Legislative
Update |
April
11, 2003
A review of current developments from the Georgia
Bankers Association |
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www.gabankers.com
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| Budget Woes Continue to Take Center Stage |
After a week that saw many hours of hand wringing
over whether to and how to increase taxes to make up for Georgia’s revenue
shortfall, no bill ever passed the House
of Representatives, which is where all tax bills must originate. The House did, however, pass a budget on to the Senate,
but this budget was based on the assumption that a tax increase would have
to be instituted somewhere. The
Senate then passed their version of the budget today which they balanced by
making additional cuts. The
budget will now go to a conference committee to sort out the better of the
two versions. Right now, the
scheduled date for sine die is Friday, April 18 so the conferees have
a tough job ahead of them next week.
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FHLB Letters of Credit Bill Clears House
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H.B.
777 by Rep.
Johnny Floyd, Chairman of the House
Banks and Banking Committee, and others passed the House of
Representatives by a unanimous vote on Monday.
This bill would allow the Director of the Office
of Treasury and Fiscal Services to accept Federal
Home Loan Bank letters of credit as collateral to pledge against
government deposits. Our thanks to Chairman Floyd for shepherding this bill
through his committee, the Rules
Committee and the full House. H.B.
777 was then sent to the Senate and has been assigned to the Senate
Banking and Financial Institutions Committee.
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Housekeeping Bill |
The House of Representatives has passed S.B.
78, the annual housekeeping bill from the Georgia
Department of Banking and Finance.
The most significant feature affecting banks is the ability for
banks to adopt an LLC corporate structure.
Another provision synchronizes the definition of an ATM with the
federal definition that does not treat an ATM as a branch. The House action was the last legislative step for the bill;
it now goes to the Governor and he is expected to sign it after the
session. Further details are
on GBA’s website. |
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House Committee Action This Week |
The House Banks and Banking Committee met this
week and reported two bills. S.B.
104 would increase the maximum service charge to $30.00 that a
merchant may charge a customer for a bounced check.
S.B.
105 changes the criminal code section to allow for a merchant to
charge a customer $30.00 for a bounced check and allows the merchant to
request payment by first-class mail supported by an affidavit. |
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Senate Committee Meets |
The Senate Banking and Financial Institutions
Committee met this week and reported H.B.
680. This bill would
increase the amount that a business can charge to cash a check which is
incidental to their primary business.
The allowed amount would be increased to 2% of the check or $2.00,
whichever is greater. |
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Manufactured Houses |
H.B.
506 was reported out of the Senate
Regulated Industries and Public Utilities Committee this week. The
bill creates a new procedure by which manufactured houses may be converted
from personal property to real property and vice versa. |
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CCCS Bill Advances |
H.B.
385, the Fairness in
Credit Counseling Act, was reported out of the Senate
Special Judiciary Committee this week.
Among other things, the bill places a fee cap that a consumer must
pay for credit counseling, requires insurance to protect client funds and
requires organizations to disburse client funds within 30 business days of
receipt. |
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GBA Keeps You Informed |
GBA’s
Legislative
Update is intended to keep you apprised of the bills that the GBA
is tracking on the industry’s behalf. Subsequent
issues will be sent on alternate Fridays except when the legislature is
in recess. On Fridays that
the Update is not sent, GBA’s LegisFAX
will be sent via fax to all CEO’s and those interested in tracking
issues on a weekly basis. The electronic version of both the Legislative
Update and the LegisFAX will be sent by e-mail to those on our e-mail
list. The ‘State Issues’ section of GBA
Online, GBA’s home page, is linked to the website maintained by
the General Assembly
and assures that you will have the latest version of any bill being
tracked by the GBA. |
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GBA’s
Lobbyists at the Capitol
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The
lobbying team for the GBA will be at the Capitol full-time throughout the session.
If you need to get in touch with any of them on a
particular issue, several ways are available. Call the main number at the GBA,
(404) 522-1501, or leave a message on their direct voice mail, or send them an
e-mail. They
will get back to you at the earliest opportunity.
Joe
Brannen, Direct phone, (404) 420-2026
Elizabeth
Chandler, Direct phone, (404) 420-2027
Don Browne,
Direct phone,
(404) 522-1501
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| The
electronic version of GBA's Legislative Update will be published regularly
during the 2003 session of the Georgia General Assembly. Let GBA's Lydia
Thomas know of others you would like to add to our distribution list.
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State Legislative Issues
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Georgia House of Representatives l
Georgia Senate |