e-Legislative Update
April 8, 2005 A review of current developments from the Georgia Bankers Association
Legislature Adjourns After 39th Day
As we reported in last week’s e-Bulletin, the General Assembly adjourned Thursday one day short of the constitutionally-limited 40 days they are authorized to conduct business. For the banking industry, the session was marked with a number of bills which could have had a significant negative impact on our business, but none passed. GBA monitored 46 bills which directly impacted banks and a complete list is on 2005 State Issues page.
Special Recognition
Both the House Banks and Banking Committee and Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee were under the leadership of new chairmen this session. Our thanks to Rep. James Mills (R-Gainesville) and to Sen. Bill Hamrick (R-Carrollton) for ably guiding their committees throughout the session. The House Rules Committee operated in a much more powerful role this year and Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) deserves special recognition for efficiently handling his new duties as chairman of this important committee. While the Senate Rules Committee’s process did not formally change, Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville) was especially attentive to issues of importance to our industry. House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons), Senate President Pro-tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Stephens (R-Canton) ensured our positions were heard as they ran their respective bodies efficiently. Many, many other legislators also were involved to make the 2005 session a productive one for our industry.
 Rep. Mills |
 Sen. Hamrick |
 Rep. Ehrhart |
 Sen. Balfour |
 Rep. Richardson |
 Rep. Keen |
 Sen. Johnson |
 Sen. Stephens |
From a business standpoint, the 2005 General Assembly will be remembered for taking action on bills that have been debated for many years. Perhaps the most significant issue passed was the civil justice reform legislation, S.B. 3. GBA participated in a coalition of business interests coordinated by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce supporting the changes. Congressional redistricting was also passed this session. A number of counties which had been split among several congressional districts were put back into one district. The intent was for congressional districts to represent more communities of common interest. Governor Perdue got his much-touted ethics reform legislation passed. The most significant changes will be the extension of ethics disclosure to state officials other than legislators and former officials will have a waiting period before being able to lobby. The 2006 budget generated a new approach in dealing with local needs and state revenues improved to the point that agencies like the Banking Department will be better funded. The media focused on other issues such as a waiting period for abortions, picture IDs for voting, restricting disclosure of donors to public institutions and economic development incentives.
Bills Receiving Final Action
Following are several of
the banking-related bills that received final action during the 2005
session. Check the 2005 State Issues page for other bills or call GBA’s
Elizabeth Chandler at (404) 420-2027.
■ Gift Cards.
S.B. 13 by Senators Rogers, Seabaugh and Mullis. Requires the
disclosure of expiration date and fees on a gift card.
■ Minimum Wage Ordinances.
H.B. 59 by
Representative Earl Ehrhart. Prohibits local governments from using
their purchasing or contracting provisions to affect wages or benefits paid
by vendors.
■ Banking Department's Housekeeping Bill.
S.B. 82 by Senators Hamrick, Schaefer, Hudgens, Cagle, Shafer and
Bullock. The annual bill introduced at the request of the
Department of Banking and Finance. Of particular interest to
state-chartered banks is a provision that adds parity language to the
Georgia Code giving the Department the authority to preempt state laws
that have been preempted by federal law for nationally-chartered
institutions.
■ Income Tax Apportionment.
H.B. 191 by Representatives O'Neal and Williams. Changes the
allocation and apportionment formula for state corporate income dealing with
property, payroll and gross receipts.
■ Mortgage Fraud.
S.B. 100 by Senators Hamrick, Thompson, Johnson and Starr.
Legislation introduced at the request of Attorney General
Thurbert Baker giving law enforcement more tools to prosecute
mortgage fraud.
■ Meth Restrictions.
H.B. 216 Representatives Neal, Ralston, Miller, Burmeister, Sheldon
and England. Creates a licensing and regulatory structure along with
penalties for violation for the sale of products containing the ingredients
from which meth is made. GBA monitored as earlier drafts contained language
that could have impacted lienholders of contaminated property.
■ eMail Spam.
S.B. 62 by Senators Shafer and Staton. Introduced at the request of
Governor Perdue. The bill creates a new crime of “initiation of deceptive
commercial e-mail” and requires the receiver of the email to have opted into
a solicitation.
■ Wills and Trusts.
H.B. 406 by Representatives Willard and Oliver. The bill was
introduced at the request of the Fiduciary Law Section of the
State Bar of Georgia and is designed to modernize Georgia law
dealing with the sometimes conflicting interests trustees encounter in
investing trust assets.
■ Computer Security.
S.B. 127 by Senators Staton, Shafer, Rogers, Williams, Douglas
and Smith. Creates the Georgia Computer Security Act to treat as felonies a
number of deceptive acts or practices for any person who is not the owner or
authorized user of a protected computer. Of particular interest to bankers
are provisions dealing with ways identities are stolen such as phishing.
■ Motor Vehicle Sales Tax.
H.B. 364 by Representatives Williams, Royal, Scott, Forster,
Loudermilk and Neal. For motor vehicles purchased out of state, requires an
applicant for a certificate of title to show proof of the payment of Georgia
sales and use tax.
■ Consumer Reporting Agencies/Identity Theft.
S.B. 230 by Senators Hamrick, Grant and Mullis. Requires
“information brokers” to notify consumers whose personal identifying
information may have been compromised.
■ Corporate Income Tax.
H.B. 488 by Representatives O'Neal and Knight. Expands the
disallowance of certain expense attributed to nontaxable income, expands the
nexus provisions of current law and proposed to expand the Commissioner's
discretionary authority to revise tax returns. GBA supported after
perfecting amendments were adopted.
■ Authorized State Investments.
S.B. 227 by
Senator Casey Cagle. Authorizes derivatives and other sophisticated
investments for the Georgia State/Financing Investment Commission to use in
relation to certain bond sales to assist in the management of interest rate
risk.
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 and is sent on Fridays during the session. On Fridays when the Update is not mailed, it will be sent electronically to those who have provided us with their email addresses. 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 Lobbyists
GBA was
represented at the Capitol this year by our three lobbyists:
Joe Brannen,
Elizabeth
Chandler
and Don
Browne.
Give them a call if you have questions about any legislation. Don’t
forget to check the
2005 State Issues link on GBA's website for
the status of bills we followed this session.
Joe
Brannen, Direct phone, (404) 420-2026
Elizabeth
Chandler, Direct phone, (404) 420-2027
Don Browne,
Direct phone,
(404) 522-1501