Legislation Moving Through Committees This Week

The pace of legislation moving at the State Capitol continues to pick up as legislators work to move their bills through subcommittees and committees. The ACCG policy team has spent much of this week monitoring committee hearings and working with legislators to address concerns.  Several big issues, such as tax reform and criminal justice reform, have not been introduced at this time. Others, such as open meetings and open records legislation and the rewrite of the juvenile justice code, saw action this week. As the pace continues to quicken heading towards crossover day, be sure to watch for additional information and action alerts from ACCG.

Hearing Held on Open Meetings and Open Records Legislation

A subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing this week to receive testimony on HB 397, the open meetings and open records legislation. Attorney General Sam Olens, Representative Jay Powell, ACCG General Counsel Jim Grubiak, Forsyth County Attorney Ken Jarrard and several others spoke before the subcommittee. On behalf of local officials, concerns were raised about the proposed reduction in the per page fee counties may charge for filling open records requests from 25 cents to 10 cents and continued to ask for consideration on ways to manage extraordinarily voluminous and repetitive records requests. In addition, the committee was urged to preserve, to the greatest extent possible, the attorney–client privilege. Overall, ACCG looks forward to making further progress on this legislation and acknowledges the efforts of Attorney General Olens and Representative Powell in perfecting this legislation. An amended version of HB 397 is expected next week when the bill will be brought before the subcommittee for consideration.

Keep an Eye on Juvenile Justice Code Legislation

County officials need to be prepared to express concerns on legislation in the House and Senate that rewrites the juvenile justice code. This legislation is a substantial revision of the laws dealing with juvenile criminal and civil cases. Both the House and Senate versions have cost implications for counties. For example, this legislation removes the requirement that the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council provide legal representation for indigent juveniles and shifts that responsibility to the counties. SB 127 was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, and a companion bill (HB 641) is expected to come before the House Judiciary Committee next week. ACCG is currently reviewing this legislation and the fiscal implications and will provide more information as the legislation progresses.

Redirection of Dedicated Fees Bill Moves Forward

On Thursday, the House Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously passed HB 811, which addresses the redirection of dedicated fees for programs such as the Solid Waste Trust Fund, the Hazardous Waste Trust Fund, indigent defense and others. This legislation now awaits action by the House Rules Committee before being considered for a vote on the House floor.