GMA's Gold Dome Update

On Monday, January 8, the 157th Georgia General Assembly gaveled in for the second year of its biennial session. This week, the legislature crossed off five legislative days, with LD 6 scheduled for Monday, January 22. Conversations around spending the state’s record $11 billion in undesignated reserves will likely dominate the next week, as legislators plan to convene the Senate and House Appropriations Committees starting Tuesday, January 16, to consider the Governor’s proposed amended Fiscal Year 2024 budget and the proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget.

Early indications from leadership in the House and Senate, as well as the Governor’s office, show that healthcare, public safety, education, and tax reduction will be the top policy priorities of the legislature this year. On Thursday, January 11, before a joint session in the House Chamber, Governor Brian Kemp delivered his sixth annual State of the State Address. A link to a transcript of the Governor's speech can be found here.

Governor Brian Kemp delivers his sixth State of the State address before a joint session of the General Assembly in the House Chamber, flanked on either side by House Speaker Jon Burns and Lt. Governor Burt Jones.
Image courtesy of House Media Services.

Governor Kemp outlined his 2024 policy priorities and announced some of the largest additions to his AFY24 and FY25 budget recommendations, several of which were advocated for by GMA.

During the debates over increasing truck weights in 2023, GMA persistently expressed to the legislature and the Governor that roads across the state are in need of investment, and the Governor clearly recognizes that need. As part of his AFY24 budget proposal, the Governor increased GDOT funding by $1.5 billion dollars, which will allow the state to accelerate GDOT's existing project pipeline. Significant for cities, the Governor has increased LMIG funding for local governments nearly two-fold.

"Lastly, [$200 million] from this pot of money will go to the Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant, essentially doubling the amount available to local governments for Fiscal Year 2024 to [$418 million]. This money will be well spent on local road engineering, construction, paving, and maintenance."

In 2023, the Georgia General Assembly approved $35.7 million to kick off the Governor's Rural Workforce Housing Fund (RWFH) initiative to provide flexible funding for developing housing and related infrastructure in rural parts of the state. With these initial funds, more than a dozen Georgia cities have already received RWFH grants, with four new grant recipient communities being announced just this week.

For AFY24 and FY25, Governor Kemp has recommended an additional $56 million for the Rural Workforce Housing Fund, which will allow many more projects to apply.

Despite several attempts at housing preemption in 2023, GMA has continuously advocated against one-size-fits-all solutions that neglect the wildly diverse needs in communities across the state. In the recent RWFH announcements, Governor Kemp reiterated his commitment to flexible housing policy:

"Last year, I made a commitment to promoting the growth of workforce housing in areas across our state experiencing record-breaking economic development. This latest round of grants will help four more communities provide the needed infrastructure to meet demand as even more opportunity comes to rural parts of our state."

Lastly, Governor Kemp recommended an additional $250 million investment in the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, which loans money to local governments for water and sewer projects. GMA encourages cities to take advantage of these and similar funding opportunities, as we know that water and sewer infrastructure needs are often the precursor to any development planning.

GMA Grants Resources: To stay abreast of grant announcements and prepare competitive grant applications, check out GMA's Grant Resources for Cities page with all the latest and greatest on funding opportunities available through state, federal, and other agencies. Here you can subscribe to receive email notifications when new grants are posted; find free or low-cost technical assistance on grants; and sign up for free "Grants 101" trainings that are also archived on GMA's website.

Be sure to explore GMA's resources and also link up with your Regional Commission along with state and federal agency representatives who stand ready to help your city access funding to meet critical needs in your communities.

Governor Kemp speaking on Wednesday, January 10 at the annual Eggs and Issues Breakfast hosted by the Georgia Chamber.

The Appropriations Process

With the Governor's budget recommendations in hand, the General Assembly can now begin the appropriations process, kicked off by what is commonly known as Budget Week. During the Joint Appropriations Committee budget hearings that will take place this coming week, each agency head and CFO will present their portion of the Governor’s budget recommendations to the committee for questioning.

Following Budget Week, the House Appropriations Committee continues to work on the budget before it is voted out of committee, sent through House Rules Committee, and finally voted on on the House floor. The AFY budget is always voted on prior to the FY budget. Following passage from the House, the budget is then sent to the Senate where the same process is repeated.

Once the budget is passed out of the Senate, both chambers appoint 3 members each to form a conference committee to work out any differences in each chamber’s version of the budget. After the conference committee has agreed to one budget, along with passage again from each chamber, the budget is sent to the Governor’s desk for signing and/or veto.

The much anticipated Adjournment Resolution was filed yesterday, January 11, setting the legislature’s schedule for the remainder of the 2024 Legislative Session. The resolution sets Crossover Day for February 29, aka Leap Day. Crossover is, with few exceptions, the deadline for bills to pass out of the chamber from which they originated and "cross over" to the other chamber. However, no bill is truly dead until Sine Die, which is expected this year on March 28.

It's worth noting that while the adjournment resolution was negotiated and agreed upon by leadership in both chambers, it is always subject to amendment.

Team GMA rings in Day One of the 2024 Legislative Session, joined by Minority Caucus Chair Billy Mitchell (D-Stone Mountain).
(L-R): Kendall Daniels, Noah Roenitz, Ryan Bowersox, Rep. Billy Mitchell, Rusi Patel, Jim Thornton, DJ Waller, Leona Rittenhouse

House Bill 290, County Tax Commissioner Duties

House Bill 290 by Rep. Mitchell Scoggins (R-Cartersville) revises the method in which a city contracts with the county tax commissioner to prepare the tax digest for the city and assess and collect city taxes, fees, and special assessments. The bill requires the contract to be negotiated and approved by the city, county, and county tax commissioner. House Bill 290 limits the amount of compensation a county tax commissioner may receive for collection of municipal taxes to 50 percent of their minimum statutory salary across all cities in the county.

GMA Position: Support
Status: Favorably reported by Senate Finance Committee

House Bill 514: Conference Committee Update

House Bill 514 by Rep. Dale Washburn (R-Macon) is a carryover bill from the 2023 session. HB 514, entitled the Housing Regulation Transparency Act, sets out to restrict locally enacted development moratoriums on residential properties. HB 514 would place a six-month limitation on zoning moratoria and restrict zoning and planning fees to be used solely to fund the operation of zoning administration. In addition, moratoriums could not be extended unless the local government is responding to the following: a natural disaster, a state of emergency, health or safety concerns, a judicial order, or a third-party – or an internal engineering study. As passed the House, the bill set limits to ‘single-family residential’ moratoriums, while the Senate loosened the definition to ‘residential’ developments. The Senate also added language to allow cities to extend moratoriums so long as they are conducting or contracting specific engineering, infrastructure, utility, land use plans, or environmental studies relating to public utilities, works, or services related to the moratorium. Finally, before leaving the Senate, a rules committee substitute was provided, which added language from Senate Bill 136 into HB 514. SB 136 by Sen. Mike Dugan (R-Carrolton), allows local governments to waive impact fees on developments deemed ‘workforce housing.’

In the waning hours of the 2023 legislative session, the House disagreed with the Senate amendments, and both chambers insisted on their position. A conference committee was appointed, consisting of Representatives Dale Washburn, John LaHood, and Alan Powell, and Senators Matt Brass, Brandon Beach, and Clint Dixon to iron out the differences. However, because of the lateness of the day, the conference committee never met, so HB 514 did not pass before the expiry of the 2023 session.

Now that the legislature has reconvened, the committee members will have to act on three key variables between the House and Senate versions of HB 514. The first is the inclusion of language from SB 136, the second is the type of moratorium being restricted (single-family residential vs. just residential), and the third is the addition of ‘in-house’ as it relates to engineering, planning, and utility studies. GMA’s lobbyists have engaged the conference committee members and spoke to each of these variables, and how they relate to the association’s policy goals. We expect the committee to issue its report in the coming weeks.

GMA Position: Support
Status: Pending Conference Committee Report

House Bill 456, Municipal Court Judges

House Bill 456, by Rep. Stan Gunter (R-Blairsville), increases the term of municipal court judges from one year to two years. The bill provides an additional mechanism for removal of a judge in the event the judge has entered into an employment contract with the city and has breached the terms of the contract. GMA recommends as a best practice that cities have a written agreement, ordinance provision, or charter provision setting the term of the municipal court judge. Additionally, GMA has provided sample agreements in the GMA publication Municipal Courts: A Guide for Municipal Elected Officials. This bill was heard on Thursday, January 11, 2024, by the House Judiciary Committee, and it was favorably reported.

GMA Position: Support
Status: Pending in House Rules

Senate Bill 349, Statewide Floating Homestead Exemption

Senate Bill 349 by Sen. Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome), known as the ‘Save our Homes Act,’ is a comprehensive ad valorem taxation bill that includes numerous property tax revisions advocated for on behalf of GMA. SB 349 removes the Taxpayer Bill of Rights advertisement requirement if the millage rate is set at or below the previous year’s millage rate. The bill would also remove the requirement to include the tax estimate on the tax assessment notice. SB 349 would also limit the three-year lock on the valuation of property only if the taxpayer receives a lower property valuation on appeal. The bill would require that the current tax assessment notice includes a list of all ad valorem tax exemptions that have been granted and are applicable to the current tax year. SB 349 would prohibit the taxpayer from receiving a temporary reduction in the amount of taxes due if the taxpayer, or his/her representative(s), does not attend a tax appeal settlement conference. Finally, the bill provides for a statewide floating homestead exemption which would restrict assessment increases on homesteaded property to 3 percent annually for all property taxes levied.

GMA Position: Evaluating
Status: Assigned to Senate Finance Committee

We are excited about the 2024 Cities United Summit and hope that you are planning to attend the Legislative Networking & Capitol Connection Breakfast Program on Monday, January 29.

This breakfast is a terrific opportunity to set a positive tone for our relationship with the General Assembly. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House have been invited to speak as part of the program. Building on the success of the 2023 Legislative Breakfast, we aim for an even greater turnout this year.

As we continue to strengthen connections with our legislators, it is crucial to underscore how significant a role cities play in making Georgia the best place to live, work, and raise a family. Your active participation in this event will be key to advancing this mission. At the breakfast, tables are organized by GMA district, so it’s a great format for you to connect with all the legislators in your local delegation.

Please personally reach out to your legislators and invite them to the 2024 Legislative Networking & Capitol Connection Breakfast at Hilton Atlanta, located at 255 Courtland Street Northeast, Atlanta, GA 30303.

Breakfast begins at 7:00 a.m. and the program will start at 7:45 a.m.

Find more information about the 2024 Cities United Summit here.

Friday Focus calls are back!
with the GMA Governmental Relations team

every Friday at 9 a.m. via Zoom

When advocating on behalf of Georgia’s cities, GMA’s greatest asset is an informed and engaged membership, and this is especially true when the policy issue or piece of legislation is particularly complex or consequential.

The Friday Focus calls are an opportunity for you, our members, to deepen your understanding of the issues being addressed by the General Assembly this session and feel more empowered to advocate on behalf of your city.

Click here to register!

For additional assistance please reach out to Kendall Daniels, kdaniels@gacities.com