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Representative Ron Forster |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3/4 Complete Under the Gold Dome2006 General AssemblyMarch 12, 2006 -- Ringgold, GA – We have completed three-quarters of the 2006 General Assembly session as Monday will be legislative day thirty. Day 30 is the last day that bills that either the House or Senate hasn’t approved can be approved and “crossover” for the other body’s approval. Essentially, if a bill hasn’t received approval from either the House or the Senate, then the legislation is considered dead. The biggest items we passed this week were both budget bills. We overwhelmingly passed House Bill 1026, the Fiscal Year 2005-2006 Supplemental Appropriations bill. This is the budget bill that allows for mid-year corrections to funding programs especially education and health care programs that are mandated by the federal government. This was the final conference committee bill and what we will be sending to the Governor for his signature. We also passed the Fiscal Year 2006-2007 budget bill. The budget for the next fiscal year is a $17.6 billion dollar budget that will fund all aspects of the state government. Almost 75% of all new state funding is being directed into education programs. Teachers and public school employees received an additional $364 million in benefits and compensation. In trying to fix the inequities of law enforcement, we gave $6.4 million pay increase to the over eleven thousand law enforcement and corrections officers of our state. We have funded dental care for low income persons, pregnant women, and children in PeachCare. We also provided $4.5 million for trauma care units throughout the state. The budget passed 164-3 and now heads to the Senate for their consideration. We also passed the most-discussed policy change for this session. H.B. 1313 is the comprehensive revision of our rules regarding eminent domain. As many of you have heard, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of supporting a northern town and their aggressive takeover of private property for the sake of providing the land to a private enterprise who would build a property that would increase the town’s tax revenues. Most of us Georgians were shocked to learn that the fundamental right of property ownership could be thwarted by a greedy local government. Our legislation would prevent the condemnation of any private property for redevelopment with an exception for “blighted” properties. The legislation further states what is considered blighted and the process in which the courts must confirm the blighted area. We passed H.B. 1313 by a margin of 173-1. One bill of note for beginner drivers was H.B. 1252. This legislation establishes and clarifies the qualifications for a limited and temporary driver school permits, as well as, commercial driver training school operators. This legislation passed unanimously. We also passed H.B. 1364; a bill designed to assist handicapped persons with a Medicare prescription drug insurance plan and was designed to eliminate any barriers for handicapped Georgians from accessing needed medications. This bill passed 152-1. We also passed H.B. 1178, legislation that would require the state Health Agencies and Board of Pharmacy with creating a program that would dispense surplus medicines to indigent persons. This bill passed unanimously. House Bill 1380 is a bill that would exempt certain producers of homemade products from the licensing and inspections requirements of the Georgia code. Basically, this eliminates the burdensome requirements of food labeling laws on the small business person who may bake some cakes for neighbors and gets paid to do it. The bill passed 138-18. In an effort to help job training organizations better serve those who need jobs, we eliminated the sales tax on the sales of personal property and services to a qualified job training organization. The 501(c)(3) organizations must specialize in the retail sale of donated items; provide job training and employment services to individuals with workplace disadvantages and disabilities. This bill, H.B. 841, was passed by the House unanimously. I believe we all need to be informed about how our elected officials are representing us. I am getting an inside view that I want to share with everyone. Representative Ron Forster is serving his third two year term in the Georgia House of Representatives. He Chairs the Interstate Cooperation committee and also serves on the Public Utilities & Telecommunication, Appropriations and Insurance committees. In 2004 the American Legislative Exchange Council named him legislator of the year. His email address is ron.forster@house.ga.gov and he has a website at www.gasrd3.org. #### For More Information Contact:
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