller Scholarship Scholar relative to students who graduated from an ineligible high school or a home study program; also contains a hardship scholarship opportunity.
DO PASS
Wednesday, March 21, 2018 will be the thirty-seventh day of the legislative session.
The Senate will convene at 10:00 a.m., and the House will convene at 10:00 a.m.
There are three education related bills that GSSA is tracking on the first House Rules Calendar for Wednesday. The Rules Committee may add additional bills during the day.
HR 1036 Urge the State of Georgia to fund a public awareness campaign in support of computer science education.
SB139 Focused Programs of Study; pathway in leadership; provide
HB 963 was amended to this bill in House committee.
HB 963 Provide for the annual development of promoted list of industry credentials that meet certain high-demand criteria.
SB 355 Nuclear Generating Plant; recovery of the costs of financing the construction.
There are seven education related bills that GSSA is tracking on the Senate Rules Calendar for Wednesday.
HB 494 Early care and learning; provisions for the safety of children in early care and education programs.
HB 700 Georgia Student Finance Authority; service cancelable loan; include graduate degree program.
HB 701 State employment; allow testing for all forms of opioids.
HB 718 Education; excuse certain absences of students with parents in service of the armed forces of the United States. Family meetings for wounded warriors.
HB 740 Education; require the local system to conduct certain screenings, assessments, and reviews prior to expelling an elementary student.
(Substitute)
HB 843 Revenue and Taxation; provide tax credits to any census tract in a county that contains a large federal military installation and a government owned industrial park. Very limited by wording of the bill.
HB 886 Cooperation of the Department of Revenue and the Department of Agriculture in the administration and enforcement of the state sales and use tax exemptions for agricultural machinery and equipment; to provide for a change to the qualifying amounts for the agricultural exemptions.
COMMITTEE MEETINGS – Wednesday, March 21, 2018
8:00 a.m. Senate Appropriations Committee 341 CAP
FY 19 Budget – Senate Version
DO PASS
Senate Appropriations Committee substitute HB 684
2:00 p.m. House Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight Committee 506 CLOB
Presentation: Pension Solvency and Public Education: The Case for Reforming Georgia’s Teacher’s Retirement System — Leonard Gilroy
Leonard Gilroy is Senior Managing Director of the Pension Integrity Project at Reason Foundation, a nonprofit think tank advancing free minds and free markets. The Pension Integrity Project assists policymakers and other stakeholders in designing, analyzing and implementing public sector pension reforms. He is also the Director of Government Reform at Reason Foundation, researching privatization, public-private partnerships, infrastructure and urban policy issues.
3:00 p.m. Senate Education and Youth Committee 450 CAP
HB 787 Revise certain provisions relative to charter schools. Charter Schools would receive assistance from RESA’s, receive additional funding from the state based on state average FTE and the local school system base. (Substitute)
HB 853 Provide that children placed in psychiatric residential treatment facilities before a physician’s order may not be charged tuition.
(Substitute bill expected).
Legislative Calendar for the last four days of the session
Wednesday, March 21 convene for legislative day 37
Thursday, March 22 committee work day
Friday, March 23 convene for legislative day 38
Monday, March 26 Off
Tuesday, March 27 convene for legislative day 39
Wednesday, March 28 Off
Thursday, March 29 convene for legislative day 40
Be on the lookout for John Zauner’s weekly reports and occasional daily reports as well as his Twitter feeds. We will be posting daily legislative reports during the remainder of the session.
Be sure to check out the GSSA website or APP for the listing of all the bills we are following and how they are moving through the remainder of this session.
PASSED Bills that have passed the House or Senate. Legislation does not become a law until signed by the Governor.
HOT Bills that have passed the other chamber’s committee after crossing over. These bills move on to the Rules Committees.
WORK Bills that are on the agenda for a hearing in a committee for passage
WATCH Bills that are waiting for a committee meeting. Time is really running out on this group of bills.
If I can be of assistance to you with any of the activities of the 2018 legislative session, please contact me.
Michael Surma
Legislative Liaison
Georgia School Superintendents Association
404-909-1639
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