Legislative
Update |
March
9, 2001 A review of current developments from the Georgia
Bankers Association |
| Predatory Lending Bill Passed
Senate
Sen. Cheeks |
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Following a two-hour debate, the
Georgia Senate passed the compromise predatory lending bill,
S.B.
70, which had been reported
out of the Senate Banking
and Financial Institutions Committee.
Committee Chairman Don
Cheeks did an excellent job of explaining the differences between
the bill originally introduced by Sen.
Vincent Fort and the
version reported out of committee. Sen.
Fort offered an amendment on the floor to make many provisions of the bill
apply to all home loans rather than high-cost home loans.
His amendment received only 15 votes and therefore failed.
The bill was then passed unanimously. In
responding to the vote, GBA President Joe Brannen
said, “While we know Sen. Fort
is disappointed that his approach to the predatory lending problem failed,
the Senate did not ignore the plight of the predatory lending victims.
The senators addressed a real problem in a realistic way: narrow to the point of attacking abuse while not stopping the
flow of credit to low- and moderate-income borrowers. The Senate was neither callous nor mean-spirited toward the
victims; they just recognized the problem for what it was—a serious
problem that needed to be addressed and that’s what the compromise bill
did.” The bill is now
pending in the House Banks
and Banking Committee. |
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UCC 9 Bill Passes House
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Rep. Martin
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H.B.
191 by Rep.
Jim Martin passed the House and is pending in the Senate Banking
and Financial Institutions Committee.
The bill deals with secured transactions and is the first
substantial rewrite of this area of law since 1962.
GBA has worked to maintain the current agriculture-related
non-uniform language from the current law as well as lenders’ priority
lien position on certain mechanics and materialmens liens.
The Uniform Commissioners also recommended a central state filing
system which GBA opposed in favor of keeping Georgia’s local filing
system with central indexing. An
effort by Rep.
John Wiles to move the effective date to January 1, 2002 failed
overwhelmingly in the House.
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Historic Tax Credits
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Rep. Jamieson
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H.B.
118 by Representatives
Jamieson, Ashe and McClinton, supported by GBA, is designed to help
revitalize declining downtown areas in rural Georgia as well as inner city
neighborhoods. The bill
provides a 30% state tax credit for rehabilitating residential properties,
a 25% state tax credit for rehabilitating income-producing properties.
The bill is pending in the Senate Finance
and Public Utilities Committee.
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Public
Records Disclosure
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Sen. Thompson
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S.B.
205 by Senators Thompson,
Stokes and Tanksley passed the Senate this week.
The bill, introduced at the request of the Governor, defines the
kinds of information the state must report from Open Records Requests.
The bill was substantially amended on the floor, and the wording of
that amendment now has a number of organizations concerned as to how the
bill might be interpreted. GBA
is working with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce in an effort to clarify
the bill so that financial records are properly exempted from disclosure.
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Boards/Officers
Resolution
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Rep. Walker
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H.R.
435 by Representatives
Walker, Parrish, Smyre and Stancil was passed by the House this week which
calls on financial institutions to “provide on their governing boards
and among their officers inclusive representation which is reflective of
all segments of the communities in which they are located.”
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Six Days Left
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The
2001 Session of the General
Assembly is fast coming to a close with only six legislative days
remaining. We expect there
may be a need for a short recess to allow time for conference committees
to meet.
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| For More Information
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Contact GBA’s
lobbying team for information about these or other bills pending in the
General Assembly:
Joe
Brannen (404) 420-2026
Elizabeth Way (404) 420-2027
Don Browne
(404) 522-1501
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| Follow All
Banking Legislation
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GBA's
Legislative Update is intended to keep you apprised of key
legislation GBA is tracking on the industry's behalf. The above
bills are the ones of most interest that received action this week.
Click here for a list of all bills GBA
is following this session.
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| The
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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