House Information Office Room 505, Legislative Office Building 
Atlanta, Georgia 30334 404-656-5082 1-800-282-5800 
Weekly Wrap-up #1 
The House of Representatives of the 147th General Assembly of Georgia convened its second regular session at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, January 12, 2004. The state constitution requires all regular sessions of the General Assembly start on the second Monday in January and last for forty legislative days. Next week, the General Assembly will be in recess. On Monday, the Capitol will be closed for the MLK Holiday and the remaining four days of the week will be used for committee hearings on the proposed state appropriations bills. Lawmakers will reconvene January 26th at 1:00 pm for the 6th legislative day. 
Session Schedule - House and Senate leaders have agreed to a session schedule for four weeks. Beginning January 12th thru February 16th, Monday sessions will convene at 1:00 p.m. in order to provide flexible travel options for members living across the state. Also in that time period, the General Assembly will recess every Wednesday and use the entire day for committee meetings. Leaders of both chambers hope to shorten the length of the session and adjourn by the end of March. 
State of the State - On Wednesday Governor Sonny Perdue gave a combined state of the state and budget address before a joint session of the House and Senate at 8:00 pm in the house chamber. He reported the state of the state is strong and getting stronger and that Georgians remain as confident....as energetic....as resourceful....and as optimistic as he has ever seen. Highlighting the speech was a pledge to not allow any new taxes and that tough choices will have to be made in the form of budget cuts mixed in with some new spending proposals. Included in the Governor's speech: 
*$1 billion in bonds to jump-start Georgia's recovery with building projects which includes $176 million for K-12 school construction and improvements, $47 million for the state's technical schools, $42 million for ports in Savannah and Brunswick, $10 million for a state-of-the-art biological research building at the University of Georgia; $5 million for the Medical College of Georgia Research Initiative; and $2 million to help construct a nanotechnology research center at Georgia Tech 
*2 percent raises for teachers and state employees 
*Claimed the HOPE college scholarship isn't going anywhere, but said it should be linked to a minimum SAT score 
*Touted a proposal to push legislation to delay driver's licenses for students who are chronically disruptive or truant, drop out of school, or commit a serious crime on school grounds 
 
 *Proposed a shift of 65 child protection workers to local county office and sending $24 million to Level of Care Placement Program, which matches children with foster families that can best serve their needs. 
State of the Judiciary - Chief Justice Norman Fletcher of Georgia's Supreme Court addressed a joint session of the House and Senate on Friday at 11:00 am in the house chamber to give his State of the Judiciary speech. First and foremost the Chief Justice implored lawmakers not to change the Uniform Indigent Defense System (HB770) adopted during the 2003 legislative session. He also urged lawmakers to fully fund the system so it can be operational by 2005 and warned the courts would implement their own system if money is not appropriated. The Chief Justice also stressed the need for non-partisan elections for probate judges, sentencing reform because judges need flexibility to ensure sentences are fair and just, decriminalization of certain traffic offenses and concerns about across the board budget cuts adversely effecting the courts. 
Reducing School Truancy - On Thursday the House passed HB 395 by a vote of 162-3. The measure allows school officials to set up a protocol committee, made up of juvenile justice, law enforcement and social service authorities, to adopt guidelines that spell out punishments and consequences for students being truant. The guidelines would be distributed to parents and their children when they reach age ten and they would have to sign a statement outlining the consequences of being truant. Parents or guardians who violate the guidelines could face fines of between $25 and $100 and the protocol committee would be required to report truancy results they gather to the Georgia Department of Education every 3 months. The bill also allows the revocation of a truant student's driver's license. 
Invitation to the President of the United States - On Monday the House passed HR 942 by a vote of 176-0. The resolution, which is co-sponsored by House Speaker Terry Coleman (DEastman) and House Minority Leader Glenn Richardson (R-Dallas), is an open invitation for President George Bush to address a Joint Session of the legislature during the 2004 session. President Bush was in Atlanta on Thursday to observe Martin Luther King's Birthday who would have been 75 yrs old. 
Atlanta Mayoral Visit  On Tuesday the House took time to greet Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, who spoke briefly before members. Mayor Franklin welcomed lawmakers to the state's capitol city, and expressed her eagerness to work with the General Assembly for the best interests of Georgia and its citizens. Legislation allowing Atlanta to impose a 1 cent sales tax to help fund upgrades on the city's dilapidated sewer networks is currently working its way through the Senate. 
Other Legislation Passed this Week 
Thursday, January 15, 2004 - 4th day of the session 
HB 739 - A bill to amend Article 5 of Chapter 11 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to retirement benefits and refund of dues under the Judges of the Probate Courts Retirement Fund, so as to provide that a member who is unmarried at the time of retirement may elect a retirement option of an actuarially reduced amount with payment made to a designated surviving beneficiary; to provide that a member who is married at the time of retirement may make such an election with the consent of his or her spouse; passed 166-0. 
 
 HB 878 - A bill to amend Code Section 47-2-262 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to membership of assistant district attorneys and employees of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of the State of Georgia in the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia, notice of election, and contributions, so as to provide for members who were required to become members of the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia as a matter of law but who failed to do so because of an administrative error; passed 161-0. 
HB 914 - A bill to amend Code Section 47-2-121 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to optional retirement allowances under the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia, so as to provide that a member of such retirement system may elect to receive a reduced retirement allowance together with a partial lump sum distribution; passed 159-0. 
HB 917 - A bill to amend Code Section 47-3-121 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to optional retirement allowances under the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia, the election of options, and revocation of the election, so as to provide that a member of such retirement system may elect to receive a reduced retirement allowance together with a partial lump sum distribution; passed 163-0. 
HB 923 - A bill to amend Article 4 of Chapter 23 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to service creditable under the Georgia Judicial Retirement System, so as to provide that a member of such retirement system who is a vested member in a local retirement system and who has not withdrawn his or her contributions shall be entitled to have all of the employer and employee contributions paid by or on behalf of such member transferred to the Georgia Judicial Retirement System; passed 168-0. 
HB 976 - A bill to amend Article 3 of Chapter 23 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to membership in the Georgia Judicial Retirement System, so as to define a certain term; to provide that certain administrative law judges shall be eligible for membership in such retirement system; to provide for an election of membership; to provide for a transfer of contributions to such retirement system from the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia; passed 166-0. 
HB 986 - A bill to amend Chapter 15 of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to engineers and land surveyors, so as to change requirements for eligibility for certification as an engineer-in-training and eligibility for a certificate of registration as a professional engineer; to change requirements for eligibility for certification as a land surveyorin-training and for a certificate of registration as land surveyor; passed 140-26. 
HB 1086 - A bill to amend Code Section 45-11-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to engaging in the bail bond business, so as to allow persons engaged in the bail bond business to become an elected official for certain local offices; passed 160-9. 
Georgia House of Representatives Public Information Office