e-Legislative Update

March 26, 2004          A review of current developments from the Georgia Bankers Association

www.gabankers.com
Legislature
 Winding
 Down		 The General Assembly has only three legislative days remaining in their calendar for the 2004 session.  The House and Senate conferees are meeting on the fiscal 2005 budget to present to the legislature as soon as possible.  One of the biggest stumbling blocks was removed this week when an agreement was reached with the Administration to allow lottery funds to pay for Hope Scholarship books and fees in the upcoming school year.

Banking Department’s
Housekeeping Bill on
Governor’s Desk

 

On Wednesday of this week, the House passed S.B. 405, the annual housekeeping bill introduced at the request of the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance.  House Banks and Banking Committee chairman, Johnny Floyd (D-Cordele) handled the bill on the floor.  The only provision of significan 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.  With the House passage of the bill, it is now on the way to the Governor’s office for signing.


Commissioner Sorrell

Identity Theft Bill Slated
for Another
Senate Hearing

 H.B. 656, described by its author, Rep. Jill Chambers  (R-Atlanta), as an identity theft prevention measure, was the subject of a hearing in the Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee this week.  Our thanks to Rep. Chambers for continuing to modify the bill to track the federal FACT Act.  At the hearing, several questions were raised by members about the scope and impact of the bill and another hearing will be held on the 38th legislative day to determine what, if any, further action will be taken.  Essentially the bill will require credit grantors to verify the consumer’s address if a response is received from an unsolicited credit card offer giving an address different from the address where the creditor sent the solicitation.  For existing customers, the address may be verified by information already on file with the credit grantor.


Rep. Chambers

Living (Minimum) Wage
Bill Receives Final
Passage

The Senate gave final approval this week to H.B. 1258, the bill that preempts local governments from enacting minimum wage and benefit levels for individuals employed by vendors with contracts within their jurisdictions.  The bill, introduced by Representatives Ehrhart, Watson, Post, Sailor and Bannister, and a companion bill, S.B. 495 by Senators Starr, Johnson and Balfour were introduced in response to an ordinance 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 this legislation will prohibit its adoption.


Rep. Ehrhart

Auto Titles

H.B. 1812 by Representative Floyd would impose a fine of $500 on any lien holder who fails to properly transmit a legally sufficient satisfaction or cancellation or release within 10 days of demand by the owner or purchaser of a motor vehicle who satisfied the security interest or lien on the motor vehicle.  The holder would also be liable for any damages caused by the failure to transmit plus reasonable attorneys fees.  GBA monitoring.


Rep. Floyd

Fiduciary Theft

H.B. 1463 by Representative Ralston increases imprisonment from 15 to 20 years for a financial institution employee violating their fiduciary obligation when a theft is $500.00 or more.  GBA monitoring.


Rep. Ralston

Corporate Notifications

S.B. 532 by Senators Clay, Adelman and Tanksley updates the corporation code to clarify electronic notification procedures dealing with corporate governance and shareholder issues.  GBA monitoring.


Sen. Adelman

Infrastructure Bank

H.B. 1136 by Representatives Lunsford, Royal, Westmoreland, Graves, Yates and Murphy creates the operating mechanism for the State of Georgia to fund primarily highway projects patterned along the lines of similar programs in South Carolina and Florida.  Much of the debate around this bill has dealt with funding and whether a limited number of loans to non-governmental entities should be allowed.  GBA monitoring.


Rep. Lunsford

Identity Theft

H.B. 1285 by Representatives Randall and Richardson prohibits any person from using a minor’s social security number to open or establish an account for the extension of credit.  Prior to passing the House, language which would have extended the prohibition to deposit accounts was deleted.  The bill has been reported out of the Senate Special Judiciary Committee.  GBA monitoring.


Rep. Randall

Reciprocal Judgment Exemptions

S.B. 347 by Senators Meyer von Bremen and Adelman gives judgment debtors the ability to claim another state’s exemptions from sale or levy if the lender is domiciled in the other state.  Our thanks to Rep. Mack Crawford (R-Zebulon) for his diligence in amending the bill when it came before the House Judiciary Committee this week to ensure there was no negative impact on lenders.  GBA monitoring.


Rep. Crawford

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 is 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 status of bills being followed this 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.

State Legislative Issues l Georgia House of Representatives l Georgia Senate