Bill advances that would give teachers, employees say on key health board
Teachers, state employees and state retirees would get a seat on the state’s Community Health Board under legislation that won Senate backing Friday.
Senate Bill 145 by Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, stemmed from anger expressed by teachers, state employees and retirees over changes made last year to their State Health Benefit Plan coverage.
Members of the plan, which covers more than 600,000 Georgians, last year protested changes that forced them to pay higher out-of-pocket costs and gave them fewer choices for coverage. Since then, they have been pushing to ensure the governor appoints at least one person on the plan to the Department of Community Health board, which oversees the plan.
McKoon got a similar bill through the Senate last year, but it stalled in the House.
— James Salzer
‘Gurley Bill’ passes Georgia House
Georgia lawmakers on Friday stepped in to try to prevent another debacle like the one that sidelined University of Georgia running back Todd Gurley for four games last season.
House Bill 3 — which just happens to have been Gurley’s uniform number — would stiffen penalties for anyone who enters into a contract with a student-athlete if that person or company knew the transaction would jeopardize that athlete’s scholarship, eligibility or amateur standing.
The offense could lead to jail time and a $25,000 fine.
The state currently only makes it a misdemeanor if someone pays an athlete to attend a specific school or if an athlete is rewarded financially for performing well.
The NCAA suspended Gurley for four games in 2014 for accepting money from memorabilia dealers.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, a UGA graduate, passed 145-27 and now goes to the Senate.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
Gladys Knight could get Georgia highway named after her
It’s not a midnight train, but the Empress of Soul may soon have her own Gladys Knight Highway in Georgia.
The state Senate unanimously passed a proposal Friday to name Ga. 9 from Peachtree Street to 14th Street after the singer, an Atlanta-born superstar who’s never had anything named after her in her home state.
Senate Resolution 441 still needs approval from the state House, where it heads next. It’s being sponsored by state Sen. Donzella James, D-Atlanta.
— Kristina Torres
Senate looks to reduce youth football injuries
Senators approved legislation Friday designed to decrease injuries among youth athletes by recommending the use of stronger football helmets.
Senate Bill 176, known as the “Deantre Gregory Turman Act,” is named for a Creekside High School football player who died after suffering a broken neck during a preseason scrimmage in August 2013.
The bill strongly encourages schools and recreation facilities to use football helmets that have at least a four-star rating on a safety scale devised by Virginia Tech. The bill does not apply to noncontact versions of the sport, such as flag football.
Democratic Sen. Donzella James of Atlanta said she was approached toward the end of last year’s legislative session by a group of constituents who had gathered about 5,000 signatures urging state lawmakers to consider this type of legislation.
The bill, which was approved in the Senate by a 41-1 vote, moves to the House for consideration.
— Janel Davis
Bill targets bad bars after Statesboro beating death
Legislation creating a new classification of bars in Georgia, a direct answer to a Forsyth County teen’s death last year, overwhelmingly passed the state House on Friday.
House Bill 152, by Rep. Geoff Duncan, R-Cumming, was introduced in the wake of the death in August of 18-year-old Michael Gatto. Gatto was a student at Georgia Southern University when he was beaten and left unconscious outside a Statesboro bar.
A former bouncer at the bar, named Rude Rudy’s, was charged with aggravated assault in the beating. Rude Rudy’s later closed and its owner surrendered its liquor license.
Duncan’s bill would only apply to businesses where 75 percent or more of revenue comes from the sale of alcohol. It would require these bars and city or county governments to more quickly notify the Department of Revenue when it is cited for an alcohol violation. It also would require all bar bouncers to be 21 or older and ban anyone under the age of 21 from entering bars.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
Smoking in a car with children could become illegal
Drivers who smoke in cars carrying children would face fines of up to $100 under a bill passed Friday by the Georgia Senate.
Senate Bill 130 would allow the fines as long as any passenger is under 15 years of age. The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Bruce Thompson, R-White, cited data from the American Lung Association that shows secondhand smoke is responsible for more than 150,000 lower respiratory infections in children every year.
It passed on a 37-3 vote and now heads to the state House for consideration.
— Kristina Torres
More local control of alcohol sales defeated
After passing a bill involving craft beer early Friday during Crossover Day, state senators later in the day voted down a bill that could have eased alcohol sales restrictions in areas close to schools.
Senate Bill 91, sponsored by Sen. Tyler Harper, R-Ocilla, would have let local governments decide whether to allow grocery stores to sell beer and wine within 100 yards of school buildings or school grounds. Current law requires a 100-yard buffer for alcohol sales around church buildings and a 200-yard buffer for school buildings.
Harper called the legislation a jobs bill that was introduced in response to an economic development project being completed in his part of the state.
The bill was defeated 27-22.
— Janel Davis
House endorses open season on feral hogs
Feral hogs are an increasing problem in Georgia, and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom McCall has seen enough.
“They are a nuisance in this state about like ticks and mosquitoes and along the lines of political opponents to incumbents,” said McCall, R-Elberton.
His colleagues agreed and voted 170-0 to send House Bill 475 to the Senate.
The bill would allow anyone to kill feral hogs without a hunting permit nearly year-round.
Georgians could “kill them with anything from a pellet gun to a bazooka and at any time except during deer season,” McCall said.
Rep. Tom Taylor, R-Dunwoody, said feral hogs tear up crops and plants and destroy other animals’ habitat. They’re also prodigious breeders, he said.
McCall agreed.
“Three months and three days there’s another litter on the ground,” he said.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
Protection for Floridan aquifer backed
Senators approved a bill Friday designed to protect the aquifer that provides drinking water for areas of coastal Georgia.
Senate Bill 36, sponsored by Sen. William Ligon, R-Brunswick, would prevent the injection of ground water in the Floridan aquifer and calls on the state’s Board of Natural Resources to adopt regulations by next summer to protect it.
In 1999, state lawmakers banned the practice of allowing chemically treated waste water, surface water or ground water to be injected into an aquifer with the intent to withdraw it later. The ban on that practice, known as aquifer storage and recovery, expired last year.
An amendment to the bill, by Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, would limit the legislation to the Floridan aquifer without having an impact in other parts of the state.
The bill now moves to the House for consideration.
— Janel Davis
