Legislative
Update |
January
26, 2001 A review of current developments from the Georgia
Bankers Association |
| General
Assembly Returns
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After a week-long recess for the Martin Luther King,
Jr. holiday and budget hearings the General
Assembly returned this week and immediately took up some of the
most controversial legislation expected the entire session.
In a surprise move, the House voted to change the Georgia State
Flag; the Senate voted to restrict teen driving and the House voted to
give optometrists prescription-writing authority.
The Senate is expected to vote on the flag bill next week. |
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Predatory
Lending Bill being Introduced
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Sen. Fort
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Sen.
Vincent Fort held a press conference to release a bill designed to
eliminate predatory lending. Sen.
Fort has been working with Atlanta Legal Aid and a group called the
Georgia Fair Lending Coalition to draft his bill.
GBA met with Sen. Fort on two occasions to both express concern
about the approach he was taking as well as to suggest some specific
changes he should make in his legislation.
In a letter to Sen. Fort following an analysis of his proposed
bill, S.B.
70, GBA President Joe Brannen
wrote in part, “we appreciate the opportunities you have given us to
have input into your legislation, and I regret that the vast majority of
this input has gone unheeded. We
are therefore in the unfortunate position of having to oppose your
legislation in its current form." "I
hand-delivered the letter so we could discuss our position and as usual
our meeting was cordial," Joe said. |
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Housekeeping
Bill Passes Senate
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Sen. Cheeks
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S.B.
16
by Sen.
Don Cheeks
and others passed the Senate this week. This is the annual
housekeeping bill sponsored at the request of the Department
of Banking and Finance. Among the provisions in the bill:
adding investments banks may make in the Federal Home Loan Bank, expedited
notice provisions of new activities, the ability to continue certain
activities not specifically authorized by state law after an acquisition,
and allowing a limited number of non-US citizens to serve on a bank board.
GBA supports
the bill. |
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Balance Transfer Restriction Bill on Hold
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Sen. Brown
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S.B.
31 by Sen.
Robert Brown and others would prohibit lenders from charging or
collecting a fee for a transaction in which the balance of a credit card
account is transferred to another credit card.
GBA met with Sen. Brown this week to explain how the bill would
affect only Georgia-based lenders and not solve the constituent’s
problem for whom he introduced the bill.
Sen. Brown agreed to not ask for the bill to be brought up for a
vote in the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee. |
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More on Pay Day Loans
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Rep. Reickert
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H.B.
207 by Representatives Reickert, Murphy, Wix, Scheid and Hudgens
was introduced this week to regulate the so-called “pay day lender”
industry.
Entitled the Deferred Presentment Act, the bill is similar
to legislation which was held last year in the House Banks and Banking
Committee.
The legislation introduced in the Senate,
S.B.
17,
by Senator Don Cheeks, would outlaw the practice rather than regulate it.
Senator Cheeks announced he was holding his bill for now and
hearings are expected soon on the house bill.
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UCC Article 9
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Rep. Martin
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The GBA, the State Bar of Georgia, legislators and
others have been working on a bill, H.B.
191 by Rep.
Jim Martin, to revise Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial
Code (UCC). Article 9 is the
part of the UCC that deals with secured transactions and has been
effective in Georgia since 1962 and with some variations, all other
states. This revision started with the National Conference of
Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and their drafting process began in
the early 90s. Roughly 37
states have already adopted the revisions or are in the process of doing
so. The most important aspect
of revised Article 9 is that an agreement could now be made and notices
given either by electronic means or on paper.
GBA supports. |
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| Stay in the Know
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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, Contact Bankers, Bank Counsel
Section members 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
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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electronic version of GBA's Legislative Update will be published regularly
during the 2001 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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