Legislative Update

Legislative Update
February 27, 2004 A review of current developments from the Georgia Bankers Association
www.gabankers.com
Payday Loan Bill Goes to Conference	On a vote of 78 to 92, the House of Representatives voted against accepting the Senate-passed version of S.B. 157 which would bring payday lenders under the Georgia Industrial Loan Act (GILA). In a procedural move, the Senate voted to insist on their position and requested a conference with the House. Senate Conferees are: Sen. Don Cheeks (R-Augusta), Sen. Randy Hall (R-Augusta) and Sen. Dan Lee (R-LaGrange) and House Conferees are Rep. Johnny Floyd (D-Cordele), Rep. Jay Shaw (D-Lakeland) and Rep. Virgil Fludd (D-Fayetteville). GBA’s interest in this issue has been to ensure that if the payday lenders are regulated by the Banking Department, then sufficient fees should be collected from those lenders to pay for their regulation. It does not appear that the Banking Department is any longer being considered as the regulator. A further consideration has been to ensure bank overdraft privilege programs are not confused with payday loans.	Sen. Cheeks

Credit Reporting Bill Moved out of Committee	GBA staff has continued to meet with Rep. Jill Chambers (R-Atlanta) to discuss her concerns with identity fraud and ways to curb the crime. Rep. Chambers introduced H.B. 656 earlier this session and has been working with lenders and credit reporting agencies in an attempt to reach a compromise on legislative language. GBA’s Elizabeth Chandler testified this week before the House Governmental Affairs Committee expressing concern that the bill is redundant with the federal FACT act.	Rep. Chambers

Housekeeping Bill Reported to Rules Committee	S.B. 405 is the annual housekeeping bill introduced at the request of the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. The only provision of significant interest to banks deals with dropping the requirement for prior approval for third party service contracts. Other provisions apply to other DBF regulated entities: credit unions, money transmitters, mortgage lenders and brokers. A bill summary prepared by the Department is on GBA’s website. The House Banking Committee reported the bill out this week.	Commissioner Sorrell

Call Center Bill Reported out of Committee	H. B. 1281 by Representatives Thompson, Howell, Moraitakis, Noel and Mitchell was reported out of the State Institutions and Properties Committee this week. The bill has been amended several times and the current version applies to call centers established to provide services to the state. The bill requires these call centers to be physically located within U.S. borders. Previous versions of the bill could have included other call centers operated or contracted with by our members.	Rep. Thompson

Gift Cards	S.B. 443 by Senators Adleman and Seabaugh prohibits the imposition of a nonuse, handling, dormancy, or maintenance fee on gift cards and gift certificates issued by merchants or persons acting on behalf of merchants. The cards must be redeemed for merchandise at the full value issued. The bill is written such that gift cards sold by banks would be covered by the bill. GBA staff has met with the authors and suggested legislative language to address our concerns. An issue brief is on the GBA website. GBA opposes the bill in its current form.	Sen. Adelman

Living (Minimum) Wage	H.B. 1258 by Representatives Ehrhart, Watson, Post, Sailor and Bannister preempts local governments from enacting minimum wage and benefit levels for individuals employed within their jurisdictions. An ordinance is pending before the City of Atlanta City Council that specifies a minimum salary for anyone working with City contractors. The GBA has opposed that ordinance and supports this legislation which would preempt local governments from enacting wage rates different from state and federal minimums. The bill was reported out of the House Industrial Relations Committee this week.	Rep. Ehrhart

Deposit Account Fraud	H.B. 1301 by Representatives Moraitakis, Dodson and Oliver removes the requirement that a “present consideration” be present when an individual gives a check the individual knows to be fraudulent. The bill should help prosecutors with cases of individuals giving fraudulent checks for debts incurred at an earlier time. GBA monitoring.	Rep. Moraitakis

Predatory Lending	H.B. 1171 by Representatives Holmes, Bruce, Sinkfield, Stanley-Turner, Mobley and others amends the Georgia Fair Lending Act to return it to the version passed in 2002. Back would be covered loans, the old definition of flipping, and the assignee liability language that caused the rating agencies to shut down the mortgage market in Georgia; and gone would be the parity language that allowed state-chartered banks to be exempted from the Act. GBA opposes.	Rep. Holmes

Lien on Abandoned Vehicles	S.B. 404 by Senators Cheeks, Brush and Hall creates a new type of lien on abandoned vehicles to include the cost of an environmental cleanup created by the vehicle. The bill has passed the Senate and is pending in the House Judiciary Committee. Sen. Don Cheeks (R-Augusta) told his fellow senators the bill was introduced to correct a problem a constituent had encountered in recouping significant costs in cleaning up a spill contamination at his lot.

Bankruptcy Exemptions	H.B. 1436 by Representatives Mosby, Royal, Bruce, Stephenson, Dodson and others increases the bankruptcy exemption on residences from $10,000 to $25,000 ($20,000 to $50,000 if jointly owned) and raises an exemption for a burial plot from to $10,000 to $20,000 if jointly owned. GBA monitoring.	Rep. Mosby

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.

GBA Lobbyists	GBA will again be represented this year every day at the Capitol 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 2004 State Issues link on GBA’s website for up-to-the-minute news from the session. Joe Brannen, Direct phone, (404) 420-2026 Elizabeth Chandler, 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 2004 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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