ATLANTA – Despite the dozens of bills voted on Friday, many others failed to pass either the House or Senate by the end of the day, effectively dooming them for this year.
Friday was the 30th day of the 40-day legislative session. General bills that haven’t crossed over to the other side of the Capitol won’t be considered after Crossover Day, according to internal rules.
Most of the headline-grabbing bills already had passed in the House or Senate, such as transportation funding, the state takeover of struggling schools, medical marijuana and the budget for the next fiscal year. But some of the bills that failed to make it over the crossover deadline were also significant.
House Resolution 37, Senate Resolution 27 – These two constitutional amendments sought to lower the minimum age for election to the Senate from 25 to 21 and for election to the House of Representatives from 21 to 18. They were proposed by an Augusta-area middle school student whose videos about national politics have gone viral on the internet.
House Resolution 71 – This idea by Rep. Craig Gordon, D-Savannah, never made it out of committee. It would have given bonus awards in the HOPE Scholarship to private-college students majoring in fields with lots of vacancies and of strategic importance to the state economy.
House Bill 2/Senate Resolution 135 – These would have let voters decide next year whether to expand legalized gambling to horse racing.
HB 16 – Students who chose to attend magnet high schools would have still been able to play sports at the school they were assigned under this bill sponsored by Rep. Brian Prince, D-Augusta. It passed out of committee and was sent to the House floor for a vote, but the speaker postponed it three days in a row until the deadline was passed for this year.
HB 41 – Rep. Earnest Smith, D-Augusta, sponsored this bill to clarify the circumstances in which elected officials can accept payment for speeches.
HB 42, the Jordan Griner Act – Smith’s bill sought to honor a Republican political operative from Hephzibah killed by a drunk driver by requiring first-time DUI convictions result in a mandatory 72-hour incarceration.
HB 43 – Smith’s bill would have allowed schools to release students to noncustodial parents with the agreement of the custodial parent.
HB 44 – Smith’s bill would have limited where people could operate drone aircraft.
HB 45 – Smith’s bill would have created a tax exemption for military-pension payments.
HB 50 – Cities, counties and others who want to move historical monuments, plaques and even change the names of buildings would have been blocked by this legislation unless their changes resulted in the same prominence for the honoree.
HB 56 – This bill would have limited the use of no-knock search warrants.
HB 69 – This would have prohibited the sharing of driving data captured on a car’s internal computer without permission of the vehicle owner.
HB 74 — This bill would have prohibited any state or local agency from assisting federal officials or the military in investigating terrorism suspects who could be detained indefinitely under a 3-year-old federal law.
HB 93 – Police agencies would have had a limited period to use and then destroy images of vehicle tags recorded by car-mounted cameras. This bill was approved by a House committee but died when the Rules Committee never scheduled it for a vote.
HB 111 – School districts could have raised extra funds by selling ads on school buses had this bill passed.
HB 112 – Police would not have been able to use technology to detect human activity through walls, roofs and other building structures without first obtaining a search warrant.
HB 135 – Rep. Wayne Howard, D-Augusta, proposed a prohibition against suspending students in early grades or pre-kindergarten except for reasons of personal safety.
HB 146 – A Democratic priority sponsored by Rep. Gloria Frazier, D-Hephzibah, this bill would have streamlined voter registration for people moving across Georgia if they were already registered at their old address.
HB 194 – Small cities want to reduce the number of days for early voting that they have to staff little-used polling places, but Democrats argued this bill would restrict access to voting. The bill passed out of committee but was never scheduled for a vote before the full House.
HB 219 – A bill by Rep. Jeff Jones, R-Brunswick, it would have exempted swimming pools owned by time-shares and condo associations from regulation by local health departments.
HB 220 – Rep. Ben Harbin, R-Evans, sponsored this bill to phase out the tax credit for electric vehicles, but the House voted instead to cut them off immediately.
HB 239/SB 180 – These bills were inspired by Oconee County middle-school student Bella Hayes who wants it legal to make pets of African pygmy hedgehogs.
HB 243 – Parents would have been able to use taxpayer money appropriated for their children to pay for private school tuition, tutors, therapy or even saved up for college. It passed out of committee but never came to the full House for a vote.
HB 308 – One of the top priorities for the Savannah City Council, this bill would have enhanced the income-tax credits for developers of historic property like an old power plant along Savannah’s waterfront.
HB 356 – Boat owners could have opted to title their vessels like cars or homes under this bill.
HB 417 – Legislation by Rep. Spencer Frye, D-Athens, that would have required motorists to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks designated by flashing lights.
HB 445, The More Take Home Pay Act – This bill would have lowered the income-tax rate while boosting the sales-tax rate and extending it to food and online purchases.
HB 500, SR 11 – A House bill would define in law the difference between a contract worker and an employee eligible for benefits. The Senate resolution would create a temporary committee to study the issue of workers misclassification still could pass under the rules, but both failed to satisfy the crossover deadline Friday.
SB 91 – The only measure voted down on crossover day in the Senate, this bill would have empowered local governments to permit stores selling alcohol to locate closer to churches and schools than current state law allows. It was sponsored by Sen. Tyler Harper, R-Ocilla, to permit a chain grocery store to bring 200 jobs to an unnamed town in his district.
SB 106 – Sponsored by Sen. Lester Jackson, D-Savannah, this provided for the extension of the Chatham Area Transit system to the Tanger Outlet area which is exempt from local property taxes.
SB 124 – The Senate Democrats offered what they termed an alternative to the Republican takeover of the administration of struggling schools. The Democratic plan centered around increased funding for tutors, medical care, after-school activities and other social services to the students and their families.
SB 186 – Local governments could have voted to post legal notices on their own websites instead of in newspapers had this bill made it out of committee.