Sierra Club Legislative Issue Priorities – 2014 RESULTS
Editor's Note: The Georgia General Assembly website has all sorts of information on bills and resolutions. If you want more information about the legislation described below, just put its number into the box on the upper left side of the page to see that legislation's history and read the whole measure.
To see all the bills and resolutions on a subject go to the Advanced Search and put the topic into the Keyword box. That page allows you to see all the legislation introduced by any legislator, and you can also search other past legislative years. You may see all the legislation that dealt with a Code Title, such as measures that addressed Animals, for instance. If all you remember is a number, you can put that into the number box, for instance 123 will show you HB-123, SB-123, HR-123 and SR-123. Plus you can see all the legislation sent to each committee – such as the House Natural Resources and Senate Natural Resources. ---D. Gordon Draves
From the Georgia Chapter Chair
Georgia Members:
Here is the final report on the 2014 Georgia General Assembly which ended at midnight Thursday evening, March 20.
As you can read below, the end of the session is merely the beginning or continuation of many of our campaigns including political work. Major issues outstanding include promotion of 3rd party solar financing, reform of development authorities; transportation/mass transit funding, expansion of MARTA into Clayton County, protection of the natural areas of Georgia through the legacy program, protection of groundwater and in-stream flows and cleanup of toxic sites.
Thanks to all of you that called, wrote, emailed or otherwise contacted your elected officials. As we saw with SB 213, people power can prevail.
Mark Woodall
Chair - Georgia Chapter
2014 Sierra Club Georgia Legislative News, SESSION FINAL
The 2014 Session of the General Assembly ended at midnight on March 20 -- the first day of Spring.
Because of changes to the election calendar mandated by a federal court order, the Session was put on a "fast and furious" schedule to allow two full months for legislators to raise money and spend it on primary election campaigns by the May 20 primary date. The fast session was not busier than its predecessors, merely shorter [still 40 legislative days, just fewer days between them].
The following is a short topical summary of bills of interest to the Sierra Club and their outcomes:
COASTAL
HB 715, SB 296 were identical bills that enacted a compromise that permanently limits the acreage on Jekyll Island State Park that may be developed. The compromise, to substitute hard land area numbers for a percentage standard, came after the current Attorney General, Sam Olens, ruled that salt marsh, flooded twice daily on the high tide, was "high ground," in his judgment. The Attorney General faces an opponent in the November General Election. This decision joins other dubious actions in his record, such as joining a suit against stopping pollution of the Chesapeake Bay--that should be of interest to voters.
ENERGY
HB 874 Solar Freedom and Property Rights Act by Rep. Mike Dudgeon died, as have its predecessors, in the House Energy Committee chaired by Rep. Don Parsons, a longtime fan of monopoly utilities. The bill enjoyed widespread support, but the Chairman refused to allow a vote on it this session because Southern Company and the Electric Membership Cooperatives oppose it. The bill would allow people to lease solar power units for their homes and businesses, the same way they can lease cars.
HB 257 The current tax credit for electric cars would have been abolished by this bill from Rep. Chuck Martin (R- Alpharetta). The tax credit is taken directly off the purchase or lease price for the vehicles, and at $5000 each, is a significant boost to their purchase and use. The bill passed the House, but the Senate restored the tax credit but put a $10 million annual cap on such "tax expenditure." The program cost less than $1 million in 2012. Martin made another attempt to make the bill attractive, by cutting the tax credit to $5 million a year but failed, and the law continues in force, unchanged.
HB 348 by Rep. Don Parsons gave $5 million in tax breaks for corporations buying heavy trucks fueled by natural gas. Of course this passed.
HB 757 by Rep. Jay Powell would have added solar power installations to list of activities that don't cause the violation of a Conservation Use Value Assessment covenant. This bill was defeated on the Senate floor.
HR 1158 and HR 1159 these urging resolutions by Rep. Chuck Martin opposed the pending EPA carbon regulations for coal fired power plants. One was a House only resolution and the other was a joint resolution. Both passed.
ETHICS
Several Senate Resolutions, including SR 876, by Sen. Josh McKoon (R-Columbus) were offered, and defeated in the Senate Rules Committee. SR 876 would have changed the rules of the Senate to require the reports of Committees of Conference be reviewed for a longer period of time. The Committee of Conference reports are legislation that results from a rewrite of different versions of a bill by a committee of three members of each house. Many times late hour conference reports have been passed that have contained material that would not have passed, had anyone had time to read them. Sen. McKoon was trying to prevent such mischief, and even got 32 Senators to sign one of his resolutions, but the Senate Rules Committee said NO each time.
SB 255, SB 353, SB 374, HB 960. These bills are all related by virtue of their location in the Code, in Title 36--Local Government, where the hundreds of notorious development authorities derive their power. SB 255 was yet another "public-private partnership" bill that failed in the House, apparently because of often expressed reservations about who would decide the "winners and losers." SB 353 was a naked grab bill, which would remove the ad valorem tax obligations on office buildings and nursing homes that were merely leased by development authorities, while hotels they own would be similar exempt from those taxes. These changes would push up the ad valorem taxes of all the other taxpayers in the affected jurisdictions. The bill also allowed the practice of "phantom bonds" to continue, where there are no securities, but there is a commission for the bond lawyers as if there were. Finally, the right of taxpayers to appeal the "validation" of these bonds would be completely swept away in an unconstitutional thrust. This bill, when finally publicized, died a quiet death.
SB 374, like a similar HB 833, would have changed the word "slum" to "blighted" area in the redevelopment authority law. The change was to accommodate a similar change in federal law, but the bill provided a vehicle for the bond lawyers. They had a Conference Committee version of it ready for the last hours of the Session, but they then failed to move it. HB 960 was a bill that was supposed to provide for public transit on the Atlanta Beltline by adding that to the list of allowable "projects" for redevelopment authorities, but also included provisions for "home cooking," rigged selection of vendors, permanent financial secrecy for vendors, and ways. That bill failed to pass the House after the Senate passed an altered version of it immediately before the end of the Session, but portions of it were incorporated in the also failed SB 374 Conference bill.
HB 921 and HR 1239 by Rep. Matt Dollar were two attempts to start the much-needed process of reforming development authorities. The bill proposed that these authorities should report on what they are doing to the bodies that appoint their members on a quarterly basis. This grew out of the secrecy surrounding the Atlanta Braves move to Cobb Co. The resolution would set up a study committee to look at the operations of development authorities. Both of them died, before passage, both in the House. The bill was killed by Rep. Chuck Martin, while the resolution died in the House Rules Committee. There will come a day of reckoning for the development authorities, but not this year.
TRANSPORTATION
HB 195, by Rep Ed Setzler would allow any two or more local governments to form a transportation project district and levy a sales tax to fund construction and operation of such a project. The bill was not given a vote this Session, but the ideas raised in it are very likely to be considered in an off-season Study Committee created by HR 1573.
HB 153, by Rep John Carson would have permitted a fractional sales tax, dividing one percent into 20 equal 0.05 percent increments to fund projects that don't require a full percent of sales tax to execute. The bill passed both Houses, but in differing forms that were not resolved in time for final passage. A fractional sales tax is one of the components in HB 195
HB 264, HB 265, these bills were introduced last year by Rep. Jacobs, Chair of the MARTOC oversight committee. They let MARTA use its sales tax revenue in any proportion for capital and operating costs, instead of hewing to a strict 50/50 division, for three years. This is probably meaningless given current MARTA debt obligations and sagging sales tax receipts. The bills also set up new arrangements for appointing MARTA board members in Fulton and DeKalb counties that rely on "caucuses of mayors," instead of county commissions. This provision won't kick it until 2017, so is subject to additional tinkering before that time. The "caucus of mayors" concept was first used in the selection of TSPLOST projects that were rejected by Metro voters, so it is hardly a tested source for sound policy.
HB 1009 by Rep. Glanton simply lifts the "cap" on the level of sales taxation allowed to be levied in Clayton County by action of its voters, so that the County Commission may give their constituents a chance to vote to join MARTA this November. This is the first chance for MARTA service area expansion in many years, and is a high priority for the GA Sierra Club, for environmental justice and air quality reasons.
HR 1573 by Rep. Jay Roberts (R-Ocilla), Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, is a joint resolution creating a study committee on transportation. This committee will need attention over the interim.
WASTE/RECYCLING/TOXICS
SB 333, HB 904 were a project of the Chemical Manufacturers, creating a right to appeal the listing of property on the state's Hazardous Sites inventory. This is simply a way to engage the high price stalling of the appeal lawyers in resisting any effort to clean up toxic sites. One practitioner who represents aggrieved property owners who have been victimized by these industrial poisoners once said, "These lawyers will do anything to stay out of court. They do not ever want these clients in front of a jury."
HB 957 was a joint project of the soon-to-retire Madeleine Kellam of the EPD (perhaps for her resume?) and lawyer Gerald Pouncey, for the GA Brownfields Association, to expand the number of contaminated sites that qualify for that program, which is attractive because there is no requirement on the Brownfield people to ever clean up toxic groundwater, which is often the biggest problem at toxic sites. If a site with contaminated groundwater can be redeveloped on the surface with a shopping center, even a parking lot, the public and future neighboring landowners have no reason to know, or assume, that there is a huge problem underneath the stores and asphalt.
HB 908 was a project of the Deal Administration to renew the $1 per new tire disposal fee that supports the Solid Waste Trust Fund. The bill provides for a 5 year renewal of the fee. Evidence presented to the Natural Resources Committee showed that the funds collected are largely turned over to the General Fund, less than half go to clean up tire dumps, the ostensible purpose for the fee. This impost is simply a tax, pretending to be a targeted fee. There is now in force a law, passed in 2013, that says that the fee is supposed to be reduced next year, to produce just as much money as is being appropriated to the Solid Waste program in the 2015 Budget. Hopefully a suit invoking that law will be filed to force full appropriation to the program.
HR 1087 by Rep. Andy Welch (R-Henry County) is the latest failed Constitutional Amendment to allow the "dedication" of fees collected for a specific program purpose, a measure designed to address the problem discussed in connection with the Solid Waste Trust Fund.
WILDLIFE/LAND PROTECTION
HB 881 started out as a tag supporting the Grady Health Systems, but it was amended in the Senate to provide for a new fee schedule and distribution for the once-popular Wildlife license tags, which were ruined by a Perdue Administration revision that looted the Non-Game Wildlife Fund the tags supported. This restoration is a welcome action by this legislature, and was prompted by requests from the county tag offices, which also make money off the sales of the specialty plates.
SB 322 is a project of GA's forestry industry, and GA DNR. SB 322 prohibits the use of harassment like smoke and fumes into burrows to kill poisonous snakes. The bill is to preclude US Fish and Wildlife actions against forest landowners for using these techniques, which adversely affect gopher tortoises and indigo snakes.
SR 896 by Sen. Ross Tolleson creates a study committee to look at the State's current policies for protecting land from development. This is an area of policy failure that has haunted the state for two decades, with only half steps toward real remedies. Only economic recession has prevented the ruin of thousands of acres of valuable natural areas in several regions of the state.
WATER
SB 213 by faithful Metro Chamber advocate Sen. Ross Tolleson, The Flint River Drought Protection Act was introduced at the middle of the 2013 Session with an aim to slam it through that year. The bill as introduced would have dramatically expanded EPD's control over water in the state at the expense of the state's property owners whose right to a reasonable use of the water on and under their land would be diminished by the increase in state power. The motive for this power grab is to assure that Metro Atlanta will have as much water as its unrealistic growth projections require. Because Sierra Club and its partner groups in the GA Water Coalition were able to keep legislators informed the bill was stopped cold last Session, and stalled out again this year, until the Governor and the EPD were forced to back away from their ambitious power grab in order to avoid the humiliation of losing a House floor vote on a bill endorsed by the Governor.
HB 1085 by Rep. Delvis Dutton was the pro environment, pro farmer, and pro riparian rights alternative to SB 213. Introduced only days before Crossover Day, HB 1085 died in the House Natural Resources Committee but the message sent by the almost 40 signers of HB 1085 was heard throughout the building.
SB 299 by Sen. Steve Gooch would make changes in the size of the vegetated buffers required by the GA Planning Act. These buffers are to protect water quality in water supply watersheds. Sen. Gooch is worried about 150 foot wide buffers on Yahoola Creek and its tributaries in his home county of Lumpkin, where the state funded and the Army Corps permitted a water supply reservoir after the county agreed to the wider buffers. But the people, who own those buffers, including a lot of Gooches, have never been happy about that.
They have fought the buffer width rule for years, and this time Sen. Gooch passed a bill that says that the county has to come up with a water supply protection plan approved by the EPD, and he is obviously hoping that the buffers get narrower in that plan, and that it is approved. That is a battle that will be fought out at the EPD and the DNR Board level.
SB 306 would have renewed the current Coastal Aquifer Storage and Recovery moratorium that is now set to expire on June 30 of this year. The bill, by Brunswick Sen. William Ligon would have made that moratorium permanent. Senate Natural Resources Chair Ross Tolleson (R-Perry) would not allow a vote on the bill, because his bosses at the Chamber of Commerce and the EPD told him not to, and he never disobeys their wishes.
This was a pure abuse of power. The bill was signed by the Republican Senators representing the affected counties. Tolleson represents an area in Middle GA completely unaffected by the moratorium, or any ill effects of its removal. As one Republican Senator on the Committee said after the meeting, "You just saw an example of money talking."
HB 549 by Rep Jon Burns, requires the EPD to create a permanent Emergency Response program to deal with spills of pollutants into the waters of the state. It also requires that EPD train and coordinate with local responders to meet these emergencies. This bill was a project of the GA Water Coalition, and was held over from 2013. It passed with no dissenting votes.
HB 864 by Rep Johnnie Caldwell would have made institutions with surface water withdrawal permits for water supply report on how much of that water they are returning to the source streams, and to provide plans for increasing those percentages to restore dangerously reduced stream flows in many locations. This bill was never even given the courtesy of a hearing by Chair Lynn Smith of the House Natural Resources Committee, who is an ardent defender of the Metro Chamber of Commerce water hogging regimes and plans.
HB 741 by Rep. Kevin Tanner passed. HB 741 provides for local control of the location and conditions for the disposal or sewage sludge, including public hearings in affected areas.
SB 351 by Sen. Rick Jeffares would have abolished the State Soil and Water Commission as a separate agency and transferred it to the Dept. of Agriculture. This project was vigorously opposed by the GA Farm Bureau, and died in the Senate Rules Committee. The S&WC has existed since the 1930s, and offers valuable services to GA farmers and landowners at a very low cost, and does not deserve to simply be swallowed in the Ag Dept. which is not all that effective at performing its own assigned functions.