e-Legislative Update
March 4, 2005 A review of current developments from the Georgia Bankers Association
Department’s Housekeeping Bill Gets Final OK
The Georgia House of Representatives on Wednesday gave the final nod to the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance's annual housekeeping bill, S.B. 82. A motion to reconsider last week’s vote to approve the bill was not taken as the Banking Commissioner had met with the legislator making the motion to address his concerns. The bill is now awaiting the Governor’s signature. 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 federally-chartered institutions. We have had a couple of members ask about the language in the bill dealing with credit unions. As we reported in a previous Legislative Update, the Banking Commissioner had asked the banking and credit union trade associations to meet to discuss the credit union’s requested language. We could not support several provisions they wanted and those provisions were removed from their draft. The final language simply gives state-chartered credit unions parity with nationally-chartered credit unions. Click here for a summary of the Department's bill.
Mortgage Fraud Bill Reported from House Committee
In a meeting this week, the House Banks and Banking Committee reported out S.B. 100, the bill introduced at the request of Attorney General Thurbert Baker. The bill is designed to give prosecutors more tools, especially by adding the crime of mortgage fraud to the Georgia RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act. An amendment was offered in committee to remove the RICO language but the amendment failed. Another amendment was offered to send the bill to a study committee but it also failed. The bill is now in the Rules Committee awaiting action by the full House.
Attorney General Baker
Gift Card Bill Passes Senate
Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) did an excellent job this week of presenting his bill, S.B. 13, to the full Senate. The bill, supported by GBA, requires the disclosure of the expiration date and certain fees associated with gift cards to be shown on the cards. Sen. David Adelman (D-Atlanta) unsuccessfully offered two amendments: one that would have prohibited dormancy fees and another amendment which would have restricted the fee to no more than $1 per month and not become applicable until the 13th month. Sen. Steve Thompson (D-Mableton) also unsuccessfully offered an amendment to clarify the bill would not have an effect on a class action suit filed for former Governor Roy Barnes against Simon Malls. That suit is trying to assert any funds left on gift cards after a certain period of time should be declared abandoned property and turned over to the state. The votes on the three amendments were mostly along party lines. The bill now goes to the House for consideration.
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 Sen. Adelman |
 Sen. Thompson |
GBA Hosts Banking Committees
We were happy to coordinate a dinner this week at the Commerce Club for the House Banks and Banking Committee and the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee this week. This annual dinner is our way of showing our thanks to the committee members for the time and effort they put into getting knowledgeable about our issues and listening to our concerns.
H.B. 488 by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Larry O’Neal (R-Warner Robins) was reported out of his committee this week after being modified as a result of input from a public hearing held earlier in the week. Several industry groups, including GBA, raised questions about the broad language in the bill. The bill was introduced at the request of the Revenue Department to give the Commissioner more discretion on certain corporate tax returns. We are analyzing the bill to determine our position, but it appears we may want the language modified slightly from the version reported out of committee. Click here for more information about the concerns we raised.
Rep. O'Neal
H.B. 191 by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Larry O'Neal (R-Warner Robins) and others has received final approval by the General Assembly. The bill has received a lot of attention as it changes the allocation and apportionment formula for state corporate income dealing with property, payroll and gross receipts. The bill is part of Governor Perdue's economic development initiatives and was of particular interest to banks with operations in Georgia but chartered elsewhere.
Gov. Perdue
Trust Flexible Income
H.B. 406 was passed by the House of Representatives this week and has been referred to the Senate. The bill, authored by Representatives Wendell Willard (R-Atlanta) and Mary Margaret Oliver(D-Decatur), was requested by 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. The bill gives trustees the ability to invest in more flexible ways. Click here for the executive summary prepared by the State Bar.
 Rep. Willard |
 Rep. Oliver |
Bill Financing Local Projects on Hold
H.B. 436 by Representative John Lunsford (R-McDonough) changes the mission of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority to add virtually any public project as a potential project to be funded by the Authority. GBA has been monitoring the bill as some of our members have expressed concern about the possibility the legislation could create a shortage of investment-grade municipal bonds. We understand the bill is being held for more study for the time being.
Rep. Lunsford
Credit Insurance Bills Pass Senate
Two bills GBA has been monitoring dealing with credit insurance passed the Senate this week. S.B. 116 requires a credit insurance policy to be provided to the insured within 90 days. S.B. 117 requires an insured to notify the credit insurance company when an indebtedness is paid early. Our understanding is that the platforms banks use when selling credit insurance already automatically handles both issues covered by the bill. We understand the bills are written to address practices in the automobile industry and how their policies are sold. During debate on the bills, several Senators raised questions about the efficacy of credit insurance but the bills passed overwhelmingly and are now pending in the House.
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 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 2005 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