Gold Dome Update - March 8, 2024

This week, the Georgia General Assembly crossed off four more legislative days, with Wednesday, March 6, having served as a committee workday and a respite from Chamber action.

As of now, just twenty calendar days separate us from Sine Die, which will fall on Thursday, March 28. Given that last Thursday was crossover day, this week signaled the shift where House and Senate committees begin to hear what their counterparts across the hall have been working on the past months.

Several Immigration Bills Advance

In the last couple of weeks, immigration has surfaced as a major political issue under the Gold Dome. There were already several bills relating to immigration under consideration, and in particular, those bills address the required response of city and county law enforcement when they encounter undocumented immigrants. In the wake of the highly publicized tragedy in Athens and the death of Laken Riley, new bills have been filed and others have been amended. Several of these bills impose heightened requirements for local law enforcement, add additional penalties on non-compliant cities, and waive the immunity of local officials for certain claims. The bills we are monitoring include:

House Bill 301 by Rep. Jason Ridley (R-Chatsworth) would penalize local governments that violate immigration policies banning sanctuary cities by stripping their eligibility for certain state and federal funds, waiving their sovereign immunity, and removing elected officials.
Status: Pending in Senate Rules
GMA Position: Oppose

House Bill 1105 by Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) seeks to require local law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities on the enforcement of immigration laws, with violators subject to the withholding of state funding or state-administered federal funding.
Status: Pending in Senate Public Safety
GMA Position: Evaluating

Senate Resolution 721 and Senate Bill 568 by Sen. Jason Anavitarte (R-Dallas) are companion bills consisting of a constitutional amendment and enabling legislation to prohibit parole for "illegal aliens."
Status: Pending in Senate Judiciary Committee
GMA Position: Neutral

Senate Bill 569 by Sen. Brian Strickland (R-McDonough) seeks to prohibit "illegal aliens" from receiving bail if arrested for any offense.
Status: Pending in Senate Judiciary Committee
GMA Position: Neutral

House Appropriations Chairman Matt Hatchett (R-Dublin) and House Minority Leader James Beverly (D-Macon) celebrate House passage of the FY25 budget.

House Passes FY25 Budget

The House of Representatives passed House Bill 916, the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) budget on Thursday, March 7, 2024. The FY25 budget would fund the state beginning on July 1, 2024. The FY25 budget became a bit of a political football this week with the Senate refusing to pass any additional House bills until the budget’s passage by the House. The FY25 budget now heads to the Senate for consideration and passage. Budget highlights of potential interest to cities include:

Housing

$6 million in One Georgia Authority for the Rural Workforce Housing Program.
$3.7 million in DCA for the State Housing Trust Fund to improve homelessness services and pursue new federal grant opportunities.
$1 million in the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for the accountable housing initiative.
$100,000 in GEFA for the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District.

Transportation

$220 million total in Department of Transportation (GDOT) for LMIG including an increase of $7.3 million in LMIG funding from FY24 to FY25.

Public Safety

$2.5 million in Department of Public Safety (DPS) for ongoing maintenance of the weigh-in-motion monitoring system.

Rep. Victor Anderson presenting HB 1044 to the Senate Committee on Government Oversight this Wednesday, March 6.

Public Works Bidding Bill Gets Second Chance

House Bill 1044 by Rep. Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia) may sound very familiar to city officials, because it is essentially a repeat of HB 193 from the 2023 session. Both bills raise the exemption for required public works bidding from $100,000 to $250,000. However, HB 193 only did so for cities and counties, and therefore after passage during the 2023 session, it was vetoed by Governor Kemp. The Governor wanted the bill to apply to cities, counties, and state agencies. Therefore, HB 1044 is a refiling of the same bill, but with the addition of application to state agencies. The bill was overwhelmingly passed by the House on February 12, and this week was approved by the Senate Government Oversight Committee with no amendments. It will now move to the full Senate and hopefully soon to the Governor.

Significant Service Delivery Strategy Ruling Handed Down

Although it is not legislation, there was a significant ruling in favor of cities from the Georgia Supreme Court earlier this week relating to interpretations of state law surrounding service delivery strategy, particularly roads and water service. A summary of the decision and the decision itself are on the GMA website. Cities are encouraged to review this decision with their legal counsel to determine the impact to them.

Bills to Watch

Community Development

House Bill 514 by Rep. Dale Washburn (R-Macon) would create a six-month limitation on local zoning moratoriums.
Status: Conference committee report has been issued, pending chamber action
GMA Position: Neutral

House Bill 1073 by Rep. Dale Washburn (R-Macon) would remove specific language relating to zoning procedures relating to halfway houses, drug rehabilitation centers, or other facilities for the treatment of drug dependency.
Status: Pending in Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee
GMA Position: Neutral

Environment and Natural Resources

House Bill 1146 by Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) would require the Georgia EPD to issue consumptive water permits to private companies without the consent of the relevant local government if said local government is unable to provide the water service within 18 months of the permit request.
Status: Pending in Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee
GMA Position: Oppose

Municipal Government

House Bill 290 by Rep. Mitchell Scoggins (R-Cartersville) would limit the amount of compensation a county tax commissioner may receive for the collection of municipal taxes.
Status: Pending in Senate Rules Committee
GMA Position: Support

House Bill 456 by Rep. Stan Gunter (R-Blairsville) establishes a two-year term for all municipal court judges and provides a removal mechanism in the event of the breach of an employment agreement.
Status: Pending in Senate Rules Committee
GMA Position: Support

House Bill 461 by Rep. Brad Thomas (R-Holly Springs) would make revisions concerning a city's calculation of regulatory fees, specifically building inspection fees.
Status: Pending in Senate Rules Committee
GMA Position: Neutral

House Bill 905 by Rep. Matt Reeves (R-Duluth) would clarify provisions of the Zoning Procedures Law relative to the role of quasi-judicial boards and agencies and the appeal process from their decisions.
Status: Pending in Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee
GMA Position: Support

House Bill 1033 by Rep. Rob Leverett (R-Elberton) enhances the level of punishment for the crimes of assault and battery when the victims of those crimes are utility workers.
Status: Pending in Senate Rules Committee
GMA Position: Support

House Bill 1407 by Rep. John LaHood (R-Valdosta) would revise the requirements for service delivery strategies, provide rules for negotiation of the strategy, and create a dispute resolution process.
Status: Pending in Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee
GMA Position: Support

Public Safety

House Bill 348 by Rep. J Collins (R-Villa Rica) would revise the regulations for speed cameras in school zones.
Status: Pending in Senate Rules Committee
GMA Position: Neutral

House Bill 451 by Rep. Devan Seabaugh (R-Marietta) establishes an insurance program to cover post-traumatic stress disorder claims for first responders and requires city participation in the program.
Status: Pending in Senate Insurance and Labor Committee
GMA Position: Support

Revenue and Finance

Senate Bill 349 by Sen. Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome) would improve the notice requirements for tax assessments and millage rate adjustments to be more transparent but would also allow for a statewide floating homestead exemption with a cap of 3 percent.
Status: Pending in House Ways & Means Committee
GMA Position: Neutral

Senate Resolution 82 by Sen. Carden Summers (R-Cordele) would allow cities and counties to waive delinquent taxes to the extent the tax exceeds the fair market value of the property, ultimately encouraging the reutilization of the property.
Status: Heard in House Ways & Means Committee on Thursday, March 7
GMA Position: Support

House Bill 808 by Rep. Mike Cheokas (R-Americus) would increase the statewide ad valorem tax exemption for tangible personal property from $7,500 to $20,000.
Status: Pending in Senate Rules Committee
GMA Position: Oppose

House Bill 946 by Rep. Lee Hawkins (R-Gainesville) would allow a single-county T-SPLOST to be levied at the full 1 percent without unanimous approval of the agreement by all local jurisdictions and provides protection for those jurisdictions that are not party to the agreement.
Status: Pending in Senate Rules Committee
GMA Position: Support

House Bill 1019 by Rep. Matt Reeves (R-Duluth) would raise the amount of the statewide homestead exemption applicable to city taxes from $2,000 to $4,000,
Status: Pending in Senate Finance Committee
GMA Position: Neutral

House Bill 1031 by Rep. Dale Washburn (R-Macon) would require an estimated roll-back millage rate to be included on the annual notice of current assessment instead of last year's millage rate and would require mandatory reappraisal of parcels at least once every three years.
Status: Pending in Senate Finance Committee
GMA Position: Support

House Bill 1115 by Rep. Noel Williams (R-Cordele) would raise the limit on local sales tax to 3 percent, allow for a HOST and a LOST to be levied simultaneously, and create a new local option sales tax which would be referred to as a flexible penny local option sales tax which could be used for property tax relief, similar to LOST or OLOST.
Status: Pending in Senate Finance Committee
GMA Position: Support

House Bill 1116 by Rep. Debbie Buckner (D-Junction City) would extend the sunset date for tax credits for rehabilitation of historic structures to January 1, 2029.
Status: Pending in Senate Finance Committee
GMA Position: Support

House Bill 1185 and House Resolution 1022 by Rep. Beth Camp (R-Concord) are two companion bills consisting of enabling legislation and a constitutional amendment that would allow for a statewide floating homestead exemption, tied to the inflationary rate, that local governments could opt in to via an ordinance or resolution.
Status: Pending in Senate Finance Committee
GMA Position: Neutral

House Bill 1197 by Rep. Penny Houston (R-Nashville) would expand the rural zone tax credit to include historic residential structures, and extends the time limit for the zone.
Status: Pending in Senate Finance Committee
GMA Position: Support