GBA Legislative Update

Legislative Update
April 5, 2002 A review of current developments from the Georgia Bankers Association
www.gabankers.com
Governor’s Predatory Lending Bill Passes Senate	On Wednesday, the Senate passed the Governor’s predatory lending bill, H.B. 1361. The Governor’s floor leader, Sen. Steve Thompson (D-Powder Springs), did an excellent job of handling the bill in the Senate. As we reported last week, the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee voted out the same version of the bill that had come out of the House Banks and Banking Committee. The Senate committee version therefore stripped all the amendments adopted when the bill was on the House floor. Prior to passing the bill, the Senate adopted two amendments. The first amendment was offered at GBA’s request by Sen. Don Cheeks (D-Augusta) and agreed to by the Administration. The amendment deleted a provision in the bill that could have been construed to disrupt the sale of foreclosed properties. The second amendment incorporated a bill previously introduced by Sen. David Scott (D-Atlanta) creating a predatory lending education council. Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) unsuccessfully attempted to amend the bill to delete the provisions preempting local predatory lending ordinances and to delete the 5-year safe harbor from the flipping section for refinanced loans. The bill passed with only two dissenting votes and was immediately transmitted to the House. The House disagreed with the Senate version and a conference committee will soon be meeting in an attempt to resolve any differences. We are continuing to monitor the bill as it goes through the final stages of enactment. GBA’s essential concerns have been resolved and we are not opposing the bill.	Thompson

ID Theft Bill Passes House Committee	S.B. 475 by Senators Thompson, Stokes and Tanksley was reported out of the House Judiciary Committee this week. The bill will enhance the prosecution of criminals who steal individual’s identity. Under the bill, financial institutions are required to dispose of records in compliance with the provisions of the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the regulations that went into effect last July 1. The bill has been referred to the House Rules Committee for further action. GBA supports the bill and has been working with the Attorney General on a series of Town Hall meetings to inform the public about the seriousness of the problem. The next Town Hall meeting is set for April 11 in Albany at 1:00 p.m. in the Albany Commission Chamber. Bankers are encouraged to attend.	Tanksley

UCC 9 & UCC 5 Bill Out of Committee	H.B. 1253 by Representative Robert Reichert and others was reported out of the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee this week and is in the Senate Rules Committee awaiting scheduling of action on the Senate floor. The bill simply cleans up language from the UCC 9 bill passed last session and calls for the adoption of the newly revised Article 5 dealing with Letters of Credit. GBA supports.	Reichert

Liens/Plats Central Index Bill in Rules	H.B. 1582 by Representatives Walker, Dix, Squires and Bordeaux creates a central indexing system for liens and plats. The bill has passed the House and is pending in the Senate Rules Committee awaiting scheduling on the Senate floor. GBA supports.	Dix

Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act Reported	H.B. 84 by Representatives Martin (Retired), Allen, Reichert and Campbell creates the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act to update the Georgia Code to conform with national standards. The bill has passed the House and was reported out of the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee this week. GBA supports.	Allen

Housekeeping Bill	S.B. 353 by Senator Don Cheeks is the Banking Department's annual housekeeping bill. The bill addresses a number of areas of interest to bankers such as allowing the Department to assess fees via ACH transactions, share examination information with other regulators of new services banks are offering such as securities, and strengthen the Department’s policy on employee gifts and how the employees handle potential conflicts of interest when they own bank stock. The bill was passed by the House with a slight change and now goes back to the Senate for their concurrence. GBA supports.	Cheeks

Corporate Trust Bill Clears Final Hurdle	H.B. 1176 by Representatives Parrish, Bordeaux and Stallings gives competitive equity to Georgia banks with trust powers by removing the restriction of FDIC-insured banks from providing corporate trust services only in our bordering states. The bill passed the Senate this week thereby clearing it for the Governor’s signature. GBA supported.	Parrish

Five-Year Rule Bill Slated for Action	S.B. 532 by Senators Jackson, Tanksley, Smith, Stokes, Stephens and Golden changes the five-year age requirement for the acquisition of a bank to three years. The bill was reported out of the House Banks and Banking Committee and has been scheduled for action by the full House on Tuesday.	Smith

Automobile Insurance Claims	H.B. 1157 by Representatives Barnard and Shaw provides that in any claim involving a total loss, the insurance proceeds will be applied to pay the debt owed to the senior lien holder before any insurance proceeds will be applied to any other lien on the vehicle. The bill is pending in the Senate Rules Committee. GBA supports.	Shaw

Session Winding Down	Only three legislative days remain in the current legislative session. The Leadership has been reserving legislative days to address any concerns which may be raised by the Federal courts on redistricting.

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 mailed on alternate Fridays except when the legislature is in recess. On Fridays that the Update is not mailed, 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.

GBA’s Lobbyists at the Capitol	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 Way, Direct phone, (404) 420-2027 Don Browne, Direct phone, (404) 522-1501

The electronic version of GBA's Legislative Update will be published regularly during the 2002 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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