State legislators are stepping in to help DeKalb County schools salvage the district’s accreditation.
On Thursday, the DeKalb delegation announced the formation of the DeKalb school board legislative review committee to assist the district with responding to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
SACS ordered DeKalb schools to formally answer seven questions by Sept. 11. The questions center around hiring practices, training, conflict of interest, nepotism, procurement policies, the superintendent search and other areas.
Based on those responses, SACS will determine if there are questions about whether DeKalb schools meet the standards for accreditation and whether it is necessary to warrant a full-scale investigation.
“Community support and involvement is an important part of any district’s accreditation. The involvement of DeKalb leaders can help the DeKalb County School System identify and move forward with improvement efforts,” said Mark Elgart, SACS' president and chief executive officer.
The legislative committee also wants to help in the search for a new superintendent.
The committee, which will be chaired by state Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur) and state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), will hold its first meeting Sept. 9 -- two days before the SACS response is due.
“I’m a proud graduate of the DeKalb County school district and I’m very concerned about all of the problems,” Oliver told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “A SACS investigation is a serious matter.”
SACS began asking questions in May when a grand jury indicted former superintendent Crawford Lewis, former chief operating officer Patricia Reid and two others.
The committee will also work with the school board to meet the requirements of Senate Bill 84, which requires every district in Georgia to pass an ethics policy, Oliver said.
"The SACS investigation seems to be in part focusing on board behavior,” Oliver said. “We’re looking to see if they set up some type of independent [ethics] review.”
Two administrators were fired and two demoted this month after an AJC investigation found they sold a total of almost $100,000 in books they had written to the district. The AJC also reported that school board member Jay Cunningham’s restaurants sold more than $22,000 worth of food to the district since he joined the board.
Next week, the DeKalb board is scheduled to vote on drafts of its SACS responses, along with new policies on governing employee ethics, whistleblowers and conflict of interest.
Board chairman Tom Bowen said the board is confident accreditation will not be in jeopardy.
“The district is in communication with SACS and is already following a detailed timeline that includes steps to ensure transparency, including a public vote on the responses to SACS,” he said.
Bowen said he had not spoken with any of the legislators. “While we appreciate the offer of assistance from the legislators and look forward to working with them, it is extremely disappointing that the Senate Press Office would issue a release prior to any communication with the board and with incorrect facts regarding the district attorney's investigation,” he said.
The legislators’ news release said “several board members and former superintendent Crawford Lewis were indicted on charges involving conflicts of interest.”
No school board members were indicted.
The Senate Press Office issued an apology and correction Thursday night.
Sen. Jones did not return two phone calls nor an e-mail.
Legislature failed to deliver needed ban on lobbyist gifts By Mary Margaret Oliver Richard Wayne Penniman is a famous Georgian who has been formally recognized by the General Assembly as the author of our state’s “official” rock ’n’ roll song, “Tutti Frutti.” He was an early inductee to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in his hometown of Macon. Penniman, known more fondly as Little Richard, has had a diverse and sinful life, but he believes in redemption, and has frequently served as a preacher who spoke the gospel. When he left the low-life bar scene and went to the pulpit, he used to say, “It is time to get on the good foot!” The Georgia General Assembly, particularly the House with the election of a new speaker and new rules of the House, got on the “good foot” this year. Passage of new ethics legislation will help establish improved standards of behavior and enforcement through expanded disclosure requirements and increased fines for disclosure violations. Senate Bill 17 includes provisions of the four ethics bills I introduced early in the 2010 session to define abuse of power, and specify violations for conflict of interest and sexual harassment. I was pleased with these new standards and procedures, and voted for SB 17. My most significant disappointment in SB 17 is the failure of the General Assembly to moderate or restrict gifts to legislators. I am convinced that my constituents do not support legislators receiving gifts of any kind, even if all gifts are disclosed, and I filed legislation to prohibit all gifts over $25. Most practically, for most legislators, gifts are received in the form of meals and beverages, based on a culture where business entertainment is encouraged. I am fortunate that I do not have to live alone in a hotel in order to serve in the House as many of my colleagues do, and I can easily go home each night to eat in my own kitchen. Sometimes I am uneasy criticizing others, who readily and routinely accept free meals and drinks from lobbyists to avoid lonely hotel rooms. But it is also true that some of my colleagues abuse the receipt of gifts, both meals and tickets to high-priced sporting events or concerts, and I believe my constituents want change. These long-standing abuses from the receipt of gifts from lobbyists to legislators are hard to change. In many “back-room” discussions lobbying for a variety of ways to restrict gifts, I have learned I am the minority, in both the Republican and Democratic caucuses, who want to eliminate or restrict gifts. The reasons legislators give in private for why they want to keep the gifts coming are good, bad and human. These arguments are rarely made in the public. The first and most often stated reason for keeping the benefits of gifts is that the voters do not care about receipt of gifts, and only the press pays attention to who goes to the Masters, NASCAR events or dinners out as guests of lobbyists. Second, the expanded disclosures requirements allow voters easily to read online who receives gifts, and can make up their own mind if the gifts matter to them. In effect, disclosure of gifts provides a sufficient “chilling” of unreasonable gifts to legislators, and as a result the business entertainment of members of the General Assembly is fairly moderate. Although I do not agree with these reasonings, both these arguments are reasonable. Other reasons and excuses are less acceptable. I believe many legislators develop misplaced “entitlement” responses to receiving unprecedented and continuous attention from lobbyists, or “paid friends.” Legislators, particularly the newly elected, do not quite understand that lobbyists are paid to be friendly, social and inviting to Atlanta’s nicer restaurants that the legislators would not otherwise visit. Legislators also too frequently assert they cannot be “bought” by a steak dinner or a ticket to see the Hawks play, and the gifts of meals and sports tickets are harmless. They miss the reality that lobbyists are seeking a preferred business relationship, looking into the future for some special favor or benefit, stated or unstated. But the worst excuse for defending the receipt of gifts is simply that some legislators want to go to a party, to be entertained, to enjoy all the temptations of the big city. For a few, they want to renew attendance at long-forgotten fraternity parties, with the occasional resulting embarrassments that have greater consequences than they anticipated. I remain committed to further restrictions on gifts to legislators from lobbyists, and I do not believe I will always be in the minority with this view. On the House side, Speaker David Ralston is committed to ongoing dialogue about additional ethics legislation, and I know the discussion will continue. But if the legislator attitudes are to change, the voters must engage more directly in the debate. We all need more incentives to “get on the good foot” and follow the advice of Little Richard. State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) represents Georgia’s 83rd District.
Reps. Oliver and Benfield to hold Teletown Hall Meeting March 31, 2010
ATLANTA — State Representatives Stephanie Stuckey-Benfield and Mary Margaret Oliver will hold a joint teletown hall meeting on Monday, April 5 at 6:00 PM to discuss the state budget and other issues pending in the Georgia legislature.“This teletown hall is a giant conference call that allows constituents all the advantages of a traditional town hall meeting without ever having to leave their homes. I am excited about using this new technology to connect with constituents and hear their concerns,” said Representative Oliver. “I hope everyone who receives an invite will join us on April 5th.”
Thousands of constituents in House Districts 83 and 85 will receive a call on Sunday night inviting them to participate in the teletown hall meeting. On April 5, the same constituents will receive a second phone call, allowing them to speak to Representatives Benfield and Oliver.
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MMO Fourth Email Legislative Newsletter March 21, 2010
March 21, 2010 –27 Days of 40 Day Session Completed!
This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s fourth email newsletter for the 2010 General Assembly Session which convened January 11, 2010 and has completed 27 days of the 40 day Session. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my web-site at http://www.marymargaretoliver.org/www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
The major issues of the 2010 Session are the state’s budget, transportation, ethics and water. These issues will continue to be debated through day 40, but this week, specifically Thursday, March 25 is “cross-over”, the last day a bill may be passed by the House and have time for the Senate to consider final passage before the 2010 Session adjourns. So, this week is critical for movement of the major legislation. Thus far, only water has received some positive attention and both the House and Senate have passed the Water Stewardship Act.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item, and this week I want to know your views about water. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Both the House and the Senate have passed the Water Stewardship Act, which includes some of the conservation recommendations of the Governor’s Water Task Force formed after a federal court determined last July 2009 that Georgia was not entitled to draw water from Lake Lanier for drinking purposes. This major court decision gave the parties, including Alabama and Florida, three years to resolve their current water disputes, particularly how Lake Lanier water is to be managed for its multiple legal usages.
SB 370 and HB 1094, identical bills, impose mandatory conservation measures including the following:
1. Outdoor watering is prohibited from 10 am to 4 pm, but agriculture, new landscaping, and golf courses are excluded. Fifty percent of outdoor watering evaporates during the sunny middle hours of the day.
2. Low-flow toilets are required to be included in new construction by 2012.
3. Sub-metering of water must be included in new apartment complexes by 2012. This means that individual apartment units must have individual water meters, which presumably will promote conservation.
4. Audits of water usage will be required of all governments with over 10,000 water customers. This provision hopefully will address the issues of leaky pipes, a major source of water loss.
Critics of these bills assert that delaying implementation of the conservation measures until 2012 is wasteful, and the exemptions of the conservation measures for outdoor watering are too extensive. Other critics assert that the water used for generating power by Georgia Power is not addressed, another major use of Lake Lanier and other water sources. Other water legislation, specifically SB 462 and HB 1301 giving the state EPD authority to monitor inter-basis water transfers is still pending.
How would you have voted on this bill to conserve water? Is it strong enough?
To reply to the weekly question about the Water Stewardship Act, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com , and I need your input. Thank you!
MMO Legislative Activities:-- MMO’s bills previously reported , specifically, HB 742 on medical consent issues, HB 1031 relating to Georgia’s truancy law, have passed out of committees and await House floor calendaring by the Rules committee. HB 1144 granting to juveniles credit for “time served” on their sentences passed the House of March 19. The DeKalb State Court clerk and judges legislation to increase the court’s filing fees in order to help with county budget shortfalls also is progressing, and MMO is involved in other fee bills relating to other court filing costs. You can review these or any other bill filed at the General Assembly web-site the http://www.legis.state.ga.us, and updates will be provided on MMO’s Facebook and web site www.marymargaretoliver.org.
Capitol visits and Speaking engagements – MMO continues to host pages to serve on the House floor, and on March 8 was a co-sponsor to benefit for CHRIS Homes a network of residential providers for neglected and disturbed adolescents. On March 17, she met with a group of Mercer law students to discuss legislative and ethical legislation. She has attended receptions for the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia State Bar and Supreme Court Chief Justice Carol Hunstein.
If you would like MMO to visit your group to talk about legislative issues, or visit the Capitol during a Session, please let her know.
Thank you for all your interest and support. Please contact me about any issue that concerns you.
MARY MARGARET
MMO Third Email Newsletter for 2010 General Assembly Session March 2, 2010
March 2, 2010 – Half-way Point of 40 Day Session!
This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s third email newsletter for the 2010 General Assembly Session which convened January 11, 2010 and has completed 20 days of the 40 day Session. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my web-site at http://www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Both the House and the Senate have taken a two week break from convening in Session to review fiscal year 2010 mid-year budget required adjustments, and the proposed budget for 2011, which begins July 1, 2010 and ends June 30, 2011. Early estimates, that could get worse, indicate the state’s budget must be cut another approximate one billion dollars for fiscal year 2011. The earlier revenue projections of growth for this year and next year do not seem viable.
What would you cut from the budget to meet the constitutional requirement that Georgia pass a balanced budget? Options currently under discussion to balance the budget:
1. Cut every state agency the same, approximately an additional eight percent, on top of the budget cuts of approximately ten percent since 2009. The previous budget cuts have not impacted state agencies the same percentage. For instance, since the 2009 budget of 20 billion dollars, the agency cuts, by percentage after the one-time stimulus money has been added, have been approximately:
Education 10.9% cut, without the stimulus money, 15.1% cut Human Services 18.2% cut, without the stimulus money, 19.5% cut
Corrections 7.3% cut, without the stimulus money, 14.7% cut
Regents 9.3% cut, without the stimulus money, 15.4%
2. Cut the following “non-essential” state services that can be eliminated totally or phased out in the next two years:
a. All state golf courses, administered either by private contracts or by the Department of Natural Resources.
b. The two totally state funded cemeteries for veterans. Veterans buried in the state cemeteries and Milledgeville and Glennville charge the deceased no fees.
c. The two veterans nursing homes for approximately 500 veterans in Augusta and Milledgeville that accept no Medicare or Medicaid funding, and have no means test for admission. The veterans pay no part of their care at these two nursing homes.
d. Eliminate proposed funding for construction of the College Hall of Fame to be built in Centennial Park. The state will provide no operations money for this project in the future, and the site for this museum has been negotiated through the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development offices.
e. Impose additional furlough days, meaning further pay cuts, on all state employees, including teachers, who have already incurred a salary cut of between 5 and 10 %.
To provide additional revenue that will minimize but not eliminate the budget cuts, the General Assembly is still considering fee increases, hospital taxes requested by the Governor, additional taxes on tobacco, specifically packs of cigarettes, and elimination the sales tax exemption on food and prescriptions. None of these proposed tax increases appear to have support from the House or Senate leadership at this time. I support the increased tobacco tax, but not the elimination of sales tax on food and prescriptions.
What do you think? What else would you cut or tax?
To review additional budget analysis and questions posed, visit www.GBPI.org. The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute is a non-profit corporation that provides independent budget analysis.
To reply to the weekly question about the budget, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com. I serve on the Appropriations Committee in the House, specifically the Human Resources sub-committee, we are meeting daily during this two week break, and I need your input. Thank you!
MMO Legislative Activities:-- MMO has previously reported on bills she has introduced, specifically, HB 742 on medical consent issues, HB 1031 relating to Georgia’s truancy law, and HB 1144 granting to juveniles credit for “time served” on their sentences. Hearings will be held on each of these bills the week of March 8, when the General Assembly reconvenes. New legislation has been presented by MMO to the DeKalb delegation on behalf of the DeKalb State Court clerk and judges to raise the court’s filing fees in order to help with county budget shortfalls. You can review these or any other bill filed at the General Assembly web site www.legis.state.ga.us, and updates will be provided on MMO’s Facebook and web site www.marymargaretoliver.org.
Capitol visits and Speaking engagements – MMO has also hosted several pages from DeKalb’s Leadership Institute, and met with high-school Close-up students and Leadership DeKalb at the Capitol.
If you would like MMO to visit your group to talk about legislative issues, or visit the Capitol during a Session, please let her know.
Thank you for all your interest and support. Please contact me about any issue that concerns you.
ATLANTA — State Representative Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) has introduced House Bill 1144, which will allow juveniles to receive credit for time served while being held in detention. Under current law, adults receive such credit, but juveniles do not.
“Juveniles should get credit for the time they have already served in detention, just like adult offenders do,” said Representative Oliver. “We have a responsibility to make this procedure more fair and efficient.”
Bill co-sponsors include Representatives Edward Lindsey (R- Atlanta), Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City), and Wendell Willard (R- Sandy Springs).
HB 1144 was assigned to the House Committee on Judiciary Non-Civil. A link to the bill can be found by clicking here.
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Representative Mary Margaret Oliver represents the citizens of District 83, which includes portions of DeKalb County. She was elected into the House of Representatives in 2002, plus five years previous service. She currently serves on the Appropriations, Governmental Affairs, Judiciary, and Science and Technology Committees.
ATLANTA — State Representative Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) has introduced House Bill 1031 and House Bill 1032 at the request of her constituents.
House Bill 1031, requested by DeKalb County Solicitor-General Robert James, would help school systems enforce truancy prevention laws. It specifically states that new residents in a local school system must enroll a child within 30 days. Furthermore, the bill holds local school system officials accountable for reporting violations of mandatory attendance requirements by students to the appropriate enforcement agency.”
“12,000 children miss more than 15 days of school in DeKalb County a year,” said Representative Oliver in regard to HB 1031. “This is unacceptable and parents need to be responsible.”
HB 1031 has been assigned to the House Committee on Education. A link to HB 1031 can be found by clicking here.
House Bill 1032 requires all statewide voting ballots to rotate the names of candidates instead of placing them in alphabetical order. The bill was requested by a constituent who felt that this would bring fairness to the elections process.
“We know the first name listed on a ballot enjoys a minimum of a five percent advantage when it is alphabetically on the top of the list. HB 1032 evens the playing field,” said Representative Oliver.
HB 1032 has been assigned to the House Committee on Governmental Affairs. A link to HB 1032 can be found by clicking here.
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Representative Mary Margaret Oliver represents the citizens of District 83, which includes portions of DeKalb County. She was elected into the House of Representatives in 2002, plus five years previous service. She currently serves on the Appropriations, Governmental Affairs, Judiciary, and Science and Technology Committees.
MMO Second Email Newsletter for 2010 General Assembly Session February 8, 2010
February 8, 2010 –Remember your Valentine! This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s second email newsletter for the 2010 General Assembly Session which convened January 11, 2010 and has completed 14 days of the 40 day Session. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my web-site at http://www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions! Second Weekly question: Do you support Governor Perdue’s proposal to allow the Governor to appoint as Cabinet members the Commissioner of Labor, the Commissioner of Agriculture, the Superintendent of Education, and the Commissioner of Insurance instead of these positions being elected by the people as independent constitutional officers? Proponents state the Georgia is in the minority of states that elect these officers, and there are efficiencies that can be implemented that will save the taxpayers money by appointment instead of election. Further, whoever is Governor is entitled to assert his leadership for the state, and not have to compete with other elected officers who may be in conflict with his agenda. Voters elect a Governor to lead and are not familiar enough with the candidates of the other state officer candidates. Opponents state the Georgia is a diverse state and the other constitutional officers can offer views from different parties with more inclusive policies. The election instead of appointment gives the voters more direct power, and allows for the development of expertise and leadership over time without terms limitations. In the early 1990s, the voters rejected the appointment of the State Superintendent of Education, and it is not likely they have changed their minds. What do you think? To reply to the weekly question, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com. This proposed constitutional issue is important, and I need your input. Thank you!
MMO Legislative Activities-- MMO has introduced new legislation that will have hearings and move forward in the next few weeks. At the request of DeKalb Solicitor Robert James, HB 1031 was filed to improve the opportunity for prosecutions of parents violating the mandatory attendance statute. Of approximately 100,000 DeKalb School District students, over 12,000 have missed over 15 days of school in one year. Currently, the Solicitor writes the parents of these students requesting an attendance review meeting, called the Project Perfect Attendance Program, and approximately 75% of the parents actually attend, and attendance issues are resolved in over 90% of the cases. HB 1031 assists with the few parents who continue to fail to comply with the attendance requirements.
HB 1032 has been introduced at the request of a constituent running for a Court of Appeals judgeship to require the rotation the names of candidates of statewide offices on the ballot instead of placing names in alphabetical order. Political science repeatedly confirms the first name on any ballot has a statistical advantage of more than five points. You can review these or any other bill filed at the General Assembly web-site http://www.legis.state.ga.us.
At the request of the Department of Juvenile Justice, MMO will introduce new bills relative to the length of stays of juveniles in detention facility and payments of services for juveniles in the state’s custody. Details of this legislation will be provided on MMO’s web site and Facebook pages this week when the bills are introduced.
Sub-committee Chair--MMO has been appointed chair of a sub-committee of the Science and Technology Committee to review SB 319, legislation to amend the statute defining textbooks to include digital textbooks. The cost of textbooks, which have not been replaced during the current budget crisis, is high and the experimentation with downloadable textbook updates could save money and make updates available in a timelier manner.
Capitol visits and Speaking engagements – On January 28th, MMO hosted a dinner for Emory first year law students interested in public interest advocacy that included a tour of the House and Senate chambers. On February 2 and 4, students from Renfroe Middle School visited the Capitol and also enjoyed a tour. MMO has also hosted several pages from DeKalb’s Leadership Institute. On February 5th, The Georgia Psychiatric Association invited Mary Margaret, Representative Wendell Willard, and Judge Susan Tate to speak on HB 742, relative to medical consent issues, authored by MMO, HB 999, and the Department of Justice Action federal court action against Georgia on the state’s mental health system, particularly the psychiatric hospitals.
Appropriations Committee – MMO is a member of the Human Resources sub-committee of the Appropriations committee, and both the full committee and sub-committee have met continually to target the necessary but painful cuts in the 2010 budget. The state’s revenues for January 2010 again were below the 2009 January revenues by over 12%. In the first seven months of the 2010 budget, there has consistently been a double digit drop of revenues each month compared to 2009. If you would like MMO to visit your group to talk about legislative issues, or visit the Capital during a Session, please let her know. Thank you for all your interest and support! Please contact me about any issue that concerns you.
Lobbyists could go from having no limits on how much they spend on Georgia lawmakers to spending caps of $25 to $100 in ethics bills being proposed by both major political parties.
Rep. Wendell Willard (R-Atlanta) had about 40 of his House colleagues sign on Tuesday to an ethics reform proposal that could cut out some lawmakers’ fine-dining experiences with a $100 gift limit.
Willard said $100 will still buy a good dinner in Atlanta, but would likely end other lobbyist spending for airline tickets, rock concerts and sporting events.
His bill, which will be officially introduced Wednesday, would extend to some state employees the one-year ban on returning to the Capitol to lobby. That already applies to legislators.
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) on Monday dropped four ethics bills that, among other things, would set the limit at gifts to legislators at $25 and allow public financing of judicial races.
“In the history of Georgia, there have been bipartisan sins, and I believe there will be bipartisan solutions,” Oliver said.
Although lawmakers have major budget problems to deal with, they also are expected to make a push to restore public confidence through tougher ethics measures.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson resigned last month after attempting suicide and after being accused by his former wife of having an affair with a lobbyist
Local dignitaries came out in full force Friday morning, January 29, to help cut the ribbon and officially open the doors for Kaiser Permanente's new medical office in downtown Decatur, Georgia.
The opening celebration was highlighted with a the presentation of a $10,000 donation from Kaiser Permanente, Georgia's largest not-for-profit health plan, to the Decatur Education Foundation to seed the City Schools of Decatur's new Farm-to-School initiative.
Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd, DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis, State Representative Mary Margaret Oliver and many others graced the podium in front of a large crowd in the lobby of the new 5,000-plus square foot office on the ground floor of the Artisan building (201 W. Ponce De Leon Avenue).
Mayor Floyd said that "Kaiser Permanente understands that to have a successful company you have to have a successful community." Therefore, he said that he was "delighted" that they have located downtown and subsequently declared Friday "Kaiser Permanente Day" in Decatur.
Representative Oliver also presented a resolution from the Georgia House of Representatives in recognition for Kaiser's contribution to the community.
The proclamations continued with DeKalb County Commissioner Jeff Rader presenting an official recognition from his board of the company's contribution to the health of the community. He mentioned that "Decatur and DeKalb have spent decades trying to build places that support healthy lifestyles," which, he said, aligns well with Kaiser Permanente's practices.
The company officially states that its "mission is to provide high quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of its members and the communities it serves."
"We are excited to open this facility in Decatur, which is Kaiser Permanente's 19th medical center in metro Atlanta," said Rob Schreiner, MD, executive medical director of Kaiser Permanente. "We look forward to providing quality and affordable health care to DeKalb residents for years to come."
Pat Burrows will manage the nine-employee, three-doctor office. Dr. Stan Jagielski will serve as the Managing Physician. Burrows emphasized in her talk to the crowd Kaiser's "HEAL" program - Healthy Eating, Active Living.
This served as a segue to presenting Gail Rothman, executive director of the Decatur Education Foundation, with the $10,000 check for the Farm-to-School program. The appreciative Rothman said that effort's goal is to connect Decatur schools with local farms to help improve student nutrition and engage students in the practice of farming.
She articulated the many ways that the money will benefit Decatur kids. Not only will students get to visit local farms and gardens, but the funds will also pay for scholarships for Decatur High students to attend the next Georgia Organics conference.
Georgia Organics is partnering with the Oakhurst Community Garden to train Decatur teachers in the Farm-to-School program beginning this weekend. Part of those expenseswill be paid from this donation.
Further, according to Rothman, the school system will now be able to link up with the City of Decatur Active Living Department to make sure that children of all economic groups have access to the program.
"This is a great example of what can happen when a community gets behind an idea about children's health and works in partnership to make it happen," Rothman said, noting that the initiative began at the grassroots level by a handful of "passionate parents."
This gift proves, Rothman told the crowd, "that Kaiser Permanente is putting their money where their passion is."
The Decatur High music program also garnered a $500 check from the Decatur's newest business thanks a high school flutist that provided the music for the event.
January 28, 2010 by Matt Wilder, ASLA, LEED AP Georgia Reps. Mary Margaret Oliver (83rd), Stephanie Benfield (85th), Brian Thomas (100th), Debbie Buckner (130th), Kathy Ashe (56th), and Pat Gardner (57th) have sponsored HB276 to prohibit the purchase or use of coal extracted by mountaintop removal coal mining for the generation of electricity. Energy stability is a priority and a struggle in the US, especially as we work to find cleaner and more stable sources and supplies. Mountaintop coal removal is rather devastating to the landscape but it is a method of extraction that is currently practiced. With the efforts of these Georgia House Reps, energy consumers in Georgia could, by 2016, be able to say that none of the coal burned in their state came from an exploding mountaintop. For a comical look at a divisive topic Stephen Colbert had fun in his typical satirical style discussing the merits of mountaintop coal mining with Margaret
MMO First Email Newsletter for 2010 General Assembly Session January 18, 2010
January 18, 2010
Happy Martin Luther King Day of Service! This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s first email newsletter for the 2010 General Assembly Session which convened January 11, 2010. I will be sending periodic newsletters on the 2010 General Assembly’s 40 days of work, and if you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my web-site at www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
First Weekly question: Would you vote for an extra penny of sales tax to be spent in the 10 county metropolitan Atlanta Regional Commission area for transportation, which includes DeKalb and Fulton Counties that already pay one cent of sales tax for MARTA?
Proponents of new funding for transportation state that the General Assembly has failed for the last two years to create new transportation funds that have been the first priority of the business, county and city stakeholders. Georgia has the second lowest gasoline tax in the United States, spends less per capita on transportation than any other state except Tennessee, and is the only state of 50 that contributes no state tax dollars to public transportation.
Opponents of an extra penny of sales tax for transportation argue that DeKalb and Fulton already pay for public transit, and any new funds are not guaranteed to help MARTA or other county bus systems that are financially failing. Further, the current fiscal crisis hurts poor people the worst, and sales taxes are regressive. Other counties already have a chance to vote for special purpose transportation sales taxes, and several do. Why do we need a regional tax?
What do you think? To reply to the weekly question, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com. Transportation funding is a high priority issue for the 2010 Session, and I need your input. Thank you!
MMO Legislative Activities: Ethics reform for the Georgia General Assembly will also be a major issue in 2010, in part, based on the resignation of Speaker Glenn Richardson, and the commitment of newly elected Speaker David Ralston. MMO pre-filed before the Session four new ethics proposals, and HB 890, HB 891, HB 892, and HB 893 were submitted on January 11th for formal consideration. These bills have been assigned to the Judiciary Committee, where MMO is a committee member, and the Ethics Committee will also be holding special hearings where MMO will participate. HB 890 lowers campaign donation limits, HB 891 limits gifts to legislators to no more than $25.00, HB 892 allows voluntary public funding of state-wide judicial elections, and HB 893 expands the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission to hear conflict of interest and abuse of power complaints. You can review this or any other bill filed at the General Assembly web-site http://www.legis.state.ga.us./
Additionally, MMO wrote an op-ed for the Fulton County Daily Report on judicial elections and you can review this article, and other press stories about ethics and other issues, on MMO’s web-site www.marymargaretoliver.org under Media.
In the fall, in preparation for the 2010 Session, MMO again worked to improve HB 792, legislation to create a method for substituted medical consent for patients who need medical treatment but are incompetent to make decisions, and new legislation banning cell phone usage and texting while driving. This new legislation, which builds on HB 23, may have a greater chance for passage under the new House leadership.
MMO participated in a national conference on Poverty hosted by Emory University Office of Community Partners in November. On January 12, she spoke to the annual meeting of the Sagamore Hills Neighborhood Association, and on January 13, with Representative Stephanie Benfield, she discussed the 2010 legislative session with the Glenn Memorial Methodist Church Wednesday night supper group. MMO is a member of the Appropriations Committee, and during the week of January 19th will attend budget hearings to review the required 1.5 billion dollars of proposed cuts. These daily Appropriations Committee meetings can be viewed live on the General Assembly web-site.
If you would like MMO to visit your group to talk about legislative issues, or visit the Capital during a Session, please let her know.
Preview of 2010 Legislative Issues: All bills filed during the 2009 Session remain available for action in 2010, and legislation MMO previously filed will again be promoted. The 2009 bills, in addition to prohibitions on the use of cell phones for teenage drivers, include mandatory seat belts for truck drivers, and expansion of Administrative Procedure Act reforms for the Department of Human Services. Additionally, new water conservation legislation is anticipated, and your views will be solicited on these proposals.
What bill from the last session, or what new bill, would you like to see passed in 2010?
Thank you for all your interest and support. Please contact me about any issue that concerns you.
MARY MARGARET
Mary Margaret Oliver and members of House deliver "Voices of Hope" Jan 14, 2010
On Thursday, January 14th, Representative Mary Margaret Oliver along with fellow women legislators will present all members of the Georgia House with copies of, “Voices of Hope.”
“Voices of Hope”, is inspirational CD recorded by Metro State Prison Women’s Choir with special guest performer, Indigo Girl Emily Saliers.
The choir has been led by Chaplain Susan Bishop, a dedicated individual serving as a Chaplain for 25 years. The choir’s performance at Emory’s Cannon Chapel on November 25, 2008 was recorded and now available for purchase. Emily Saliers, a member of Georgia’s Music Hall of fame, provided her voice and financial backing, along with James Waites, former dean of Emory’s Candler School of Theology.
All proceeds from the purchase of these CDs will benefit the Children’s Center and a program that facilitates visitation of children and their mothers in the prison. We make this gift to you in honor of all our constituents who volunteer to help others in need.
Ethics Reform Bills Gain New Momentum in the State Legislature: A Democratic View
Denis O'Hayer (2009-12-15)
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur)
Georgia General Assembly ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - As Republican State House members met to begin the process of selecting a new Speaker, one veteran Democrat is introducing a package of ethics reform bills. Some have been proposed in the past by Republicans, including Governor Sonny Perdue.
At different times in her career, Decatur Representative Mary Margaret Oliver chaired the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.
The bills she's co-sponsoring with Minority leader and gubernatorial candidate Dubose Porter would impose stricter limits on campaign contributions, curb gifts from lobbyists, and attempt to define abuse of power.
Public funding of judicial elections bill would create an option for taxpayers to fund election of judges based on voluntary tax contributions By Mary Margaret Oliver, Special to the Daily Report
For recent painful reasons, the 2010 General Assembly will re-examine past and new proposals for strengthening ethics laws, standards and procedures for both the House and Senate elected members, and all the financial and lobbying interests that help define the political culture of the Gold Dome. I predict this effort will create new rules and standards that will allow both businesses and the public to participate in a more transparent and fair way in the political life of the state. Because the ethical lapses in the recent and distant past have been bipartisan, the 2010 legislative effort for reform will also be bipartisan, and must be so to be successful.
With several of my colleagues, I have pre-filed House Bills 890, 891, 892 and 893, which can be reviewed in detail on the Georgia General Assembly Web site (www.legis.state.ga.us.). In brief, HB 890 lowers the limits on campaign contributions to candidates, HB 891 caps gifts to legislators at $25, and HB 893 expands the Code of Ethics for public employees set forth in O.C.G.A. § 45-10-3 to include a definition and prohibition of “abuse of power” and “sexual harassment.” Primarily for the lawyers in the General Assembly and the State Bar of Georgia, I want to focus here on HB 892, which creates an option for taxpayers to fund the election of judges based on voluntary tax contributions and voluntary participation in public funding limitations for judicial candidates.
In 2003 the State Bar created a committee chaired by Henry County State Court Judge Ben W. Studdard III on court futures. This committee is now named Committee on the Judiciary and is chaired by Cobb County Judge Melodie H. Clayton. The Court Futures Committee endorsed public funding for judicial elections, and I introduced implementing legislation in 2005; HB 892 modifies this earlier proposal in several significant ways, in part, based on the history since 2002 of publicly funded judicial elections in North Carolina. There have been three North Carolina election cycles of judicial candidates receiving public funds since passage of the 2002 tax-payer check-off procedure for candidates, and most candidates have voluntarily chosen to participate and receive public funding. In addition to North Carolina, Wisconsin, Maine, Arizona and Connecticut have implemented a variety of publicly funded election models for both judicial and executive offices.
The North Carolina statute creating optional public funding for judicial elections has been challenged in court, and upheld most recently by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in North Carolina Right to Life v. Leake, 524 F3rd 427(4th Cir.N.C., 2008). The 4th Circuit stated:
“The concern for promoting and protecting the impartiality and independence of the judiciary is not a new one; it dates back at least to our nation's founding, when Alexander Hamilton wrote that 'the complete independence of the courts of justice is peculiarly essential' to our form of government. ... We conclude that the provisions challenged today, which embody North Carolina's effort to protect the vital interest in an independent judiciary, are within the limits placed on the state by the First Amendment.” Id 441.
HB 892 creates the Georgia Fund for Judicial Campaigns to give assistance to certified statewide judicial candidates that is administered by the State Board of Elections, with policy assistance from a specially appointed Advisory Council. To be entitled to be certified and receive funds, the candidate must comply with the specific terms and rules of the fund.
To participate, the candidate must raise at least 250 “qualifying contributions,” which are contributions in amounts between $5 and $500 from registered Georgia voters. The time period to raise such contributions begins after filing a Declaration of Intent to Accept Campaign and ends 90 days after the qualifying period for the office. Once a candidate raises the “qualifying contributions,” he or she can be certified to receive an initial flat grant equal to 40 times the qualifying fee for candidates for the Supreme Court of Georgia, and 20 times the qualifying fee for candidates for the Court of Appeals. Based on the last established qualifying fees for each race, the maximum initial grants would equal about $200,000 for the Supreme Court candidates and $100,000 for the Court of Appeals candidates. Following the initial grant, candidates can re-apply, at intervals of 20 days or longer for additional funds based on a matching formula. Grants from the fund are capped at five times the initial grant distribution for the Supreme Court, about $1 million, and for the Court of Appeals, about $300,000. Further, a candidate may only contribute $10,000 to his or her own campaign.
HB 892 sets forth a complicated procedure, and changes have been incorporated based on modifications that have been enacted in North Carolina since 2002. For instance, North Carolina imposed a mandatory fee of $50 on lawyers to increase the fund when the check-off contributions did not provide enough money for participating candidates. HB 892 allows for future action by the Georgia State Bar and Supreme Court to encourage or mandate donations by attorneys.
Both the simple principles and complicated procedures and formulas of an optional public funding statute for judicial elections can be improved by an active and engaged debate in the 2010 General Assembly. Would you vote for a voluntary public funded option for judicial elections? Would you contribute up to $10 of your state taxes to such a fund, or would you support the State Bar imposing a $50 fee to supplement a fund when necessary to meet on the formula obligations for certified candidates for statewide judicial elections? Tell your legislator what you think and join the debate. The quality, or lack thereof, of all the Gold Dome debates is determined by who shows up and by who participates, and your views are essential.
Knowing my penchant for activism, a friend gave me a little plaque that says, “I can’t clean house and save the world at the same time.” I looked at that plaque recently and realized that we can, and must, clean house and save the world at the same time!
I am proud of those legislators who are making an earnest effort to rid our General Assembly of those who would place their own interests ahead of the interests of the people whom they serve. Kudos to bold legislators such as Republican Sen. Jeff Chapman and Democratic Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, and others of both parties who pledge to work for open government and ethics reform.
Dorothy Ingram, Atlanta
(use hyperlink in title to view ajc page)
The Push for Ethics Reform
The Push For Ethics Reform: Democrats Were No Saints, Either (Insider Advantage) By Dick Pettys InsiderAdvantage Georgia
(12/17/09) “Culture of corruption” has a nice ring to it and is being heard with increasing frequency as Democrats seek to take advantage of Republican problems in Georgia. But the truth is, Democrats weren’t saints, either, when they had control of the statehouse.
They may, however, have been more discrete and they rarely, if ever, got “outed” in the press for affairs of the heart, of which there were rumored to have been many. (Female interns were regularly warned about some particular Democrats.) Rather, when they did make a big splash in the press, it tended to be for something that had power, money and influence at the core.
In 2002 as then-Gov. Roy Barnes began preparing for a re-election campaign, the Capitol was rocked by what seemed to be a widening Democratic scandal centered around the Board of Pardons and Paroles. Two members of the board, including former Corrections Commissioner Bobby Whitworth, resigned and Barnes appointed a special prosecutor to look into allegations that the members lobbied the Legislature on behalf of a private probation company that paid them almost $100,000 in combined consulting fees.
Whitworth eventually went to prison for taking what a jury decided was a $75,000 payoff to influence legislation.
Just as Democrats hope to use the current problems for Republicans to enhance their chances in 2010, Republicans were ready to do the same to the Dems in 2002.
“It is certainly going to be something we are going to discuss,” Dan McLagan, a spokesman for then-GOP gubernatorial hopeful Sonny Perdue, was quoted as saying.
Former Senate Majority Leader Charles Walker was convicted in 2005 of stealing from a charity he established, bilking his newspaper's advertisers, and misusing his position as a state legislator by receiving private favors, such as getting Grady Memorial Hospital to steer business his way. He is serving time in a federal prison.
But sometimes there was a sexual angle for Democrats, too. In 2005, A Fulton County jury sided with state Board of Pardons and Paroles member Gene Walker and rejected a lawsuit accusing him of sexually harassing a former secretary. The secretary charged that she was removed as Walker's administrative assistant because Walker found her slender build sexually displeasing. She also said in her lawsuit that Walker would refer to other women working at the parole board by their bodily features.
Neither party has a strong record on beefing-up ethics laws. When change has come, it has only been because of enormous, external pressure – meaning, public outrage.
But on Wednesday, two Democrats – House Minority Leader DuBose Porter, a Democratic candidate for governor next year, and Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver – announced they will introduce legislation to give the understaffed State Ethics Commission jurisdiction over conflict of interest cases filed against legislators, as well as jurisdiction over cases involving abuse of power for personal purposes of coercion or retaliation, and of sexual harassment.
Oliver said it isn't an attempt to point fingers.
"Pointing a finger during an ethical crisis is sometimes dangerous, but I think many - if not most - of us are tired of feeling like we have to make excuses for why the enforcement mechanism isn't working," she said.
"I think there are bipartisan sins and bipartisan solutions. I don't point the finger as one person being more pure than the other. I just feel there is a mood right now among the rank and file - people who aren't in leadership positions - that now is the time for stronger ethics laws."
It’s a smart move on the part of Democrats to get in front of the issue, even if it risks rekindling memories of their own party’s indiscretions, and it is a move that Republicans ignore at their own peril, says a GOP political consultant with a strong record of success in Georgia.
“The important thing is, when the ball is spinning in the wrong direction, you’ve got to stop it and slowly turn it in the right direction … I think this is the time for them (the Republicans) to embrace this stuff,” he said.
The signs from some of the candidates for Speaker suggest that, at this point, they have gotten the message.
Rep. Larry O’Neal wrote Caucus members last week: ”A strong ethical standard will be enforced, starting with me and including all leadership positions. Allen Peake forwarded an email to you yesterday that was sent to the media to set some things straight. As I stated then, there will be no witch hunts but there will be consequences for failing to toe the line. I think the single biggest frustration for many of us is that the vast majority of members and chairs are doing things the right way and are being tarnished by the failings of a few.”
Rep. David Ralston wrote: “There is a growing clamor for ethics reform. We, as Republicans, can and must lead the way on this issue. Many good and useful ideas have been offered in the past few days. However, this is a serious issue and I, for one, do not think a 6-day caucus campaign is the appropriate way to develop a sensible and solid plan. If you honor me with your nomination on Thursday, we will get to work on putting together a legislative package with input from all of you that we as the Republican caucus can unify around come session.
Dems Outline Their Ethics Proposal (Insider Advantage) By Tom Baxter Southern Political Report
(12/16/09) House Democrats Wednesday unveiled a package of ethics legislation which transfers jurisdiction for conflict of interest complaints to the State Ethics Commission and makes any form of sexual harassment a violation of the state ethics code.
“For the first time in a long time, we rank-and-file members are seeing an opportunity to strengthen the ethics laws of Georgia, as they apply to us. We are embarrassed by the current debate that is going on about the conduct of legislative leaders,” said state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, a member of the House Judiciary Committee.
The legislation would create a new definition of abuse of power, directing that legislators “never threaten the use of state resources for personal purposes of coercion, retaliation, or punishment.”
That appears to be a direct response to the allegation by Richardson’s ex-wife, Susan, that he threatened to have state troopers track her down when she went on a weekend trip with her boyfriend.
Oliver said the state code previously made sexual harassment of staff a violation. The new law would broaden the violation to include any form of sexual harassment in the workplace, she said.
The legislation also reintroduces proposals which would eliminate gifts to legislators, provide public funding for judicial elections and lower campaign contribution limits to the pre-2000 level.
“These bills not only address the past issues of financial conflict of interest which I think need to be brought forward again, but also some new issues about how you define sexual harassment of staff or in the work place, and whether or not abuse of power can be defined in a reasonable. That’s a difficult thing to define, but I believe that’s a debate that we need to have in this House chamber,” Oliver said.
House Minority Leader DuBose Porter, who is also a Democratic candidate for governor, said the current scandal surrounding the resignation of former House Speaker Glenn Richardson has created the opportunity for a bipartisan consensus on ethics reform.
Indeed, the name most frequently dropped in the Democrats’ press conference was that of Rep. Wendell Willard, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
Porter said the House needs to reform not only its ethics rules but the legislative process, and noted with approval the commitment of some Republican candidates for House speaker to eliminate the “hawk” system which allowed the speaker to send designated legislators into any committee to cast votes, in effect concentrating power in the hands of the House leadership.
Sierra Club Previews "Coal Country" to Raise Awareness of Devastation Caused by Big Coal
State Representatives Mary Margaret Oliver, Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, Elly Dobbs, Kathy Ashe, and Pat Gardner host film screening of new movie, talk about Georgia’s energy and economic future.
Decatur, GA – Georgia citizens and members of the Sierra Club will be attending a Coal Country documentary screening on the evening of November 15th at Push Push Theater in Decatur. (121 New St Decatur, GA 30030-4131). The award-winning documentary features amazing footage of coal mining in the South and prompts discussion about the state of Georgia’s current and future energy economy.
Attendees to the screening will view the 45-minute sneak peak and will then draft letters to EPA, urging continued action on ending mountaintop removal coal mining. There is no cost to attend.
• WHAT: State Representative Mary Margaret Oliver and Co-Host Stephanie Stuckey Benfield share their commitment to the health and economic well-being of the State of Georgia by expressing their concern about the state’s reliance on mountain-top removal coal.
• WHERE: Push Push Theater (121 New St Decatur, GA 30030-4131)
• WHEN: Sunday, November 15m 2009, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
• WHO: State Representatives Mary Margaret Oliver, Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, Elly Dobbs, Kathy Ashe, Pat Gardner, and Georgia Sierra Club
• VISUALS: Trifold display with large images of Mountain Top removal and a chart of Georgia’s coal usage. Large crowd of citizen attendees (expected attendance 125 residents) writing letters to EPA to end the destructive practice of mountain top removal coal mining following the screening.
To view trailers of the film visit www.coalcountrythemovie.com.
MMO's Fifth Newsletter for the 2009 Session March 16, 2009
MMO Fifth Email Newsletter - 2009 General Assembly Session
March 16, 2009
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s fifth email newsletter for the 2009 General Assembly Session, which convened January 12, 2009 and has completed 30 days of the 2009 General Assembly’s 40 days of work. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my website at http://www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Would you vote for HB 480 to eliminate the annual ad valorem tax on cars, eliminate the sales tax on cars, and impose a one time 7% title fee instead in order to raise more revenue for state-wide trauma services?
Proponents of this tax strategy for cars argue that the imposition of a 7% title fee instead of sales tax and annual ad valorem tax will cover casual sales of cars between individuals, equalize car transfers, lower taxes for most people, and raise more money. In addition, proponents seek a new source of revenue for a state-wide trauma network, and allow individuals to decide themselves how they wish to pay their taxes based on what car they purchase and how often they trade cars. Counties will have less bureaucracy and fewer employees to manage the annual car tax bills.
Opponents state the new tax benefits the purchaser of an expensive car since the cap on the title fee is $2000.00 in the current version of HB 480. Purchasers of very expensive cars will pay less proportionately for their title fee than purchasers of low cost cars. Further, some opponents want to eliminate the annual ad valorem tax totally without any new revenue stream.
MMO met with Druid Hills and Decatur High School students visiting the capitol as part of the Close-up Program and continues to host children over age 11 as pages. If your child wishes to serve as a page, please let me know. We have ten days left of the 40 day session and currently plan to adjourn for 2009 on April 3.
MMO introduced HB 576 at the request of DeKalb County’s Solicitor to improve Georgia’s compulsory attendance law. This bill is likely to pass through a similar Senate bill, and the Education Committee is scheduling hearings.
MMO’s HB 19 has been combined into HB 23, and passed the House on cross-over day March 12, to prohibit 16 and 17 year olds from using cell phones or text messaging machines while driving. This bill has a good chance of passing in the Senate and becoming law this year. Unfortunately, MMO’s HB 24 to require drivers of trucks to use seatbelts was never given a hearing and passage of a similar Senate bill does not look promising. The Speaker of the House continues to voice his opposition.
The reorganization legislation for the Department of Human Resources is progressing and the House has offered an alternative to the Governor’s proposal which MMO supports. The House version removes public health, mental health, developmental disability and addictive diseases from DHR and creates a new agency. Alternatively, the Governor wishes to move public health services into the Department of Community Health, the Medicaid agency.
Transportation governance and funding continues to highlight the rural-suburban-urban conflicts, and the House, Governor and Senate are all at odds at this time. This major issue may or may not make progress this year, and MMO is actively involved with the House leadership to formulate a solution to create a better balance for public transit and DeKalb County interests.
On March 24th at Druid Hills Presbyterian Church MMO will lead a discussion beginning at 7 pm, with Appalachian Voices, on her HB 276 relating to Mountain Top Removal mining practices.
Thank you for all your interest and support. Please contact me about any issue that concerns you, and come visit me at the capitol in our final ten days of the 2009 Session!
MARY MARGARET 404 656 0265 legislative office 404 377 0485 law office mmo@mmolaw.com web site www.marymargaretoliver.org
MMO's Fourth Newsletter for the 2009 Session March 1, 2009
MMO Fourth Email Newsletter - 2009 General Assembly Session
March 1, 2009
This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s fourth email newsletter for the 2009 General Assembly Session which convened January 12, 2009, and has completed 24 days of the 2009 General Assembly’s 40 days of work. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my website at http://www.marymargaretoliver.org/ to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question:
Do you support tax payers’ money to fund vouchers for private school tuition? Do you support “neo-private school vouchers”, HB 100 which allows private citizens and corporations income tax credits for donating money to non-profit scholarship organizations to provide scholarships to children to attend private school?
Vouchers to allow parents to use tax payers’ money to send children to private school is an annual debate in recent years. Some vouchers have been approved in past legislative sessions for disabled or special needs children to attend private school. This year, a Senate bill would provide vouchers for all children, and HB 100 expands the use of tax credits to create new voucher-scholarship programs.
What do you think?
Neo-Private School Vouchers -- In what is being labeled a “neo-private school vouchers bill” the House passed HB 100 on February 24th by a vote of 98-69. Last session the General Assembly adopted HB 1133 which gives private citizens and corporations income tax credits for donating money to nonprofit scholarship organizations that provide scholarships to parents who want to pull their children out of public schools and send them to private ones. HB 100 seeks to expand on the provisions of HB 1133, which passed by one vote in 2008, by making it easier for small business to take advantage of the tax credit program. Furthermore, it streamlines the process to create scholarship organizations and for donors to get approved for the tax credits. Under HB 1133 there is a $50 million cap on the total amount of credits available. About six million dollars has already been used for this scholarship/voucher program.
The measure is also in conflict with Governor Perdue’s legislation that would limit scholarships to students that qualify for school lunches and places a cap on the total value of the scholarships available. The Governor opposes HB 100 and I voted against it this week. Would you have voted for HB 100? Should this money go to private schools or school nurses that have been cut from the 2010 budget proposed by the Governor? HB 100 and all other legislation can be found on the General Assembly web site. http://www.legis.state.ga.us
MMO is participating in a special study committee in relation to reorganization of the Department of Human Services and supports breaking up the agency to separate out public health, mental health, developmental disability and addictive diseases. Different proposals are moving forward, and currently the Governor and the House study committee are in negotiations on the details.
On February 21, MMO participated in a panel for the Emory Association of Women Law students on public interest careers, and on February 26, the DeKalb Junior League visited the capitol for its advocacy activities. MMO was scheduled to speak to the state-wide Junior League group, but the House debate on Georgia Power’s legislation to allow early financing of nuclear plant Vogle expansion extended four hours and through the lunch session.
This week, MMO introduced HB 576 at the request of DeKalb Solicitor Robert James to strengthen enforcement of Georgia’s compulsory school attendance laws, and the bill has been assigned to the Education committee.
On March 2, MMO will be interviewed on radio WRGA on trafficking of women and girls to promote a seminar hosted by the Friends Community on March 7 on the issues. And, each week she is hosting pages to work for the House members during the session. If you wish to visit the capitol or your child would like to serve as a page, please let me know!
Thank you for all your interest and support. Please contact me about any issue that concerns you.
Georgia Power gets its wish as opponents fume March 1, 2009
By MARGARET NEWKIRK, AARON GOULD SHEININ
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, March 01, 2009
In a deepening recession, a Republican-dominated Legislature with a strong aversion to increasing taxes last week approved a bill allowing Georgia Power to charge customers early for nuclear reactors.
Georgia Power says the bill’s success speaks to its merits. Critics — ranging from consumer advocates to conservative bloggers — point to the company’s powerful lobbying effort: businesslike, efficient and devastatingly effective.
The company supplemented its year-round statehouse lobbying team with five of the biggest, most connected names in Georgia. It pulled in its law firm, registered its chief executive as a lobbyist and spent thousands buying lawmakers meals and sports tickets, burnishing its reputation as the most polished lobbying outfit around.
It was a textbook example of how to get one’s way at the Capitol, said state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), who opposed the bill. She meant it as a compliment.
“They’re comfortable with all of us,” she told fellow House members before Thursday’s vote. “They extend themselves to all of us.”
Less than an hour after Oliver spoke, SB 31 passed and was sent to Gov. Sonny Perdue for his signature — among the first bills approved this legislative session. House members were in such a hurry that they broke with tradition and left hundreds of House bills waiting while they OK’d a Senate bill.
Georgia Power says the bill is a good deal for consumers and will hold down costs as it builds two new reactors at its Vogtle nuclear plant near Augusta.
“We think the bill passed because it provides millions of dollars in savings for customers, it phases in the [reactors’] costs and lowers the overall rate impact,” spokeswoman Christy Heiser said. “The bill makes additional reactors an option for our future.”
House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island) scoffed at speculation that pressure from Georgia Power and its lobbyists propelled the bill forward.
“I’ve heard the media say there was pressure,” he said. “I never heard it, saw it, felt it at all. I read the bill. It’s sort of the unique thing I do, I read the facts of the bill, I listened to the arguments, sat down and looked at it.”
To SB 31’s critics, though, the bill’s unusually swift passage is proof of what they say has been true for years: It’s awfully tough to beat Georgia Power at the Capitol. The company’s political reach is so deep that even the governor’s chief of staff, Ed Holcombe, is a former Georgia Power lobbyist.
The company’s political influence, consumer lobbyist Jim Kulstad said, “is insidious.”
Big industries left out
SB 31 allows Georgia Power to charge customers an estimated $1.6 billion in financing charges and an additional $400 million in related taxes between 2011, when construction of two nuclear reactors begins, and 2017, when the reactors are done.
The utility’s portion of the total estimated $14 billion cost will be $6.4 billion.
Georgia Power says the early charges protect its bond rating in addition to lowering the reactors’ overall cost by about $300 million.
Opponents included AARP, radio consumer expert Clark Howard, consumer group Georgia Watch and conservative blogs such as Peach Pundit and Political Vine.
They said the bill allowed Georgia Power investors to earn a profit on the reactors before they’re built and that legislators were doing an end run around the state Public Service Commission, the utility regulator that was due to vote on the same issue this month.
Georgia Power began lobbying for its plan last summer, months before it had been assigned a bill number.
It defanged powerful potential opponents — Georgia’s biggest industries, which objected to paying the early higher rate — by largely exempting them from the bill.
Still, SB 31’s opposition appeared to be gaining traction in the past two weeks.
Conservative bloggers, including Erick Erickson of Peach Pundit, were furious with GOP leaders for backing the bill.
Erickson, a Macon blogger who also runs the national Web site RedState.com, organized a campaign to derail the bill. Erickson said he favors nuclear power but that SB 31 would benefit Georgia Power and the state’s biggest businesses at the expense of other consumers and businesses.
In an interview, Erickson said he thinks the company and legislative leaders moved the bill so quickly rather than allow criticism to build.
“Once we started opposing it and people started getting phone calls, people started rushing it down the pike,” he said.
‘Relationships win’
SB 31 opponents credit Georgia Power’s lobbying prowess with the bill’s victory.
“This happens because lobbyists are allowed to give, literally, completely unlimited gifts to senators and representatives,” said Rep. Rob Teilhet (D-Smyrna), who called SB 31 a “breathtakingly bad bill for Georgia consumers.”
“Georgia Power has given hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and liquor and baseball tickets to legislators, currying their favor.”
In the three months before the Legislature convened, Georgia Power lobbyists spent more than $14,000 on lawmakers and other state officials, according to State Ethics Commission reports.
Of that, $8,000 went to meals, sports tickets and other gifts to 68 lawmakers who voted on SB 31. All but $700 went to lawmakers who later voted to approve the bill.
The spending included about $100 for two dinners with Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth), chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee, which first approved the bill; more than $300 for lunch for the entire Senate committee; $795 for dinners and sporting events for House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Johns Creek); and about $100 for three meals with Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville), the primary sponsor of the bill.
Georgia Power hired some deeply connected lobbyists to help make its case, including former Senate Majority Leader Pete Robinson, former Senate Minority Leader Arthur “Skin” Edge and former Natural Resources Commissioner Joe Tanner.
Bill opponents such as Oliver and Rep. Brian Thomas (D-Lilburn) say it’s a mistake to link the utility’s success with lawmakers with campaign money or sports tickets. They say Georgia Power’s lobbying operation has left the company with a deep reservoir of goodwill. Oliver said Georgia Power’s lobbyists avoid the kind of back-slapping that often goes with the lobbying territory.
Instead of relying solely on the most powerful lawmakers, “My understanding is that they spoke with every single legislator,” Thomas said. “I had two meetings with them on this.”
“They are very thorough in their outreach, and they do a very good job of talking to you even when the session is out, whether they have issues or not.
“It absolutely helps them,” Thomas said. “There was probably a majority of members who were kind of wishy-washy on this either way. That’s where relationships win.”
— Data specialist John G. Perry contributed to this article.
HOW THEY VOTED The final vote in the Senate and the House on SB 31, the bill allowing Georgia Power to begin charging customers in 2011 for the construction of new nuclear power plants. The bill passed Thursday and is on its way to Gov. Sonny Perdue’s desk. House: Feb. 26 — 107 voted in favor 66 against
MMO's Third Newsletter for the 2009 Session February 16, 2009
MMO Third Email Newsletter - 2009 General Assembly Session February 16, 2009
Happy Presidents’ Day! This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s third email newsletter for the 2009 General Assembly Session, which convened January 12, 2009 and has completed 18 days of the 2009 General Assembly’s 40 days of work. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my website at http://www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question:
Would you impose a moratorium on building new coal fire plants in Georgia?
I have introduced HB 276 which would impose a moratorium on permitting newly constructed coal fire plants in Georgia. Two different entities are seeking permits in Georgia presently, one a for-profit company and the other a collection of ten Georgia electric membership corporations, led by Cobb Energy. The New Jersey corporation seeks a permit for a new coal plant in Early County in southwest Georgia, but has been stopped by a court challenge now before the Georgia Court of Appeals, and the Washington County permit sought by the EMCs is in process of seeking approval from state and federal agencies based on the pollutants of carbon, sulfur and mercury that are discharged by coal plants.
Proponents of new coal plants argue that the future demand for energy requires expansion of coal and new technology makes coal cleaner and safer; opponents state that coal is the old energy source, of the 19th century, and creates environmental and health hazards. Further, the changing federal regulations under the new Obama administration will make the costs prohibitive, and our future energy needs must be provided by a combination of other sources: renewable and nuclear, but most importantly conservation and efficiencies.
To review HB 276 or any other bill filed, click on the General Assembly web-site http://www.legis.state.ga.us. You can also review earlier newsletters and questions asked from the 2009 session under the media section of Mary Margaret’s web site, www.marymargaretoliver.org.
What do you think? To reply to the weekly question, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com.
Thank you!
MMO New Legislative Activities:
On February 13, MMO, along with Representative Matt Ramsey from Fayette County, presented her legislation to the Motor Vehicle sub-committee HB 19, 21 and 23 relative to prohibitions of class D drivers’ use of cell phones or other texting devices while driving an automobile. The differences in the bills relate to the age of the driver and the penalties imposed.
On February 11, MMO presented to the Government Affairs committee her legislation to expand Administrative Procedure Act protections to the Department of Human Resources and this bill passed out of committee and is now before the Rules committee.
Other significant committee activities for MMO have involved the Appropriations sub-committee hearings on the 2009 and 2010 state budget, and meetings on HB 228, the legislation to reorganize DHR and public health, a bill for which MMO is a co-sponsor.
Also, on February 11, MMO met with the award winning arts students from Fernbank Elementary School who were displaying their art at the Capitol. If your child would like to visit the Capitol or serve as a page for the House, please let me know.
Thank you for all your interest and support. Please contact me about any issue that concerns you.
Bill would put moratorium on new coal plants in Georgia By MARGARET NEWKIRK
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
An Atlanta-area legislator took aim at Georgia’s coal-fired power industry Tuesday, introducing a bill that would restrict the kind of coal that can be burnt in the state and stop new coal plants in their tracks.
With alternative energy on the rise, “Coal makes no sense in this day and age,” said state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) of House Bill 276.
The bill would limit and then ban the use of a kind of coal prized by utilities and reviled by environmental advocates. The coal comes from Central Appalachia and is mined by exploding the tops off mountains.
Oliver’s bill also would put a five-year moratorium on new coal plants in Georgia, prompting a quick response from metro-area electric cooperatives planning to build one. The group called Oliver’s bill economically disastrous.
The “Appalachian Mountain Preservation Act” would gradually prohibit Georgia coal consumers —now just Georgia Power — from using Central Appalachia “mountaintop removal” coal.
Georgia uses more of that coal than any state in the nation, Oliver said, citing an environmental group’s analysis of federal coal purchasing records between 2002 and 2006.
Georgia Power buys coal from Wyoming, from South America and from Central Appalachian mines in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Central Appalachia coal is prized in Georgia because it’s close by and has relatively low levels of restricted pollutants like sulphur. It helps utilities meet air quality standards.
Not all Central Appalachian coal is mined by blowing up mountain tops. But most of the region’s strip-mined coal is, according to Appalachian Voices, a group backing Oliver’s bill.
Environmentalists say mountaintop removal buries adjacent land and streams in rubble and waste, in addition to destroying mountains.
“We are part of the cycle of coal consumption, and we must take responsibility for Georgia being the nation’s greatest consumer of mountaintop coal,” Oliver said in a written release.
In an e-mailed statement, Georgia Power said its coal contracts require suppliers to abide by all laws. The company said it doesn’t track which mines supply its coal.
The Central Appalachia contracts are cost-competitive, company spokeswoman Christy Heiser: “Reducing or removing coal mining options would likely result in higher fuel costs for customers,” she said.
Oliver’s proposal got a less measured response from Power4Georgians, the co-op coalition.
The coalition is in the early permitting stages for a new coal-fired power plant in the middle of the state. Oliver’s bill would stop any permitting for five years.
In a statement, Power4Georgians said the bill would “bring about severe and negative consequences. As the state grapples with an onerous economic downturn, it is critical to ensure that energy remains affordable.”
“Attempting to inhibit or halt the use of coal is not the answer,” the group said.
(Originally published Feb. 4 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Reuters on HB 276 February 4, 2009
Georgia bill proposes moratorium on new coal plants
Tue Feb 3, 2009 8:23pm EST
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Georgia legislators introduced a bill on Tuesday that, if passed, could limit utility use of certain Appalachian coal beginning in 2011 and place a moratorium on new coal-plant construction in the state.
Interest in coal-fired power plants, which produce about half the electricity consumed in the United States, surged when natural gas prices rose in 2002, but have come under attack from environmental groups.
Coal emits more carbon dioxide than any other fuel so public concern about greenhouse gas emissions and climate change has resulted in cancellations of dozens of coal plants by utilities in the past two years.
Two new coal plants are under development in Georgia and more coal plants are under construction in the U.S. than in the previous two decades.
House Bill 276 calls for utilities to eliminate the burning of Central Appalachian coal mined by "mountaintop removal" by mid-2016 and would suspend permits filed before July 2009 to build new coal-fired generation.
The bill drew a quick response from Power4Georgians, a coalition of 10 electric co-operatives that wants to build a $2 billion coal-fired plant in Washington County.
"A moratorium on new coal-fired power plants would only ensure that the cost of energy would increase substantially," the co-op group said in a statement.
Permit applications were filed in January 2008 to develop the 850-megawatt Washington County Power Station near Sandersville, Georgia, about 60 miles southwest of Augusta.
"We simply cannot forgo development of new clean-coal projects for the next five years and expect that we will then be able to catch up," the group said.
The Washington County station will burn a mix of pulverized low-sulfur coal from the Powder River Basin and Appalachian coal, the group said when announcing the project.
Privately held LS Power is also working to develop the 1,200-MW Longleaf coal plant in Early County, Georgia.
Currently, LS is appealing a state court's rejection of the air permit issued by the Georgia Department of Resources last year.
Georgia is also home to 10 coal-fired generating stations owned by Southern Co's unit Georgia Power, the state's largest utility. Georgia Power uses coal to produce about 75 percent of power produced in the state.
(Reporting by Eileen O'Grady; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
“The Appalachian Mountains Preservation Act” Introduced by Representative Mary Margaret Oliver
Atlanta, Ga. – Today Representative Mary Margaret Oliver introduced “The Appalachian Mountains Preservation” (HB 276), the first bill in Georgia that would phase out the use of coal from mountaintop removal (MTR) mines by Georgia-based power plants, and would also suspend the permitting of coal-fired power plants in Georgia for five years.
“Georgia needs to be a part of the national conversation about energy alternatives and energy solutions. We can be leaders on this issue,” stated Representative Oliver. The bill gradually reduces the use of mountaintop removal coal from Appalachia over seven years and institutes a five year moratorium on the issuance of coal-fired permits, while suspending permits issued prior to July 1, 2008.
Georgia is the nation’s largest consumer of mountaintop removal coal, and is the eighth biggest emitter of carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants in the nation. Carbon dioxide emissions from coal total 85.3 million metric tons annually. (http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggrpt/excel/tbl_statefuel.xls)
“We are part of the cycle of coal consumption, and we must take responsibility for Georgia being the nation’s greatest consumer of mountaintop coal,” observed Representative Oliver. “We need to step back and look at how we can do things differently.”
Mountaintop removal is a form of strip mining that uses explosives to remove hundreds of feet of elevation from a mountaintop in order to uncover thin seams of coal. The waste created by the blasting is then deposited into adjacent valleys burying forests, communities, and hundreds of miles of streams. The federal Environmental Protection Agency estimates that nearly one million acres of mountains in Central Appalachia have been leveled to date, and approximately 1,200 miles of streams buried by mountaintop removal mining waste.
“We are going to see tremendous change and tremendous opportunities in our energy production and use over the next few years. Now is the time for us to focus on developing clean, smart energy options that create jobs for Georgians and do no harm to the environment,” said Representative Oliver. “Coal makes no sense in this day and age – it’s dirty, it’s expensive, it’s risky.”
“Georgia can be smart and be a leader on energy solutions,” said Midge Sweet, Campaign Director of the Georgians for Smart Energy campaign. “Renewable energy is now competitively priced with fossil fuel costs. The choice is ours. Through energy efficiency, solar, wind, and biomass, we can meet our electricity needs.” -more-
According to Austin Hall, Field Organizer with Appalachian Voices, "Mountaintop removal threatens to wipe Central Appalachia off the map. This form of mining severely degrades the environment and poses significant threats to coal-field communities. It creates rock slides and catastrophic floods, poisons water supplies, causes constant blasting, and ruins property – threatening people's lives and livelihoods. It is imperative for states that use mountaintop removal coal to address this issue."
According to the Medical Association of Georgia, each year in Georgia power plant pollution triggers 26,442 asthma attacks, 1,362 heart attacks, 113 deaths in people with lung cancer. The Association has urged the state to adopt a comprehensive conservation and efficiency program before approving any new coal-fired power plants.
# # #
HIGHLIGHTS OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION
The proposed legislation would: 1) Phase-out use of MTR (mountaintop removal) coal from Appalachia over seven years (only 50% MTR by 2011; only 25% MTR by 7/2014; no MTR by 7/1/2016)
2) Place a Moratorium on issuing permits for coal-fired plants for 5 years (until 7/1/14). Permits issued prior to 7/1/09 would be suspended.
MMO's Second Newsletter for the 2009 Session 1/31/2009
MMO Second Email Newsletter - 2009 General Assembly Session January 31, 2009
This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s second email newsletter for the 2009 General Assembly Session which convened Monday January 12, 2009, and has completed 10 days of the annual 40 day Session. I send periodic newsletters on General Assembly activities, and if you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my website at http://www.marymargaretoliver.org/ to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. In this year’s first email newsletter question, you “voted” overwhelmingly in favor of increasing the tax on cigarettes and the Governor’s proposal to fine “super-speeders” in order to fund a state-wide trauma system. I will provide more detailed analysis of your answers to my questions in the future, and you can read past newsletters and past questions asked under the Media section of my website www.marymargaretoliver.org . Thank you for your interest and thoughtful opinions!
Weekly question: Should the Georgia General Assembly change the way transportation is funded, planned and managed? Or, should the election of the Department of Transportation Board be eliminated, and the Governor’s appointees to the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and MARTA appointees plan and implement transportation funds?
For many years, study committees, independently hired consultants, and political leaders have called for a new governance structure and funding source for transportation services. Among the reasons for this consistent call for change is the fact that Georgia is the only state that contributes nothing from state revenue to public transportation, or MARTA, and that Georgia is 49th out of 50 states in per capita funding of transportation. Only Tennessee spends less per-capita of state funds on transportation.
The Governor, the House and Senate leadership all have different plans for changes in transportation funding and governance and new proposals will emerge in the next few days and weeks. On day 40 of the 2008 Session, the General Assembly failed to adopt the option of regions of the state being allowed to vote by referendum on an additional one cent sales tax for transportation, a plan supported by the business communities across the state. I voted for this option in 2008 although I prefer a state-wide referendum.
What do you think?:
1. Do you support the opportunity for voters, either regionally or state-wide, to vote to add one cent to the sales tax for transportation that may include public transportation? This means voters of DeKalb and Fulton, who already pay one cent for MARTA, would be paying two cents for transportation funding.
2. Do you support the consolidation of transportation planning and implementation into a new entity, appointed by the Governor, combining the multiple transportation agencies and authorities including the Department of Transportation, MARTA, GRTA, the Georgia Tollway Authority, among others. This option would eliminate or greatly reduce the power of the state DOT board, and centralize power in the Governor’s office.
3. Should we do nothing this year and wait to learn what additional transportation funding may come from the new Obama Administration, and until the economy returns to health?
To reply to the weekly question, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com. Thank you!!
MMO Legislative Activities: On January 20, MMO attended the Sagamore Hills Annual Neighborhood Association meeting, and please let her know if there are other neighborhood or civic clubs you would like her to visit and update members on the 2009 legislature. On January 26, she addressed the Druid Hills Kiwanis Club at Petit Auberge, and that evening hosted a group of public interest law students at the Capitol with Representative Stacy Abrams. On January 27th, MMO participated on panel for the Women’s Corporate Board Network at the Paul, Hastings and Janofsky law firm. On January 29th, she spoke to the Women’s Group at Kingsbridge Retirement Community.
MMO serves on the House Appropriations Committee, and the Human Resources Subcommittee, and has met in budget hearings on the Governor’s proposed 2.3 billion of budget cuts on January 21, 22, 23, and 28th. Additional budget hearings will be scheduled, and can be viewed live online through the General Assembly website www.legis.state.ga.us.
MMO has been appointed to two special committees since the beginning of the Session. The Governor’s proposed legislation to reorganize the Department of Human Resources has been assigned to the Appropriations Committee and a specially appointed committee, and the revised Evidence Code, supported by the State Bar is also before a special study committee, and MMO serves on both these work groups.
On February 3, at 3:00 pm, the Government Affairs Sub-committee will hear HB 20, legislation introduced by MMO to improve the Administrative Procedure Act rule making process for DHR. On February 6, at 1:00 pm the Motor Vehicles Committee will hear HB 19 and HB 21 relating to restrictions on cell phone use by teenagers, also introduced by MMO. Again, the General Assembly website provides copies of these bills, and may carry the committee meetings live.
Thank you for your interest and support! Please visit me at the Capitol, let me know if your child would like to serve as a Page for the House, and contact me about any issue that concerns you.
MMO Issues First Newsletter of 2009 Legislative Session January 18, 2009
MMO First Email Newsletter - 2009 General Assembly Session January 18, 2008
Happy New Year! This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s first email newsletter for the 2009 General Assembly Session which convened this past Monday January 12, 2009. I will be sending periodic newsletters on the 2009 General Assembly’s 40 days of work, and if you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my website at www.marymargaretoliver.org http://www.marymargaretoliver.org/ to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: How should Georgia fund a state-wide medical emergency trauma system?
I served on the 2008 conference committee that failed on day 40 of last year’s General Assembly Session to create a funding source for a state-wide trauma system. For several years, study committees, business leaders, hospital associations and a variety of advocates have called for a state-wide trauma system of emergency health care and for a new funding source. It is estimated that the absence of a coordinate trauma system for Georgia costs 700 lives, and disproportionately impacts the financing of rural and high volume public hospitals.
Choices to fund the trauma system currently in discussion are as follows, and please choose the option you favor, if any:
1. Add one dollar tax to the purchase of each pack of cigarettes. Currently, Georgia’s tobacco tax in among the lowest in the country, and with an additional one dollar per pack tax, Georgia would then be in about the middle of the 50 states in taxing cigarettes.
2. Fine “super-speeders”, those driving more than 15 miles over the speed limits, $200.00 per violation. This is Governor Perdue’s proposal to fund trauma.
3. Add $10.00 to the yearly renewal of the car tag.
4. Add one dollar per month to the telephone bill for cell phones. The 911 system has been funded by monthly additional to telephone bills.
5. Add no new taxes, and either fund the trauma system from general revenue, or wait until economic times are better. To reply to the weekly question, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com.
MMO Pre-Session and New Legislative Activities: In the fall of each year, many interest groups prepare and outline their legislative proposals for the coming General Assembly session, and I have visited with these groups to hear their concerns and views. Based on new property tax freeze ideas, and the governor’s budget that cuts education spending, the DeKalb School Board, local DeKalb cities, and the Decatur School Board have held pre-legislative meetings to oppose this tax shifts and spending cuts.
Through the fall, MMO met regularly with two groups to create new legislation for the 2009 session. One group of hospital attorneys, administrators and medical ethicist, met informally concerning method for substituted medical consent for patients who need medical treatment but are incompetent to make decisions, and there is no family member to assert authority and the patient has executed no medical directive. Another project, based on a formally appointed Evidence Study Committee met weekly for several months to draft a new Code of Evidence, an effort staffed and supported by the State Bar of Georgia. Both these legislative efforts will move forward in the 2009 session, and I will report on anticipated progress.
MMO participated in November in a national conference hosted by the Center for Public Life and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for southern legislative leaders, and presented to the Atlanta Regional Commission on a panel of legislators relating to transportation issues in December.
On January 13th at Druid Hills Methodist Church on Ponce de Leon, MMO addressed the Interfaith Children’s Movement of Metropolitan Atlanta (ICMMA) to talk about 2009 legislative issues including PeachCare and children’s medical services. On January 13, MMO and Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield spoke to the Glenn Memorial Wednesday night dinner group. On January 20, MMO will attend the Sagamore Hills annual neighborhood association meeting at Sagamore Elementary School.
If you would like MMO to visit your group to talk about legislative issues, or if you know a child who is at least twelve years old and would like to serve as a page for the House, please let her know.
Preview of 2009 Legislative Issues: MMO filed this week HB 19, 20, 21 and 22, and you can review these or any other bill filed at the General Assembly web-site http://www.legis.state.ga.us These bills include prohibitions on the use of cell phones for teenage drivers, mandatory seat belts for truck drivers, and amendments to the Department of Human Resources rule making authority and obligation. The prohibitions on cell phone use received extensive press attention this week, and progress on any of these bills will be reported on in future newsletters.
Governor’s State of the State and Budget Message On January 14th, Governor Perdue addressed the joint session of the House and the Senate to present his 2010 budget proposal. Every year, and it is particularly true for this budget cycle given the current economic downturn, the most important thing and the only constitutionally mandated obligation the General Assembly has, is to pass a balanced budget. The Governor proposes to cut approximately two billion dollars from the state’s 20+ billion dollar budget, and among the cuts are: elimination of 30 million dollars to support public school nurses, and about 250 million dollars in education spending in general. No state employees will receive any pay raises. You can review the Governor’s complete budget at www.opb.state.ga.us. The Appropriations Committee hearings begin January 21 at 1:00 pm, and you can watch this committee live, and many other committees, on the General Assembly web site which publishes the committee schedules. www.legis.state.ga.us I serve on the Appropriations Committee, specifically the Human Resources sub-committee, and will be reporting further in future newsletters on the budget debates.
Thank you for all your interest and support! Please contact me about any issue that concerns you.
By AARON GOULD SHEININ, MARY LOU PICKEL, ANDY MILLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Gov. Sonny Perdue found quick opposition for his proposal to fund Medicaid and trauma care with new fees on hospitals and speeding motorists.
The criticism was strong and bipartisan.
Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs), chairman of the House Rules Committee, took aim at the plan Perdue laid out in his annual State of the State address Wednesday.
“I’m unequivocally opposed to that new tax,” Ehrhart said. “That’s not a tax on hospitals. It’s a tax on individual consumers.”
Ehrhart, as chairman of Rules, has great power to decide what legislation reaches the House floor.
Perdue has proposed a 1.6 percent fee on hospital revenues and health insurance plans to fill the state’s $208 million hole in Medicaid this year, and to provide $60 million toward a statewide trauma network.
Senate minority leader Robert Brown (D-Macon) disagreed with most of what Perdue said. “I’m just disappointed overall with the governor and his lack of leadership,” Brown said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to tax hospitals to fund trauma care,” Brown said.
Perdue told legislators he knew his plan would “not be universally acclaimed,” but said the federal government, “in its infinite wisdom,” created the problem. New federal law going into effect later this year would require the state to charge private insurance companies the same fee it charges the HMOs that serve the state’s Medicaid and PeachCare populations. Georgia charges its Medicaid HMOs a 5.5 percent fee on revenues. The state leverages the money from those fees to qualify for a federal match.
Rather than lose the federal match, making the Medicaid situation that much worse, Perdue opted to extend a 1.6 percent fee to hospitals and health insurance plans and recreate the “super-speeder” idea, which would impose a fine of $200 on those found guilty of driving more than 15 mph over the speed limit. A similar plan failed in the final days of the 2008 legislative session.
“Like most things we address here at the Capitol, this plan will not be universally acclaimed,” Perdue said. “But, I have arrived at this solution after thoughtful, careful deliberation. I implore you. Do not rush into a short-sighted cut that would have long-term consequences for Georgia’s most needy.”
The proposed fees on health insurers and hospitals would bring in an estimated $372 million, which would also raise state reimbursements to medical providers for serving Medicaid and PeachCare patients.
Jimmy Lewis, CEO of HomeTown Health, which represents 55 Georgia rural hospitals, said the hospital fee was expected, though unwelcome. “This could put some rural hospitals in jeopardy,” Lewis said. “It could lead to a closure.”
Lewis recommended increasing the state tobacco tax instead.
The Georgia Hospital Association reiterated its opposition to the Perdue plan.
“Operating margins are already extremely thin, with more than a third of Georgia hospitals operating in the red,” said Kevin Bloye, a GHA vice president, in a statement. “Therefore, GHA must strongly oppose any new tax on the sick.”
The group also advocates a higher tobacco tax along with other changes, such as removing the HMOs from the state Medicaid and PeachCare programs.
A health insurance trade group said it was unclear which insurer plans would be targeted under the Perdue plan. “We don’t understand what numbers they’re using,” added Kirk McGhee, executive director of the Georgia Association of Health Plans, which is fighting the levy.
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) said she’s a strong backer of a statewide trauma network and is still trying to figure out how much money will come from fining “super-speeders,” as the governor suggested. “What does that mean, really?” Oliver asked. “We’re going to have a real split in the health care community about who gets taxed extra.”
If a state lawmaker from Peachtree City has his way, teens found using their cell phones while driving could lose their licenses.
When the General Assembly convenes later this month, Rep. Matt Ramsey plans on introducing legislation that would make it illegal for drivers under 18 to talk, text, e-mail or instant message on their phones while operating a vehicle. Recent headlines:
If the bill becomes law, violators would face a fine of $175 and the addition of a point on their license on their first offense, and a $500 fine and two points to their license with a second offense.
Those found to be using their phones at the time of an accident would receive an automatic 90-day suspension of their licenses and a six-month license suspension for a second such infraction.
Exemptions would be allowed for calls seeking to summon emergency help, prevent injury or report illegal activity.
The legislation would be added to Georgia’s existing graduated license restrictions first enacted in 1997.
“Had they known then that 60 percent of the kids would be texting [while driving] in 2008 and 90 percent would be talking on their phones, that probably would have been part of the bill,” he said.
“I think this is logically the next step.”
The proposed legislation strikes a personal chord for Ramsey, a Republican who was recently forced off the road by a high school-age girl talking on her cell phone.
“It was enough to get you thinking,” Ramsey said.
His is the latest attempt by state lawmakers to get a handle on the growing use of cell phones while driving by motorists. Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) has tried unsuccessfully each of the last two years. She’s feeling considerably more optimistic about her chances the third time around because her bill is similar to Ramsey’s in that it specifically targets teen drivers using cell phones. Oliver, however, think the penalties Ramsey has suggested might be too severe. She hopes to find a middle ground.
“I think we all recognize the exploding use of cell phones while people are driving is dangerous.” she said.
Ramsey said the legislation is specifically aimed at less mature and experienced teenagers and not the entire population as a whole because statistics bear out that group as the most easily distracted while driving.
He’d get no argument from Annie Stephens.
The 15-year-old Starr’s Mill High School student, who will be getting her driver’s license in February, said she would welcome the restrictions.
“I think, while driving, [using cell phones] is not very safe to do,” she said, “because you’re not totally focused on the road. It’s just another precaution.
“It’s not just for the safety of the teenagers, but everybody else on the road, too.”
Car crashes are the leading causes of death for young drivers aged 15-19, according to the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.
Ramsey also cited a national study that found the bulk of the 5,000 teen driving fatalities from 2007 had been attributed to cell phone use.
Georgia first began setting boundaries on teen driving in 1997 when state lawmakers enacted the Teenage and Adult Driver Responsibility Act (TADRA). Hoping to limit potentially fatal distractions, lawmakers limited the numbers of passengers allowed to be in the car with teens at one time and the times in which they could be behind the wheel. Teenage driving fatalities have dipped roughly 40 percent since that law took effect, Ramsey said.
If the bill passes, Georgia will join 18 other states that have already enacted legislation to limit cell phone use by teenagers.
Editorial Athens Banner-Herald Published on: 11/26/08
With the start of the annual 40-day session of the Georgia legislature about six weeks away, there is some indication that the use of cell phones by drivers is likely to get some significant attention in the upcoming General Assembly.
As of Tuesday afternoon, three bills seeking to regulate the use of wireless communications devices - cell phones and similar equipment - by drivers, had been pre-filed in the House of Representatives.
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, an Atlanta Democrat, is sponsoring two of the bills. One proposal, House Bill 19, would establish the offense of driving while distracted for motorists using wireless communications devices, including hands-free devices and citizens band radios. Oliver's House Bill 21 would prohibit drivers with instructional or provisional driving permits - young drivers, in other words - from using a cellular, hands-free or mobile phone while driving.
Three Republicans - Reps. Matt Ramsey of Peachtree City, Tom Rice of Norcross and Edward Lindsey of Atlanta - are sponsoring House Bill 23, which would prohibit anyone under 18 years of age from using a wireless communications device while driving. The Republicans' bill has a different definition of wireless communications devices than Oliver's bills, and would allow the use of CB radios, other commercial two-way radios and devices with a push-to-talk function.
All of the bills would establish significant penalties, from fines to assessing points used in the state's system for identifying habitual traffic-law violators, to license suspension.
Oliver's H.B. 19 and the Republicans' H.B. 23 include, as they should, exemptions for drivers reporting emergencies. Such an exemption is not part of Oliver's H.B. 21.
The first question that should be asked about regulating the use of wireless communications devices by drivers is why the restrictions should apply only to young drivers, as the proposed H.B. 21 and H.B. 23 contemplate.
Obviously, when youthful - read inexperienced - drivers slide behind the wheel, they need to be focused solely on the safe maneuvering of their vehicle. But similar arguments can be made about the capacity of wireless communication devices to distract the attention of any driver.
For instance, how about the college student who's more focused on managing his or her social life from behind the wheel than paying attention to traffic and road conditions? Or how about the harried mom or dad already distracted by the kids jammed into the minivan, taking a business call on the way to soccer practice? Or how about the elderly person, whose reflexes maybe aren't what they once were, taking or making a call while on the road?
There is significant research to support the need for an wide-ranging ban on using wireless communications devices while driving. According to information from the National Conference of State Legislatures:
► A 2005 Virginia Tech study found that almost 80 percent of vehicle accidents involved driver inattention, and that hand-held wireless devices were among the highest distraction-related factors in those crashes.
► A study done in Australia and published in the British Medical Journal three years ago concluded drivers using mobile phones were four times more likely to be involved in serious crashes, and that gender and age didn't change the crash risk.
► A University of Utah study found that talking on a cell phone reduced response times among all drivers, regardless of age.
Given the fact that there are three bills on the use of cell phones by drivers waiting for Georgia legislators to consider, it's likely that any final piece of legislation crafted on the issue will be a hybrid of sorts. What is clear, though, is that whatever bill might come out of the Georgia legislature next year, it should apply to more than just the youngest drivers among us.
MMO Fifth Email Newsletter for 2008 General Assembly Session March 17, 2008
This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s fifth email newsletter sent following the 31st legislative day of the 40 day 2008 General Assembly Session.
In the past newsletters from the 2008 Session, I have asked how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. Thank you for your interest and opinions, and the weekly question voting results are as follows:
First Question related to times for pouring alcoholic beverages – The first weekly question asked: Should Georgia have a consistent state-wide time for bars to stop serving alcoholic drinks, or should each city and county set its own times? I received nearly 150 responses. 74% of you thought Georgia should have a consistent state-wide time for bars to stop serving alcoholic drinks; 27% of you thought closing-time should remain under local control.
Second question asked related to trauma care: Do you agree that an expanded trauma system is needed, and if so, how would you fund this service?
1. Extra fines on “super speeders” who are convicted of speeding more than 10 miles over the speed limit; or
2. Add additional one dollar fee on monthly cell phone bills; or
3. An additional $10.00 charge on automobile tags.
I received nearly 110 responses. 99% of you agreed that an expanded trauma system is needed. 63% of you liked the idea of funding expanded trauma through extra fines on “super speeders;” 29% of you liked the idea of imposing an additional $10.00 charge on auto tags; 21% of you liked the idea of an additional one dollar fee on cell phone bills; and 15% of you didn’t like any of the options (but recommended alternative funding sources). *Note that the sum of the percentages exceeds 100 because most of you liked more than one funding source.
The third weekly question asked about the City of Dunwoody: Do you support allowing the citizens of Dunwoody to vote to form a new city in DeKalb County? I received close to 70 responses. 68% of you did not support allowing the citizens of Dunwoody to vote on becoming a new city; 32% of you supported allowing such a vote.
The fourth weekly question asked about weighing children at school: Do you support SB 506 which requires schools to weigh each child twice yearly to determine the child's body mass index, a number that measures obesity? I received around 110 responses. 89% of you opposed schools weighing each child twice yearly to determine the child’s body mass index; 11% of you were in support of such a plan.
In answering all of these questions, many of you offered very thoughtful analysis, and I appreciate your participation in the debate. Thank you!
Weekly question: Do you support the use of tax money for vouchers to pay for students at low performing schools to attend private schools?
Vouchers would be made payable to parents for a portion of private school tuition, about $4500.00, and endorsed over to the private school. According to case law, the payment must be made to the parent and not the private school to prevent tax money to be made directly to a faith based school. A parent may choose a Catholic or Jewish private school, by example, but the state may not pay tuition directly to a faith based school because the constitutional separation of church and state. SB 458 has passed the Senate and is now before the House Science and Technology committee where I serve. Hearings have been conducted this past week on HB 458, and a vote in committee will be called soon.
Proponents of vouchers state that vouchers will create greater competition among the private and public schools and allow parents greater public and private school choice. Opponents state that private schools accept the maximum number of students they want at this time, there is very limited private school availability, and tax payer’s money should be used to support public schools and not faith based private schools. What do you think? To answer, click “reply” or email me directly at mmo@mmolaw.com.
Report on State Budget negotiations: Governor Perdue has lowered the revenue estimate for fiscal year 2009, which will begin July 1, 2008, and extend through June 30, 2009. This is his right to do based on his estimate of tax revenues for the coming year, and this lowered estimate requires the cutting of approximately325 million dollars from the budget currently being negotiated. I serve on the Human Resources subcommittee of Appropriations Committee and these new budget cuts will lower the pay increase for state employees from 2 and ½ % to 2%, increase the cost of employee health insurance, and reduce funding for most social services programs. The House and Senate leadership has changed the legislative schedule based on this budget tension, and now the Session will last into the first week in April at the least. The competing tax cut proposals from the Governor, the House and the Senate are also now more intensely evaluated and negotiated, and are not easy to predict.
If any of you wish to visit the capital, take of tour, visit with Mary Margaret on any issue, or nominate a child over age 12 to page on the House floor, please contact mmo@mmolaw.com.
Thank you for your interest and all the ways you participate in discussion of the issues!
House twice rejects bill on billboards March 12, 2008
By Sonji Jacobs, Ariel Hart The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 03/12/08
A bill that could enable billboard owners to discourage local governments from banning or restricting billboards failed in the state House on Tuesday —- twice.
The first time it was brought up on Tuesday's "crossover day," House Bill 1318 lost 89-77. The bill failed a second time after its sponsor, state Rep. Matt Dollar (R-Marietta), asked for and received permission for reconsideration. That second time around, about 2 p.m., it lost 91-74.
The bill would have ensured that billboard owners are compensated when they have to move or remove their signs from land affected by local zoning rules.
If such rules aimed to phase out billboards and prevent rebuilding a sign of the same size, the bill would put the burden of compensation on that local government.
Opponents of the bill said billboard owners already are compensated under current law. "The [billboard group] is asking to give them advantages in court that no other property owners ... have," said Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), who urged House colleagues to defeat the measure.
Dollar and other supporters argued that it would protect owners of billboards.
"We're disappointed," said Conner Poe, executive director of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Georgia. "This was basically a landowner's rights bill that would allow them to develop their own land as they see fit."
Poe said he thinks some lawmakers mistakenly thought the measure would allow trees to be cut down. He said he plans to clear up that misconception next year.
Matt Hicks, a lobbyist with the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, applauded the Legislature's rejection of the bill. The measure would have given billboard companies preferential treatment that no other property owners enjoy, he said.
"Their decision respects community choice," Hicks said. "It respects the ability of communities to choose what they look like."
MMO Fourth Email Newsletter for 2008 General Assembly Session March 2, 2008
This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s fourth email newsletter sent following the 26th legislative day of the 40 day 2008 General Assembly Session. I send periodic newsletters on the General Assembly’s work, and if you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my website at www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Do you support schools weighing each child twice yearly to determine the child's body mass index, a number that measures obesity? SB 506 passed the state Senate this week by a vote of 37 to 13 which would require that schools post the aggregate BMI information for all children in the school on the school web site, and follow state regulations on offering physical education classes. The bill now moves to the House for possible action.
The bill's author, Senator Joe Carter from Tifton, states that one in three of Georgia's children is overweight and that the majority of schools are not complying with state physical education guidelines. Only grades one through five require physical education, and individual children's weights would not be posted, only the school's aggregate rating so that parents can compare their own child's weight and BMI to other children, and to other schools. The child's BMI score will be provided only to the parent who requests the information, and not automatically sent to the parent.
Opponents to the bill state that child's obesity is not an issue for schools to address but is a private family matter. Further, opponents believe that many children will be unnecessarily humiliated by public weigh-ins, and that parents should be responsible for determining any medical issues of their children. Those in opposition also stated schools should focus on education and not the weight of each child.
What do you think? I read all responses and appreciate your interest. Please click reply to answer, or email me directly with your views on this or any other question at mmo@mmolaw.com. Thank you!! And to review Senator Carter's proposed SB 506 in detail, or any other bill, you may use the General Assembly web site http://legis.state.ga.us.
MMO Legislative Activities: MMO presented testimony and witnesses before the House Education sub-committee in support of HB 939, her bill to spend surplus lottery money on targeted three year olds to enhance school readiness. The committee decided to create a study committee to review lottery surplus and its use for improvement of the existing pre-k program for four year olds, and a new focus for three year olds. Stephanie Blank, on behalf of the Blank Family Foundation, and Comer Yates, Director of the Atlanta Speech School, supported the need for early education, and particularly the research that demonstrates the need for language development. The Atlanta Constitution editorial board endorsed HB 939 with an editorial this week that can be reviewed on the MMO website.
MMO serves on the Judiciary Committee subcommittee that heard 8 hours of testimony on legislation to repeal Roe v. Wade, and prevent all abortions in Georgia. The committee voted 4 to 3 to table this legislation and MMO voted with the majority so this legislation will not move forward in 2008. The Judiciary committee is also hearing the TAD legislation to recreate the financing option to allow tax allocation districts that were declared unconstitutional by the Georgia Supreme Court last month. In the Government Affairs committee, where she also serves, debate is on-going for township legislation to perfect that new government option based on a vote of a community to tax themselves an additional one-half mil.
In the Appropriation committee, MMO is working on the Department of Human Resource’s changing policies relating to financial assistance for adoption of children from the foster care system, and on the federal monies for refugee services. Although the federal appropriations for refugee services is stable, the service providers’ funds have been reduced 40%. Why? How is the money being diverted? These questions come directly from constituents working primarily as volunteers through churches with refugee families. In the remaining 14 days of the 2008 General Assembly session, most of the important work on the front-burner legislation that will most likely pass this year will be carried out through committee work.
This past week, the members of the Frazier Center adult disability program visited the Capital and had their picture made with Mary Margaret, and the DeKalb Junior League also hosted a reception for legislators with the state advocacy committee. Leadership DeKalb came to the Capital for a lively program, and MMO spoke to the group frankly about the internal conflict of local legislation in the delegation, including the issues of Grady, county government organization, and the proposed city of Dunwoody.
If any of you wish to visit the capital, take of tour, visit with Mary Margaret on any issue, or nominate a child over age 12 to page on the House floor, please contact mmo@mmolaw.com. Thank you for your interest and all the ways you participate in discussion of the issues!
MARY MARGARET
Cracks in foundation: State must build up early education efforts, focus on 3-year-olds February 26, 2008
By Maureen Downey The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 02/26/08
"It makes no sense to spend most of your money on the roof when the foundation is shoddy," Stephanie Blank, an advocate of early childhood education, told legislators last week in urging investment of more lottery dollars in preparing young children for school.
Blank, the wife of Home Depot founder Arthur Blank, is board chairman of the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation and the mother of young children. It was her experience as a mother that informed most of her testimony.
"I'd always heard the expression that kids are like sponges" she said, "but I was constantly amazed at how much Joshua ... was always learning."
Back in 1995, emerging research on brain development in toddlers and preschoolers led then-Gov. Zell Miller and Georgia to become pioneers in early child education, using lottery proceeds to pay for universal prekindergarten. (The state also funds its HOPE Scholarships through the lottery.)
However, the state has failed to build on that momentum. As Blank and others testified, Georgia needs to expand access to early childhood education, especially for low-income 3-year-olds whose parents lack the resources to expose them to rich learning environments.
State Reps. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), Kathy Ashe (D-Atlanta) and Stephanie Benfield (D-Atlanta) introduced legislation this session to create a statewide program for 3-year-olds, but the Legislature is wary and unlikely to comply. "That seems so young," said state Rep. Bobby Reese (R-Sugar Hill).
At the very least, the General Assembly should embrace a proposal by state Rep. Jan Jones (R-Alpharetta) to launch a study committee to assess unmet needs in programs for 4-year-olds and to examine how best to use lottery reserves.
"I'm optimistic that the committee will give a serious look at targeting some pre-k lottery dollars to some selective 3-year-olds," said Oliver. "I would focus a 3-year-old program on low performing schools, low-income communities and areas where there are no early learning types of schools or even child care centers. "
According to research, poor children benefit most from programs that emphasize school readiness and language development. Such early intervention can close the gaps that prevent low-income children from being able to read at third grade.
Some lawmakers maintain that the state has no business intervening in the lives of 3-year-olds. But if the state doesn't reach out to these children at age 3, it will lose them at age 16 or 17, when they are more likely to drop out of high school.
As Blank testified, "For every dollar invested in early education, we will receive a return of anywhere from $4 to $7."
MMO Third Email Newsletter for 2008 General Assembly Session February 16, 2008
This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s third email newsletter sent following the 18th legislative day of the 40 day 2008 General Assembly Session. I send periodic newsletters on the General Assembly’s work, and if you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my website at www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Do you support allowing the citizens of Dunwoody to vote to form a new city in DeKalb County?
Although the Governmental Affairs Committee, where I serve, voted 7 to 6 to oppose a new city in Dunwoody, the proponents are seeking a new vote and another chance. The proponents assert that the citizens of Dunwoody strongly support their right to incorporate and to tax themselves to provide their own fire, police, and parks and recreation services. They believe that Dunwoody does not receive its “fair share” of real property taxes collected by DeKalb County. Leaders from other cities in DeKalb, like Decatur, also support a new city of Dunwoody.
Opponents of the new Dunwoody municipality believe that the inclusion of the Perimeter Center retail and office complex into the new city is unfair to the remaining citizens of DeKalb, and would raise property taxes in unincorporated DeKalb. Further, the transfer of the Brook Run park to City of Dunwoody that had been purchased by the county from the state unfairly awards fewer citizens. There are many arguments on both sides.
The Carl Vinson Institute at the University of Georgia has prepared a financial analysis of the impact on the county of the new city of Dunwoody, and confirms there would be a property tax loss to DeKalb County, and therefore a tax shift to those citizens outside Dunwoody city limits. This tax loss to DeKalb County is estimated to be less than eight million dollars, but the exact figure is disputed by others, and the citizens of Dunwoody are prepared, they say, to pay higher taxes to have their own city.
What do you think? I read all your responses and appreciate your participation. Thank you.
MMO legislative activities: In the last two weeks, I have spent much time in Appropriations Committee hearings, particularly studying the budgets of the Department of Human Resources. The Governor has announced a new study effort to reorganize DHR, and I have volunteered to participate in this effort. The current budget proposals attempt to reduce protective and investigative services to abused elderly citizens, and to reduce the number of meals on wheels delivered by volunteers. The committee is objecting to these budget reductions, among others.
On February 5, I spoke to temporary staffing business men and women visiting the capital, and on February 6, I met with the state deputy superintendent of schools and other senior staff to present a paper prepared by Emory law students on the rights of foster care children to receive education protection benefits. Foster care children and homeless children have rights to attend their “home” school, and other education benefits, that are set forth in the federal McKinney Vento Act. We made specific proposals for increased enforcement of this statute, and to examine how the statute is implemented in Georgia.
On February 6, I met with constituents at Melton’s Pub with the DeKalb Meet-Up group, and on February 7, I was the keynote speaker for Presbyterian Day at the capital. On February 12, I joined CASA volunteers for lunch, and February 13 had lunch with Chief Justice Leah Sears and other judges following the Chief Justice’s State of the Judiciary speech to the General Assembly.
Next week, on February 18 and 20, as a member a Judiciary Committee sub-committee, I will hear testimony on two anti-abortion measures, HB 1 and HR 536, intended to repeal Roe v. Wade, and prohibit all abortions in Georgia. These bills are obviously controversial, and many of my constituents have written about their opposition to the repeal of Roe v. Wade.
Seat Belts, Trauma and Taxes: The Speaker and all members of the General Assembly have received a barrage of email messages calling for a favorable vote to require Georgians to wear seat belts in trucks. The Speaker is hopefully relenting on his previous pledge to refuse to allow the House to vote on Senator Don Thomas’s bill or my bill to require seat belts in trucks, and thereby release 21.7 million dollars in federal highway safety money to Georgia. Today, Georgia is the only state of 50 not requiring seat belts in trucks, and therefore our state statute does not meet federal standards.
Legislation that I have co-sponsored to fund the trauma network for Georgia has passed out of the Governmental Affairs committee and will soon move to the House with an additional $10.00 fee on drivers’ car tags. Also, moving forward is the Speaker’s tax proposals to reduce property taxes and shift the lost tax revenues to increases in sales tax. The details of these proposals are changing daily, but may include also the elimination of ad valorem taxes on cars. The combination of reduced taxes on cars, and possible increase in the car tag cost for the trauma network, will likely reduce the cost of car tag totally. But where will the tax cut be recovered? These are the important questions that are moving towards a possible resolution.
Thank you ! Please contact me about nay issue that interests you, or apply for your child to be a page for the House.
MARY MARGARET
MMO Second Email Newsletter for 2008 General Assembly Session February 3, 2008
This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s second email newsletter sent following the 10th legislative day of the 40 day 2008 General Assembly Session. I send periodic newsletters on the General Assembly’s work, and if you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my website at www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: A study committee of legislative leaders, emergency medical trauma experts, and Governor Sonny Perdue are all calling for an expanded trauma care system for Georgia, and proposing different ways to fund this new service that will be designed by the Trauma Commission created by the General Assembly last year. Do you agree that an expanded trauma system is needed, and if so, how would you fund this service? I am a co-sponsor of the trauma funding legislation and the ideas for funding are:
1. Extra fines on “super speeders” who are convicted of speeding more than 10 miles over the speed limit; or 2. And additional one dollar fee on monthly cell phone bills; or 3. An additional $10.00 charge on automobile tags.
Which new fund source, if any, makes sense to you? Which would you choose? To reply to the weekly question, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com. Thank you!
The “super speeder” additional fine will not raise all the money necessary to fund an adequate trauma system, and will require some additional management oversight to recover the additional fines from cities and counties that collect the fines through local courts. The telephone companies are vigorously opposing an additional tax on monthly bills, and claim that telephone users do not “cause” trauma. The car tag fee imposes the cost on drivers, and not everyone. The trauma system will fund additional support for emergency rooms that serve a disproportionate uninsured population, like Grady, will expand the transportation system for moving patients to Level 1 trauma systems, and will provide additional training. The trauma study report details these plans, and states there are 700 Georgia deaths annually that directly result from a lack of adequate trauma medical care.
I serve on the Government Affairs Committee where all the Trauma bills will be heard in the House, and I have also been newly appointed to the House Appropriations Committee, and the Human Resources Sub-committee where the Governor’s recommended trauma system general fund request is placed. Please call me if you have any questions about this issue.
MMO Legislative Activities: In addition to my new appointment to the Appropriations Committee, I also serve on the Judiciary-Civil, Government Affairs, and Science and Technology Committees, and all committees have met multiple times in the first 10 days of the Session. The Government Affairs committee voted 7 to 6 against passage of the new City of Dunwoody legislation this week, but the issue will continue to surface. The Appropriations Committee conducted three days of testimony on the supplemental 2008 budget and fiscal year 2009 budget. Most of these House committees can be viewed live on-line during meetings, and they are all archived. The General Assembly web-site (http://legis.state.ga.us) will direct you to the live and video archives, and provide you with copies of any legislation introduced.
On January 22, MMO spoke with women business leaders about health care legislation, hosted by constituent Sally Sears, and on January 23, she discussed the 2008 legislative issues with Stephanie Stuckey Benfield and Senator David Adelman before the Glenn Memorial Wednesday night dinner group. On January 24, MMO accepted by award for the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic, where she teaches at Emory Law School, in celebration of MLK Day. On January 29, she addressed the annual meeting of the Sagamore Neighborhood Association at Sagamore Elementary School, and on January 30, she hosted Emory first year law students interested in public service at the Capital for a discussion of legislation, dinner and a tour. On February 7, she will meet with DeKalb Meet-up at Melton’s , and on February 8, she will address a group at the Capital celebrating Presbyterian Day. On January 22, an op-ed written by Mary Margaret was printed on the AJC on pre-K for three year olds, and you can read that article on the www.marymargaretoliver.org web site under the media link. If you would like MMO to visit your group, meet with her at the Capital for a tour or to discuss an issue, or for your child (over age 12) to serve as a page, please let her know.
Water Plan and Charter Schools: Both the House and the Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation to create a state-wide water plan, and the House passed a HB 881 for applicants for Charter Schools to receive approval for a new charter school from the State Board of Education, and these bills may represent the most significant actions of the new Session. I agree with those of you called to say the water plan does not sufficiently address conservation and fails to take significant environmental protections, but the metropolitan Atlanta existing water plan is not disrupted by the new legislation, and the rest of the state will be required to move forward with the new water plans. The “no” votes to the water plan came primarily from down stream legislators who fear Atlanta’s water use. Similarly, Charter Schools serve less than 30,000 children out of 1.6 million in public school today, and although the State Board review process will interfere with local Board’s authority, it will have no adverse effects on DeKalb and Decatur school systems. Parents support for charter schools cannot be denied.
If you have questions about any issue or vote I have taken in the 2008 Session, please contact me. Thank you for your interest!
MARY MARGARET
Arthur Blank's foundation backing early education, various causes January 24, 2008
Atlanta Business Chronicle - by John Manasso Staff writer
Out of all of the initiatives that the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation supports, none are more dear to Stephanie Blank than the foundation's grants to its "Better Beginnings" program.
The program supports community efforts to help children from birth through 5 years of age get a healthy start in life, and in the fourth quarter of 2007 the foundation made $830,000 of its $2.7 million in grants to Better Beginnings initiatives.
In fact, Blank, the wife of former The Home Depot Inc. CEO and co-founder Arthur Blank and one of the foundation's trustees, has said she might even make a personal appearance at the state Capitol during the current legislative session to lobby on behalf of a bill that would expand early childhood education. (Laws governing 501(c)3 organizations prevent people associated with them from lobbying in an official capacity.)
"Better Beginnings is of particular interest for laying the foundation for a child that sets up everything for life," Stephanie Blank said. "It's much easier to do things in elementary, junior and high school and it's more cost-effective, as opposed to correcting problems that might arise later on."
The initiative is just one among a handful of programs and dozens of community efforts the Blanks' foundation supports. A total of $600,000 over two years went to Quality Care for Children to support families in crisis situations needing emergency child care and case management services; $225,000 over three years went to VOICES for Georgia's Children, which is designed to implement a statewide policy agenda that will improve state policies regarding safety, health and school readiness; and $5,000 went to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute to fund the printing and distribution of a report on working-poor families.
In all, the foundation's recently reported year-end numbers totaled $19 million in grants. (The Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation, a subsidiary of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, gave out $2 million in donations, nearly more than the other 31 foundations of NFL teams combined.)
In 2006, according to its annual report, the Blank Foundation disbursed $20.2 million in grants and in 2005, according to tax records, it disbursed $15.9 million.
Blank Foundation President Penny McPhee said foundation officials meet annually with Arthur Blank's finance team on a multi-year budget. She said Blank does not want the annual donations to be erratic, lest they affect the foundation's partners in a negative way.
McPhee said annual giving depends on "individual program areas based on goals and what it takes to move the needle."
Stephanie Blank hopes to move the needle on Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver's bill that would take surplus funds from the state lottery and apply them to early childhood education for 3-year-olds. In 2007, the Blank Foundation funded a study that examined the benefits of the program for 4-year-olds, which is only available in about 50 percent of the state.
Stephanie Blank, who chairs the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation board of trustees, said the issue might move her to lobby at the statehouse.
"There's always a chance that you might" see her there, she said. "I've been down there wearing my Children's Healthcare hat. There's a good chance because I think this is really critical. The governor and the first lady have said they are very interested in early childhood education ...
"Some of the biggest counties in the state don't have it. Cobb doesn't. Gwinnett doesn't."
Blank also spoke about another charity in a pet area for 2008: the New York-based Posse Foundation. By supplying $860,000 over three years, the Blank foundation provided 60 percent of the $1.4 million seed money for the Posse Foundation to establish itself in Atlanta.
The charity identifies, recruits and trains students from public high schools -- "posses" -- and then prepares them through an eight-month training program before they enroll at top universities. Twelve Atlanta students have enrolled at Boston University through Posse and 12 others at the College of Wooster in Ohio.
Those students have received a total of $2.4 million in scholarship money. Blank said she would meet soon with the Posse Foundation's founder, Debbie Bial.
"It's one that I'm very excited about," Blank said.
While those areas might be closest to Blank's heart, the foundation's "Inspiring Spaces" initiative has received the most money, but that could be changing. Inspiring Spaces includes grants made to advance the progress of Atlanta's Beltline project.
For example, in 2006, the foundation made more than 40 percent of its grants ($9.45 million) to Inspiring Spaces causes, including a $5 million commitment spread out over five years to the Piedmont Park conservancy.
"Inspiring Spaces has land acquisition, which is expensive," McPhee said. "We're trying to move away from land acquisition and do more to create access for people. Things that will draw people to parks."
MMO's Op-Ed in the AJC: "Lottery profits should open up pre-k to 3-year-olds" January 22, 2008
By MARY MARGARET OLIVER, STEPHANIE BENFIELD and KATHY ASHE
Georgia's lottery is among the most profitable in the United States for reasons that are not totally explainable. College students earning HOPE scholarships and 4-year-olds in high-quality pre-k schools are benefiting.
Perhaps based on good management or perhaps because of great advertising — whatever the reasons for the 12 years of lottery growth and profits may be — there exists today almost $600 million in the unrestricted lottery reserves.
By statute, the lottery must restrict a specific sum of lottery dollars to save for a rainy day when the gamblers are less enthusiastic, and the current unrestricted reserve is in addition to the three different statutory mandatory savings.
It is time to expand the lottery profits to pre-k for 3-year-olds. We have introduced legislation, HB 939, to do this, based on criteria to be decided by the Department of Early Care and Learning Board.
We ask the General Assembly to appropriate $25 million from the $600 million unrestricted reserve fund to create classes for at least 5,000 3-year-olds. This sum approximates the interest earned on the reserve fund. We can afford this new pre-k expansion and must do so at this time to improve educational success for Georgia's children.
The Department of Early Care and Learning Board may choose to limit lottery classes to 3-year-old children of low- or middle-income parents, or to start classes in school districts with high child poverty. Or specific school districts with low graduation rates may be targeted. Or the board may decide to grant pre-k funds to school districts where no other child care facilities exist or fund schools that focus attention on disabled children.
At Coralwood Elementary School in DeKalb County, 3-year-olds from the neighborhood join other preschoolers who are developmentally delayed and benefit from lower teacher-student ratios. Other private nonprofit child care centers also focus on combining normally developing children with special needs children, and all students can benefit from such programmatical mainstreaming.
Like the existing pre-k program for 4-year-olds, early attendance for 3-year-olds will be voluntary for both parents and schools and for-profit and nonprofit child care centers. We believe that most parents who are financially able to choose not to work outside the home will want to keep their children home also. Many parents will also decide their children are not ready for five half-days of school.
But parents who do not have a choice about working and must rely on child care deserve the benefits of high-quality early education, and our school systems will show greater progress with children who are ready to learn.
Research is uncontroverted that early intervention for low-income children is the best tool to enhance educational success. Quality early-learning programs also lead ultimately to higher incomes, less welfare dependency and lower crime rates.
There is no debate that we need greater education success. Georgia is one of two states that do not provide general funding for early education. According to the National Institute for Early Education Research, 10 states provide no pre-k for 4- or 3-year-olds. Twenty-six states serve both 3- and 4-year-olds. The specific example of North Carolina's early intervention and resulting success should inform our political leaders. North Carolina's leadership in early education has proven to be good for both families and economic development.
It appears unlikely that the governor's task force to draft a new formula for education spending will produce a proposal this year, and it is also unlikely that the austerity cuts from 2001 to Georgia's 180 school districts will be restored by the appropriations committees.
Student-teacher ratios will not be lowered based on our continued extraordinary growth, and recruiting for teachers with specialized degrees in math and sciences also seems unlikely. But because of the success of Georgia's lottery, we can afford to expand pre-k to 3-year-olds and base this new effort on proven quality programs.
And, we can thank our gambling friends for this hope for new and improved educational opportunity for some of our youngest citizens.
MMO First Email Newsletter - 2008 General Assembly Session January 5, 2008
Happy New Year! This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s first email newsletter in for the 2008 General Assembly Session which convenes January 14, 2008. I will be sending periodic newsletters on the 2008 General Assembly’s 40 days of work, and if you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my website at www.marymargaretoliver.org <http://www.marymargaretoliver.org/> to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Should Georgia have a consistent state-wide time for bars to stop serving alcoholic drinks, or should each city and county set its own times?
I have pre-filed HB 912 to set a state-wide time for all bars to stop pouring drinks, modeled on the City of Atlanta ordinance of 2:30 am to 9:00 am as prohibited times for pouring . You can review this or any other bill filed at the General Assembly web-site http://www.legis.state.ga.us. <http://www.legis.state.ga.us./>
Proponents of a state-wide pouring time, including Mothers Against Drunk Driving, argue that one time for end of pouring drinks promotes public safety, and prevents the current situation of DeKalb County attracting a late night bar activity that has been controversial between the DeKalb Commissioners and CEO Vernon Jones. Opponents state that pouring times should be a matter of local control. What do you think?
To reply to the weekly question, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com. Thank you!
MMO Pre-Session Legislative Activities: In the fall of each year, many interest groups prepare and outline their legislative proposals for the coming General Assembly session, and I have visited with these groups to hear their concerns and views. Based on Speaker Richardson’s proposals for the elimination of property taxes and the shift of the lost tax revenues to sales taxes on all consumer goods and services, the DeKalb School Board and the Decatur School Board have held pre-legislative meetings to oppose this tax shift. The Count Commission and Municipalities are also gearing up to oppose the Speaker’s GREAT plan. As details of the Speaker’s tax plans become more clear, I will be asking your opinion on this tax proposal as well as others.
MMO has been meeting with a work group regularly to draft legislation to create a method for substituted medical consent for patients who need medical treatment but are incompetent to make decisions, and there is no family member to assert authority and the patient has executed no medical directive. This work follows the introduction of HB 235, and has included leaders from Emory’s Center of Ethics, hospital attorneys, and advocates for the disabled and aged. Hearings on this difficult issue will be scheduled in January.
MMO has participated in two national conferences hosted by the American University on Election Management and Reform as a panelist on election issues, particularly related to issues of public funding for judicial elections. Based on recommendations of the Carter-Baker Commission, MMO has pre-field HB 917, to create an independent Election Commissioner for Georgia, to replace some of the authority of the Secretary of State, a partisan elected official. The purpose of this legislation is to create more independent and professional election management and hopefully reduce the criticisms and cynicism relating to voter ID and paper trail technologies.
On January 8th at Druid Hills Methodist Church on Ponce de Leon, MMO will address the Interfaith Children’s Movement of Metropolitan Atlanta (ICMMA) to talk about 2008 legislative issues including PeachCare and children’s dental services. On February 8th, MMO is the featured speaker for Presbyterian Day at the Capital, and if you would like MMO to visit your group to talk about legislative issues, please let her know.
Preview of 2008 Legislative Issues: All bills filed during the 2007 Session remain available for action in 2008, and legislation MMO previously filed, and had hearings and committee action, will again be promoted. The 2007 bills include prohibitions on the use of cell phones for teenage drivers, mandatory seat belts for truck drivers, and restrictions of title pawn industry, among others. What bill from the last session would you like to see passed?
The adoption of a state-wide water policy will be a major issue and concern. A proposed policy, drafted by the Georgia Environmental Protection Department, based on legislation passed in 2003, will be reviewed and voted on in 2008, coincidentally at the time of a major drought in the state. Developers and water policy professionals will be seeking funding for new reservoirs, and the litigation contests with Florida and Alabama will be highlighted. To review Georgia’s proposed water plan, and its publicly submitted comments, go to www.georgiawatercouncil.com. <http://www.georgiawatercouncil.com./> The issues I have been most contacted about by constituents this fall relate to water and animal cruelty.
Thank you for all your interest and support. Please contact me about any issue that concerns you.
MARY MARGARET
MMO Fifth Email Newsletter – 2007 General Assembly Session March 24, 2007
MMO Fifth Email Newsletter – 2007 General Assembly Session
March 24, 2007
This is the fifth edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 email newsletter for 2007 General Assembly Session, and is sent to you following the 29th day of the 40 day Session. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter please go to my web site www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
On March 19th the Legislature returned after a two week mid-session adjournment. So far, 686 bills have been introduced in the House and 133 have passed, most of which relate to local legislation. In the Senate, 78 bills have passed, out of 296 introduced. Most of the more controversial bills have yet to come up for a vote, and the 30th day of the legislative session, Tuesday, March 27, is known as “Crossover Day” at the state Capitol. By House and Senate, rules a bill must pass at least one chamber of the General Assembly in order to have a passage in 2007 by “Crossover Day”. Bills may be held over to the 2008 Session for consideration if not passed by midnight Tuesday.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Should Dunwoody citizens be allowed to incorporate as a city without the input of all DeKalb residents? Should the Georgia General Assembly allow Dunwoody citizens to vote to incorporate without appropriate fiscal and operational review and consideration by the other affected citizens of DeKalb County?
Currently, the House Governmental Affairs Committee where I serve as a committee member is considering Senate Bill 82, which has passed the Senate, and would allow the Dunwoody residents to vote to determine whether they wish to be an independent city. DeKalb County officials oppose SB 82, stating that the county will lose $15 million in revenue if Dunwoody is incorporated, along with the commercial area of Perimeter Mall. Supporters of incorporation say that the cost to the county would be only about $5 million, once the county deducts the costs of services it would no longer have to supply to Dunwoody residents. And further, Dunwoody citizens should be allowed to determine what government and taxes they wish to pay.
For the full text of these bills or any other bill, please visit the General Assembly website at: http://www.legis.state.ga.us.
Results of past weekly question: In the last weekly question, you were asked whether you would vote to reinstate “payday loans”, a credit device which allows short term loans, secured by weekly paychecks, that result in an annual interest rate of 390% Eight-six constituents voted against reinstating pay day loans, and 10 voted to reinstate them, but only at a more limited interest than the interest that is currently proposed in HB 163. One responder supported HB 163.
HB 163, the "payday lending" bill was defeated in the House on Day 29 last Tuesday night at about 11:00 pm with a tie vote of 84 to 84. A bill must receive a majority of 91 votes in order to pass, and the bill’s sponsor asked for reconsideration of the tie vote which will be conducted on March 27. I voted against HB 163, and will vote against reconsideration. Please keep responding!
Budget and Schedule News: The reason stated for the mid-year session adjournment was to give legislators extra time to address the current PeachCare funding crisis. This year the program would have seen a $131 million shortfall, and, therefore have a major impact on the final annual state budget. PeachCare is a joint state-federal program, and legislators delayed the end of this year’s session in hopes that Congress would contribute to the program’s shortfall. As previously reported, the program provides health insurance to roughly 300,000 children of working poor families through out our state.
On Monday, March 19th, the House passed a $19.4 billion midyear spending plan, the Supplemental Budget, which includes $81 million for PeachCare.
Speaker Glenn Richardson, has proposed to limit eligibility to children only up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Congress has proposed establishing 200 percent of poverty as the national cap on eligibility forcing all the states to establish similar State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP) instead of allowing each state to determine what is best for the children in that state, but this proposal has not yet passed and is opposed by national Democrats. Georgia currently allows children to be eligible up to 235% of the federal poverty rate, and therefore Speaker Richardson’s proposal would reduce the number of eligible children. Throughout the 2007 Session, the complicated financial formulas and contest between the states and the federal government over children’s health insurance are at the center of debates.
The midyear budget also includes nearly $9.6 million for the state's public defender system, which is also facing a shortfall that has already delayed several cases, including the Brian Nichol’s trial.
Also, the mid-year budget includes $500,000 to study the Brain Train rail project between Atlanta and Athens that would link the University of Georgia, Emory University and Georgia Tech. All of these budget proposals must be considered and voted upon in the Senate, and agreements reached between the two chambers–a long and contentious process.
MMO Legislative Activities:
I introduced HB 662 on Thursday, March 1. The bill passed through the Judiciary Sub-Committee on Tuesday, March 6 and the full Judiciary Non-Civil Committee on Wednesday, March 7, and the next step is the Rules Committee, for calendaring on the House floor, hopefully on March 27. HB 662 would prevent children charged with non-violent offenses, such as violating curfew or skipping school, from being detained in secure juvenile detention facilities for extended periods of time. According to Department of Juvenile Justice figures, over 1000 of these young “status offenders” are locked up each year in Georgia against both federal and state law. In order to receive necessary federal funds, Georgia must comply with strict federal limits on detention of status offenders. If passed, this legislation would ensure federal compliance, stop our State from overusing secure juvenile detention facilities for non-violent youth, and save money.
I also am a co-author of HB 434 which allows voters to approve a regional transportation plan with a once cent sales tax increase, to be voted on by referendum. This proposal is supported by the Atlanta Camber’s Transportation planners and represents a coordinated approach.
During the adjournment, I visited the Appropriations Committee in support of funds for two local assistance grants in District 83. I re-submitted a request for funds for a “pocket park” at Scott Boulevard and Clairmont Road, the corner of two busy highways across from the planned Woodlands Garden. I also submitted a request for the Druid Hills Civic Association for a pocket park near Emory Village that will serve as a “gateway” to Emory Village and help revitalize that area. These budget requests have chance of being included in the ‘08 Appropriations proposal.
On March 8, I hosted students from the Candler School of Theology of Emory University for the second time this session. These students are following specific bills with a particular interest in the intersection of religion, ethics, and public policy.
On March 24, I participated on a panel at the World Law Institute’s Global Women’s Health Conference at Emory Law School on the topic of Female Genital Cutting, and my prior legislation to criminalize the practice in Georgia. And most importantly for me, I had the opportunity to have dinner with President Jimmy Carter with other panelists.
On March 25, I will visit Central Congregational United Church of Christ for Sunday “Great Decisions Class on Children in Distress”.
If your group would like to visit the Capital and meet with me, or your child age 12 and older would like to serve as a page, please contact me. And call or email me anytime you have a question about this Session or opinion on any bill. Thank you!
Mary Margaret Oliver
150 East Ponce De Leon Suite 350 Decatur GA 30030 Telephone: 404.377.0485 Fax: 404.377.0486
Assembly leaders limit minority roles March 23, 2007
Assembly leaders limit minority roles
By MARY MARGARET OLIVER Published on: 03/23/07
The 2007 Georgia General Assembly is drawing to a contentious close, and the focus, as usual will be on business interests competing with each other for profits, the state budget's distribution of tax money and personal ambitions that look to the next election cycle.
What is also true in 2007 is that there are no women in positions of higher leadership or power, and very little bipartisan participation in the major issues of the day.
On the last day that the House Rules Committee met to set the calendar for Day 30 — crossover day, the last day that a bill may be scheduled for a vote and have an opportunity to pass in 2007 — about 60 legislators appeared, putting in requests for the House to vote on their bills. After about the first 30 legislators made requests, the first woman and only the second Democrat were called on by the committee chairman to request that their bill be heard.
Bills allowed for vote on the House floor are offered by Republican white men, and women and Democrats are not participating in a manner that represents Georgia.
This past Tuesday, when a rule change was offered to deny reporters access to the House floor, the legislator serving as speaker refused to recognize the minority party leader for a question or debate. Many of my constituents complain that partisan politics hurts the democratic process, stifles debate, and operates against full participation of the people. They are less vocal, less sure about whether the participation of women is important to the ultimate result, but they do believe that women bring a different set of issues and styles.
They believe that limiting participation from any group is wrong, but they are not sure exactly what the solution should be. Women themselves are not wedded to one political party or another, but neither political party in Georgia has ever appointed a woman to serve on the powerful conference committee for resolution of the state budget, or to chair the Appropriations, or Ways and Means, or Rules committees, the most powerful political positions in the House or Senate. No woman has ever served as party leader, led the House or the Senate, or been governor or lieutenant governor of this state. This is a reality that is not true in other southern states.
Does it matter that the current majority party limits participation of the minority party? Does it matter that the elected Democrat House and Senate members and women of both parties have a limited role? If Georgia voters currently identify themselves as about 45 percent Democrat, does the current leadership honor these citizens?
I believe that the former Democratic leadership kept its power longer than Democrats in other southern states because it included Republican voices in many of the important issues. Whether the current state Republican leadership keeps its power will be determined by the voters. Limiting participation of women from both parties, and telling 45 percent of Georgians to stand behind a closed door, is wrong.
And Georgia voters instinctively know wrong when they see it.
State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver is a DeKalb County Democrat.
MMO Fourth Email Newsletter – 2007 General Assembly Session February 25, 2007
February 23, 2007
This is the fourth edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 email newsletter for the 2007 General Assembly Session, and is sent to you following the 25th day of the 40 day Session. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my web site www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, which is sent every week or so during the Session, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Would you vote to reinstate “payday loans”, a credit device which allows short term loans, secured by weekly paychecks, that result in annual interest rates of over 390%?
In the 2004 General Assembly session, “payday loans” were effectively prohibited in Georgia, and since that time, Georgia borrowers have been “saved” 150 million dollars of fees and interest. In 2007, a significant effort has been initiated to reinstate the legality of “payday loans” which would provide for regulations and some consumer protections, including a provision that payday loans may not knowingly be made to members of the military, which is similar to a law passed in Congress. The proponents state too many Georgians have no way to borrow money other than high interest short term loans, and opponents argue that the interests rates are too high to be allowed, and greatly exceed Georgia’s criminal usury rate of 60%. The legislation to reintroduce payday loans is HB 163, and will likely come for a vote before the House in the next week.
To reply to the weekly question, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com. Thank you!
Results of past weekly question votes: You have generously responded and “voted” in the past newsletter polls. In the last weekly question, you were asked whether you would vote to fill the 131 million dollar shortfall for PeachCare from the budget surplus for FY 2007, or reduce eligibility for PeachCare and reduce the number of children receiving subsidized healthcare insurance. 142 responders voted to fill the PeachCare shortfall from the surplus, and five voted to reduce eligibility. Please keep responding!
MMO Legislative Activities:
HB 174 prohibiting cell phone use by teenagers while driving a car passed out of the Motor Vehicles Committee and is now before the Rules committee for calendaring on the House floor. As HB 24, redrafting Georgia’s living will and medical directive powers of attorney, moves forward, I am a co-sponsor of new legislation to clarify medical directives for psychiatric medical care in HB 343.
I am also the co-sponsor of new legislation which will mandate a minimum 50 foot buffer on the marshlands along the coast, and legislation to protect Jekyll Island from development over and above the mandated 65% of conserved land and the South beach fragile areas.
HB 336 creates a felony offense for the third conviction for DUI, and I am a co-sponsor of this bill filed this past week.
HR 122 recognizes the 100th anniversary of the Eugenics movement to forcibly sterilized mentally incompetent citizens of criminals of certain crimes–rape or “deviant behavior”. Georgia passed its forced sterilization bill in 1937 and repealed it in 1973. The resolution described this legislative history and expressed “profound regret” for this history, and the committee chair where the bill was assigned has not yet allowed a hearing, but a similar resolution has been introduced in the Senate. Also, HB 114 relating to requiring seatbelts in trucks has not received a House hearing, but a Senate truck seatbelt bill is progressing and will likely pass the Senate. I am involved in all these legislative maneuvers, and many others to help legislation I support move forward.
This week, I hosted an award winning Junior Achievement high school student, Joe Ramos, who “job shadowed” me for the day. Joe came with me to visit the appropriation committee where I was seeking money for local assistance grant monies for local parks in District 83, and to the Women’s Caucus lunch to discuss legislative priorities for women’s health care. He watched the debates in both chambers and helped me with a resolution to invite foster care children to the House floor.
To review any legislation I have introduced, or to watch the live General Assembly Session of committee meetings, go the Georgia General Assembly web site, which lists all bills I have sponsored or co-sponsored.
Events of Interest:
March 6 – I am hosting a leadership group of foster care children before the House.
March 8 - I am hosting Candler students at the Capital who are following specific bills to discuss the legislative progress.
If your group would like to visit the Capital and meet with me, or your child age 12 and older would like to serve as a page, please contact me. And call or email me anytime you have a question about this Session or opinion on any bill. And any suggestions you have about this newsletter format are welcome. Thank you!
Mary Margaret
MMO Third Email Newsletter – 2007 General Assembly Session February 12, 2007
MMO Third Email Newsletter – 2007 General Assembly Session
February 12, 2007
This is the third edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 email newsletter for the 2007 General Assembly Session. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my web site www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, which is sent every week or so during the Session, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Georgia is “short” about 147 million in this budget cycle to pay for Peachcare, the state’s subsidized health insurance program for children of low income working parents. Would you fund the shortfall from the state’s 700 million dollar surplus and continue the children’s health insurance program? Or would you reduce the eligibility criteria and cover fewer children with health insurance?
The current shortfall is caused by the federal formula to reimburse the state’s children’s health insurance program. Presently, the federal government pays 73% of the total cost of the Peachcare services for children, and Georgia has a comparatively high rate of child poverty. About 17 other states are in similar “shortfall” circumstances, and are lobbying Congress in Washington DC to pay additional funds to the states to stabilize the children’s health care program. The Speaker of the Georgia House has introduced legislation to reduce the number of children who will be eligible for services. Should I vote to reduce the number of children eligible for Peachcare, or ask the state budget writers to pay for the shortfall from the current surplus?
To reply to the weekly question, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com. Thank you!
Results of past weekly question votes: You have generously responded and “voted” in the past newsletter polls. In response to whether you would vote to sell beer and wine on Sunday, you voted approximately 10 to one in favor of Sunday sales—110 yes and 10 no. In response to whether you would prohibit cell phone use by teenaged drivers, you were almost unanimous in favor of the prohibition – 97 yes and 4 no. Of the 97 yes votes, 33 said they would prohibit cell phone use by all drivers. Please keep responding!
MMO Legislative Activities:
HB 174 prohibiting cell phone use by teenagers passed out of sub-committee and is now before the full Motor Vehicles committee. HB 24 to redraft Georgia’s living will and medical directive powers of attorney, passed the House and is now before the state Senate. I am a co-sponsor of both these bills, and have been active in the committee process.
At the request of a constituent, I introduced HR 122 to recognize the 100th anniversary of the Eugenics movement to forcibly sterilized mentally incompetent citizens or criminals of certain crimes–rape or “deviant behavior”. Georgia passed its forced sterilization bill in 1937 and repealed it in 1973, and sterilized approximately 3300 citizens against their will in the interim. The resolution described this legislative history and expressed “profound regret” for this policy.
I have introduced new legislation to reduce the annual interest rates for titlepawn transactions from 300 percent to approximately 105 percent and to provide additional protections for the borrower. This consumer protection bill may receive attention along with the current legislative revival of the payday loans.
To review the complete draft of any legislation I have introduced or to watch the live General Assembly Session or committee meetings, go the Georgia General Assembly web site.
Events of Interest:
February 15 - I am meeting with Leadership DeKalb at the Capital to discuss how proposed legislation will effect DeKalb County.
February 17 – I am speaking to medical students and other allied health care students on current legislative issues.
March 8 - I am hosting Candler students at the Capital who are following specific bills to discuss the legislative progress.
If your group would like to visit the Capital and meet with me or have a special tour while we are in Session, or your child age 12 and older would like to serve as a page, please contact me. And call or email me anytime you have a question about this Session or opinion on any bill. Thank you!
House resolution would express 'profound regret' for 1937-1970 eugenics program; passage of measure uncertain
By Jeremy Redmon The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/02/07
Some Georgia lawmakers are calling on the Legislature to apologize for a state program that sterilized prisoners, state mental patients and others as part of the pseudoscientific eugenics movement in the 20th century.
About 3,300 people were sterilized between 1937 and 1970, when Georgia and many other states were seeking to eliminate mental illnesses and physical deformities, according to Paul Lombardo, a Georgia State University law professor and researcher on eugenics.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the passage of Georgia's sterilization law. Some legislators have introduced a resolution calling on the House to declare "its profound regret for Georgia's participation in the eugenics movement and the injustices done under eugenics laws."
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) introduced the resolution, which was drafted by Lombardo.
"The better job we do of recognizing our history, the better job we can possibly do in the future and understand where we need to go," Oliver said.
But the resolution's chances of passing appear dim.
The House has referred the resolution, HR 122, to its Health and Human Services Committee, where Chairman Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta) said it might die.
Cooper called the eugenics movement "unconscionable" and said people should be aware of Georgia's history so the practice is not repeated. But she said her committee is unlikely to hold a hearing on the resolution.
"I'm not sure I agree with one generation apologizing for another generation when all the parties that were involved are long dead," Cooper said. "In the whole world there is lots of history that, seen in today's eyes, we would certainly hope would never be repeated, but it's history. You can't change it."
House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) said he didn't know enough details about the resolution to comment on it, but he said it deserves a hearing.
"Everything should have a fair hearing," Porter said, "whether it is voted out of committee or not."
Several other state legislatures have apologized on behalf of their states' involvement in the eugenics movements, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Oregon and California, Lombardo said. Indiana's legislature is now considering a similar resolution, Lombardo said.
Virginia forcibly sterilized about 8,000 people from 1927 to 1979. In 2002, Virginia's General Assembly apologized for the state's role in the eugenics movement and the "incalculable human damage done in the name of eugenics." That year, then-Gov. Mark Warner offered an apology as well, saying the eugenics movement was "a shameful effort."
Lombardo said the number of forced sterilizations cited in Georgia's resolution comes from a book of essays, "Eugenic Sterilization," compiled by the late Emory University professor Jonas Robitscher. A chart in the book says Georgia sterilized 3,284 people between 1943 and 1963.
Georgia's "eugenic sterilization" law, which created the State Board of Eugenics in 1937, said directors of Georgia prisons and state institutions for the "mentally or physically defective, deficient or diseased" could recommend sterilizations of men or women. Those recommendations, according to the law, should be based on whether the patients or inmates could have children who would have "a tendency to serious physical, mental, or nervous disease or deficiency."
Eugenics also involved the practice of "selective breeding," Lombardo said. Georgia prohibited interracial marriages for 40 years until 1967, when the Supreme Court invalidated the law, Lombardo said.
A public apology could raise awareness about Georgia's troubling history and comfort victims of the forced sterilizations, some of whom might still be alive, Lombardo said.
He said he is undaunted by Cooper's assertion that the bill might die in her committee, saying it took Virginia's legislature about two years to decide on its apology.
Lombardo said: "My feeling is there is no statute of limitations on the need to apologize."
MMO Second Email Newsletter - 2007 General Assembly Session 1/24/07
MMO Second Email Newsletter – 2007 General Assembly Session
January 27, 2007
This is the second edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 email newsletter for the 2007 General Assembly Session. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my web site www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, which is sent every week or so during the Session, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Would you vote to prohibit Class D drivers, 16 and 17 year old new drivers, from using a cell phone while driving a car?
Other legislators and I have introduced HB 174 in a bipartisan effort to prohibit cell phone use by 16 and 17 year old drivers based on the research that demonstrates use of a cell phone is as dangerous as driving with a .08 alcohol blood content, the legal level for presumptive drunk driving. A new study this week from the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital documents the dangerous distractibility of young and inexperienced drivers. To review HB 174 or my pre-filed HB 4, also relating to teenage use of cell phones, you can read the full text of any bill on the General Assembly web site.
To reply to the weekly question, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com : . Thank you!
The 2007 General Assembly re-convened on January 22, 2007, following the MLK holiday and break to conduct hearings on the Governor’s proposed amended 2007 budget and 2008 budget. To follow the progress of the Session, please note that House committee meetings will be available to watch live on the General Assembly website. The House floor proceedings are also available for live viewing, and you are invited to watch the daily debates and hearings.
MMO Legislative Activities:
I previously reported that I am a co-sponsor of HB 24 to redraft Georgia’s living will and medical directive powers of attorney following my participation in a work group over the summer. The first hearing on HB 24 will be Tuesday, at 9:00 am in Room 132 before the Judiciary committee.
I introduced this week HB 114 to require the use of seatbelts in trucks, and the Speaker assigned this bill to the Agriculture committee, an unfriendly political environment for seatbelt legislation. Georgia presently loses 21 million dollars in federal highway safety money because Georgia’s seatbelt law does not require drivers of trucks to use seatbelts. Another companion bill, which also provide that failure to wear seatbelts shall be admissible in evidence to mitigate damages in personal injury litigation is also filed, and represents a bi-partisan effort to correct the expensive gap in our state’s seatbelt law.
The package of legislation I am co-sponsoring to follow-up on my work with the State Bar on reform of judicial elections has been introduced, and is set forth in two bills and a resolution, HB 97 and HB 102, and HR 47. These bills provide public funding options for judicial elections and require non-partisan funding protections.
In 2006, I was a leader to prevent DeKalb County from expanding its bonding authority for public safety facilities without a citizen referendum to increase homeowner property taxes for such purposes. I am a co-sponsor this year of newly filed legislation, HB 181, to protect the homeowners again from DeKalb’s expanded bonding authority.
I am also working with Representative Barry Loudermilk, as co-sponsor on HB 153, to create the authority for juvenile judges to review changes in placement for children in foster care. Frequent placement changes are very damaging to children who are removed from their homes. I am meeting this week with Commissioner of DHR B.J. Walker on this newly filed legislation.
Events of Interest:
January 29 – I am hosting a group of Emory Law students at the Capital to meet with legislators to discuss public interest careers in the traditional political world, and the 2007 Session.
January 31 – The Emory Lavista Parents Council will visit the Capital in the morning, take a tour, and then meet with DeKalb legislators and Sally Fitzgerald from the League of Women Voters to discuss education funding issues for 2007.
February 2 -- I am a member of the Chief Justice of Supreme Court’s Commission on Professionalism, and the Commission meets at the State Bar for its quarterly meeting.
February 7 – I will join former Secretary of State Cathy Cox and her students at UGA law school class on Law and Politics to discuss family and health law legislative issues.
Please call or email me anytime you have a question about this Session or opinion on any bill. And any suggestions you have about this newsletter format are welcome. Thank you!
Mary Margaret
MMO First Email Newsletter–2007 General Assembly Session 1/13/07
MMO First Email Newsletter–2007 General Assembly Session
January 13, 2007
This is the first edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 email newsletter for the 2007 General Assembly Session. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my web site www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, which is sent every week or so during the Session, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Would you vote to allow sale of beer and wine on Sunday in grocery and convenience stores? Based on Georgia’s “blue laws”, liquor may not be sold on Sundays except in restaurants, and only a small minority of states prohibit Sunday sale of beer and wine. To reply to this weekly question, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com. Thank you!
Special Invitation and Event – On January 17 at Viola’s Restaurant at 410B West Ponce de Leon in Decatur, I will be the Celebrity Chef to benefit the Decatur Education Foundation. Please come, have dinner between 6:30 pm and 9:00 pm, and tell me what you want from this year’s General Assembly!
The 2007 General Assembly convened on January 8, 2007, and recessed on January 11 for the MLK holiday and for hearings on January 17 and 18 on the Governor’s amended 2007 and 2008 budget. To review the Governor’s proposed budget in detail please go to http://www.opb.state.ga.us/Budget/AFY07 or http://www.opb.state.ga.us/Budget/AFY08. In later newsletters I will analyze how these budgets will affect DeKalb County.
Also, for your information the House committee meetings will be available to watch live on the General Assembly website. The House floor proceedings are also available for live viewing, and you are invited to watch the daily debates and hearings.
MMO Legislative Activities:
I introduced legislation on January 10, HB 4, to create a new traffic offense of misuse of cell phones while driving that results in an accident. I am also working with a bipartisan group of legislators to prohibit the use of cell phones while driving for Class D drivers, teenagers age 16 and 17, and that proposal will have a bill number after we reconvene January 22
I am co-sponsoring new legislation, HB 24, to revise Georgia’s medical directives and living wills in order to simplify and encourage more planning for medical decisions that individuals and families must make. I was involved over the summer with a work group on these new directives, including Kathy Kinlaw, from the Emory Center on Ethics and Mary Radford, from Georgia State Law School.
I am participating with another group drafting legislation to reform the election process for judges, and to create the public funding option for judicial elections, similar to HB 46 and HB 102 from the 2006 General Assembly.
Events of Interest:
On January 16, MMO will meet with the Juvenile Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia review legislation anticipated in the Juvenile Code for 2007.
On January 17, MMO will be the Chef du Jour at Viola–see invite above–to benefit the Decatur Education Foundation. Please come!!!!
On January 24, MMO, Stephanie Benfield and David Adelman will address the Glenn Memorial Church Wednesday night dinner group about the 2007 Session.
On January 31, MMO will host the Emory LaVista Parents’ Council at the Capital. If you or your group would like to schedule a special visit to the Capital, please let me know–you are invited. And if your child, over age 12, would like to serve as a page, I also invite you to contact me.
Please call or email me anytime you have a question about this Session or opinion on any bill. And any suggestions you have about this newsletter format are welcome. Thank you!
Mary Margaret
MMO Email Newsletter - FINAL REPORT 2006 Session April 5, 2006
This is the sixth and last edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 email newsletter for the 2006 General Assembly Session, sent upon completion of 40 days of this legislative Session. Thank you for your attention to and participation in this year’s legislative work!
I do not regularly send email newsletters when the General Assembly is not is session but if you do not want to receive this email newsletter in the future please visit my website: www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In past newsletters, I asked how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all of your answers.
End of Session Evaluation/Question -- How would you “grade” the 2006 General Assembly? A,B,C,D,or F? What did we do well, and what important issues did we address? What issues did we ignore that you cared about?
2006 Session Wrap-up
Good News -- My favorite bill and success of the 2006 Session is the passage of HB 1066 which expands the number of health screenings for newborn babies to provide for early detection of genetic disorders. This focused legislation will help families prevent unnecessary illnesses in addition to saving money for individuals and tax payers.
I am also pleased that ultimately the General Assembly stopped legislation that was problematic environmentally. SB 510, relating to the narrowing of stream buffers for rivers and reservoirs was defeated on the House floor late in the evening of the Session’s last day.
The Garden Club once again, on the final day, was also successful in protecting our highways from expanded billboards in HB 1097.
The “private cities” legislation, HB 1323, that would allow developers to finance private communities through bonds, after being passed by the House (I voted against it), was never called for a vote in the Senate.
The Atlanta Gas Light Gas Light Company’s effort to build a 300 million dollar gas pipeline, HB 1325, was also stopped in the Senate. This legislation created a direct opportunity for one company’s expansion without appropriate Public Service Commission oversight.
The Eminent Domain legislation, HB 1313, passed and fairly restricted the governments’ rights to take private properties through eminent domain. This important legislation was crafted after extensive attention by the House Judiciary committee.
Legislation to reduce class size for 4th and 5th graders passed in HB 1358, after being stalled for the past two years.
Good/Bad News -- SB 382, to create new child support guidelines, passed without the worst provisions relating to “parenting time units,” meaning the non-custodial parent could reduce child support based on a daily formula of how many hours were spent directly with the child, and modification provisions of existing child support orders. I voted against the final draft, however, because it will reduce child support, in many cases significantly, for middle and upper middle income parents, primarily women. For the most accurate description of the political process that resulted in the final bill, review the April 2, 2006 lead editorial of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. www.ajc.com/sunday/content/epaper/editions/sunday/opinion
SB 529, relating to “immigration reform”, represented a final compromise that, in effect, restates federal law, and offers no meaningful solutions. Based on the extensive messages I received on SB 529 from constituents, and the negative political messages sent by the bill’s proponents, I voted against the final proposals. I am hopeful that the national discussion will result in the United States Congress passing some form of a guest worker permit with a process for ultimate citizenship.
Anti-abortion legislation was also a mixed result, with the SB 429 mandatory ultrasound for women seeking an abortion not passing into law, but the “Pharmacist Conscience” HB 1178 passing. The HB 1178 version of the Pharmacist Conscience bill granted narrow employee protections to pharmacists who refused to fill an a short list of emergency “morning after” pills because he/she did not believe a possible pregnancy should be terminated. The final draft that passed represented a narrowing of the impact and a compromise.
Bad News – An amendment to SB 136, to restrict the incarceration of unruly, truant, and status juvenile offenders, was eliminated from the bill based on lobbying from juvenile judges. Mandatory sentencing for sex offenders, and an overboard expansion of probation and parole of offenders as set forth in HB 1059, will cost too much money with limited protections for children. Mandatory sentences can be particularly onerous for younger offenders, and do not allow the courts sufficient discretion for a wide range of crimes, some of which relate to consensual sex acts.
SB 390, the Governor’s proposal to spend 65% of education money in the “classroom”, passed and will hurt the local control opportunity for school districts to decide priorities. This measure nationally has no rational relationship to children’s educational achievement, and was opposed by both Decatur and DeKalb School Boards.
For one more year, the title pawn industry that charges 300 percent interest on pawn transactions escaped with any real consumer protection reforms despite a well publicized study committee process and extensive press coverage. My legislation, HB 675, that would have lowered the interest rate by one-half was never called for a hearing.
MMO Legislative Activities -- I continued my committee work and was successful with amendments to and the restructuring of SB 420 – the Care of a Grandchild Act, and solutions to the child support guidelines legislation. In the Governmental Affairs committee, I was involved through the final days in the legislative creation of the new cities of Chattahoochee Hills and South Fulton in Fulton County. These measures will allow Fulton voters to choose to create new cities or be annexed to existing cities, and provide a helpful primer for possible cities in DeKalb that will surely be proposed next year.
My Guardianship reform bill that I proposed on behalf of the State Bar of Georgia passed, but the treatment of under-age prostitutes by the Juvenile Court did not. HB 847 passed and included the legislation I offered on the age to marry and procedures relating to emancipation for which I was an active co-sponsor.
In local legislation, I was successful in stopping DeKalb county’s efforts to expand its bonding authority without a referendum for public safety projects that would have added to property tax bills. This measure was also very contentious, including a House floor vote at 11:00 pm of the last night of the Session.
Capitol and Community Events -- On Tuesday, March 14 I spoke at the WAND/ White House Project’s 8 in ’08 panel discussion. The White House Project is a national, nonpartisan, non-for-profit organization, that aims to advance women’s leadership in all communities and sectors, up to the U.S. presidency.
On Wednesday, March 15, 2006, Tracie Lee Dean, of Decatur, Georgia, was recognized by me and Justice P. Harris Hines of the Georgia Supreme Court before the Georgia House of Representatives with House Resolution 1603, and was presented with the Dignity Memorial® Escape School Good Samaritan Award. Ms. Dean is the local hero, who, acting on her own instinct, was responsible for the rescue of two children in Alabama from abusive felons. Ms. Dean humbly accepted the honor and award, and dedicated them to groups that serve to protect Georgia’s children everyday, such as Our House in Decatur, where she serves as a Board member, and R.E.C.O.N. (Rescuing Endangered Children via an Organized Network).
On April 10th, I will speak to the Castlegate Garden Club in Victoria Estates and to the Hunting Hills Garden Club on April 25th to give 2006 legislative wrap-ups. If you would like me to address your community group please let me know.
Please contact me with any questions that you may have about the Session or any opinion that you may have regarding a bill. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve you in the 83rd House District, and I will qualify again this month for re-election to the 2007-2008 term of the General Assembly. Thank you!
OUR OPINION: VITAL SUPPORT: Fairness takes custody of bill
Child support guidelines change in a way that's a victory for the children of divorce Staff Sunday, April 2, 2006
Following a tumultuous 48 hours of tense negotiations and intense politicking over guidelines on child support, the children of Georgia gained critical ground in the legislation approved Thursday by the Georgia General Assembly.
Whether because of political pressure from the governor's office or twinges of conscience, the House stripped the new guidelines of the most damaging provisions to children before approving them in a 158 to 14 vote. The House scuttled the contentious dollar-for-days parenting time adjustment that would have granted noncustodial parents a break for spending extra time with their offspring. Lawyers predicted a record-keeping nightmare, saying parents would have to keep Blockbuster and Krispy Kreme receipts to show evidence to the courts that they'd had their child overnight and for breakfast the next day.
The House also struck the parts of the bill that would have permitted virtually all noncustodial parents, even those with existing support agreements, to go back to court to try to lower their obligations. Now, the guidelines specify that the courts will only reopen child support cases if there is a "substantial change in either parents' income and the financial status or needs of the child" --- a higher bar to reach and the one now in current law.
Noncustodial parents were not sent home completely empty-handed. They succeeded in changing the formula that Georgia will use to calculate support. Georgia will switch from a percentage-of-income model that considers the noncustodial parent's income to an income-shares approach that cites the incomes of both parents.
Advocates for the change mistakenly argued that under Georgia's system only noncustodial parents, largely fathers, bear responsibility for their children's expenses. Studies of the percentage-of-income model show that custodial parents support their children with their incomes in the same proportion that the noncustodial parents do; their financial contributions just aren't spelled out in the court agreement.
Nor did advocates understand that the actual formula is not as important in setting support as the economic assumptions about the costs of raising a child that underpin it. Unfortunately, the House did not address the economic tables created for the new guidelines. The tables hold the greatest potential for harm because they only reflect the basic necessities of child rearing and exclude the summer camps, baseball leagues and weekend trips to museums typical in middle-class families.
As a result, the tables will likely produce less support for middle- to upper-income households, creating what state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) warned will be a "rich house, poor house" dichotomy for children of high-earning fathers and lower-earning mothers. "I am disappointed that there has been so little attention to the real economic impact of the tables," she said.
But, overall, the House amendments to the child support guidelines provide more protections for children. They also represent a stinging and surprising defeat for the architect of the guidelines, House Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs).
Ehrhart had assumed the guidelines would breeze through the Legislature without dissent, and he punctuated that certainty with chilly glances at any colleagues brave enough to raise objections, including the heroic Rep. Mack Crawford (R-Concord). As Rules Committee chair, Ehrhart controls which bills see the light of day. Either legislators curry his favor or end up adrift on an ice floe in a legislative Siberia.
However, in the last few days, several political fronts coalesced to challenge both Ehrhart and the guidelines. Finally, critics weighed in, including the governor, and GOP women such as Rep. Jan Jones (R-Alpharetta).
That they succeeded in killing two of the worst aspects of the guidelines reflects the GOP's belated realization that botching child support --- an issue that affects many families --- could cost the party the support of moderate female voters in November.
That it took the Republicans so long to wake up to that fact shows that they have taken these women for granted for far too long.
Lobbyists rule: No naked steaks March 31, 2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Ben Smith
"No Varsity!" exclaimed Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur). Since sometime in the 1970s -- nobobdy seems to know the exact date -- Georgia House members have on closing day ordered hamburgers and hot dogs from the famous Atlatna eatery.
Bill poised to halt jail time for kids in nonviolent acts March 28, 2006
Atlanta-Journal Constitution Jill Young Miller
"Nonviolent children with minimum offenses ... don't need to be locked up with people who are selling crack, stabbing or raping people," said Rep. Ronald Forster (R-Ringgold), who, with Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), authored a key amendment to the bill.
Legislature 2006: IN BRIEF March 24, 2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Speaker says no to pickup seat belts
House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) shot down a bid to mandate that pickup truck drivers and passengers wear seat belts. Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) tried to attach the mandate to an unrelated bill on state police vehicles.
After $32 million, computer in limbo; Legislators want to see progress in tracking children March 24, 2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Craig Schneider
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), among the project's sharper critics, said she is asking for greater legislative oversight over SACWIS. She worries that spending on the project has gotten out of hand and that the project will not produce the expected benefits for children.
Sex Offenders won't Vanish for Good March 23, 2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution EDITORIAL, OUR OPINIONS
"Protection of children will be afforded by intensive supervision upon release, not unrealistic sentences or attempts to banish offenders, which will not work in the real world," says state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), one of the Legislature's experts on juvenile justice. "Treatment can work, particularly for younger offenders."
Put Divorce Bill on Permanent Hold March 22, 2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The problem is that protracting a divorce may add to a child's misery, not lessen it. "Every single day a divorce goes on, children are hurt by the conflict," state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), a family law attorney.
MMO Email Newsletter 5 March 10, 2006
MMO Email Newsletter No. 5, 2006 Session
This is the fifth edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 email newsletter for the 2006 General Assembly Session, sent upon completion of 29 days of this legislative Session. The Georgia Constitution limits the annual Session to 40 days, and last year the General Assembly adjourned after 39 days. I anticipate that the 2006 Session will end around March 28. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my website: www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all of your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly Question: Should Dunwoody be able to incorporate as a city without the input of all DeKalb residents? Should the Georgia General Assembly allow Dunwoody to incorporate without appropriate fiscal and operational review and consideration by the other affected citizens of DeKalb County?
Currently, the General Assembly is considering several bills and proposals that would allow for the incorporation or re-incorporation of cities in DeKalb County. Senate Bill 566 would create a new charter for the City of Doraville, Senate Bill 567 would re-incorporate the City of Chamblee, and Senate Bill 568 could incorporate the city of Dunwoody. This bill would take substantial tax revenue from DeKalb County, in part, because it includes the commercial area of Perimeter Mall. If the City of Dunwoody is created by the General Assembly and approved by the voters of Dunwoody, I predict there will be additional cities created in the unincorporated areas of DeKalb as is the new pattern in Fulton County. Is this the preference of voters and taxpayers? For the full text of this or any other bill, please visit the General Assembly website at: http://www.legis.state.ga.us.
Legislative Successes of the Week: On Thursday, March 2, HB1021, relating to the juvenile court’s treatment of minors charged with prostitution, passed out of a Judiciary Subcommittee and now moves to full committee. A public hearing was held during which testimony in favor of the bill was presented by the Barton Child Law Clinic, the Mayor’s Office of Atlanta, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, and other community agencies. The bill passed out of the Subcommittee unanimously.
Also, HB 1464, referred to as "Peachcare for All Kids," which would create universal healthcare for all children, was introduced and received broad bi-partisan and community support at a press conference held by VOICES for Georgia’s Children. I am a co-sponsor of the bill and will work with legislators in a year-long coalition to broaden support for this important piece of legislation. The proposal will raise the eligibility for working parents to purchase health insurance for their children at a more affordable rate, and allow Georgia to receive a greater share of federal dollars for children's healthcare.
MMO Legislative Activities: I have continued to work with other Judiciary committee members on refining the Governor's legislative proposal to reform eminent domain laws. The committee has met for over 20 hours on these complicated issues, and HB 1313 passed the House on March 9, and now moves forward to the Senate. The sometimes tedious and detailed work of the committee process is the key element to all the legislative processes during any Session. As a member of the minority party in the House, the committee process offers the best opportunities for me to contribute, and I have enjoyed the work of all my committee assignments. Chairs of both the Judiciary committee and the Governmental Affairs committee have included me in many projects, and I am always in attendance. In general, about 50% of committee members attend committee meetings.
I have been appointed to a Judiciary committee subcommittee on the Child support calculations legislation, and this effort is moving forward. I have voted against lowering child support for children, and the current draft of the proposals particularly targets middle income families, and will create more litigation for families in transition. Another problematic provision of the current draft of SB 382 will allow automatic reductions of child support based on the number of days the non-custodial parent "visits" with his or her child. This "days for dollars" provision is opposed by most women’s and child advocacy groups.
I continue to help the cities of DeKalb County negotiate on a more equitable basis with the county to purchase services. Under the local delegation rules, ten members of the House delegation must sign as co-sponsors of the local legislation I am sponsoring on this issue, and I have obtained the necessary signatures for this bill to move forward to the Senate.
Capitol and Community Events: On February 28, I attended the Fernbank Elementary PTA meeting at Fernbank Elementary. The meeting was also attended by Representative Stuckey Benfield and Senator David Adelman, and included a good discussion of school funding issues, physical education, and special education services. If you would like me to visit your PTA or community group, please let me know.
On Monday, March 13, The League of Women Voters will hold a public forum regarding the City of Dunwoody proposal. This will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church on the I-85 access road between Clairmont and North Druid Hills roads, at 7:00 p.m..
On Tuesday, March 14, I will present with a panel of speakers for WAND (Women’s Action for New Directions) and the White House Project, to review issues of the 2006 Session and its impact on women.
On Wednesday, March 15, I will host Ms. Tracie Lee Dean at the Capitol who will be recognized by the House, and a Resolution will be read in her honor. Ms. Dean is the local hero, who, acting on her personal intuition, was responsible for the rescue of two children in Alabama from an abusive and criminal caregiver. Justice Harris Hines of the Georgia Supreme Court will participate in this ceremony.
In the last two weeks I have hosted two Pages at the Capitol: Allison Herzog, who attends Renfro Middle School, and Jason Wilkins, from Lakeside. Any school child over the age of 12 is welcome to apply to Page at the Capitol. If you are interested, please go to the House website to download an application.
Ethical responsibility wanes; Sadly, legislators focus on power, forget the people March 1, 2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Bill Bozarth
In 2004, the Republican Senate passed Perdue's ethics reform bill. Under the leadership of Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), the House Judiciary Committee endorsed that bill with unanimous bipartisan support and added campaign finance reform measures.
Let teens marry -- when age is ripe February 24, 2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"You just have so much potential for abuse with the marriages of a 15-year-old or a 12-year-old," says state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur). "We had older men impregnating and lawfully marrying girls who were 13, 14 and 15 to avoid statutory rape charges."
MMO Email Newsletter 4 February 24, 2006
This is the fourth edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 email newsletter for the 2006 General Assembly Session, sent upon completion of 23 days of this legislative Session. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my website: www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all of your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly Question: Should lawmakers be prohibited from receiving gifts from lobbyists? Should lobbyists be able to supply lawmakers with airline tickets, concert tickets, and free plane rides, for example, as has been recently reported. Currently, gifts, including meals, but excluding token marketing gifts such as caps or coffee mugs given to all legislators, must be reported and are listed on the Secretary of State web site for each legislator. Is disclosure of gifts to legislators a sufficient protection for the public, or should all gifts be prohibited?
Last year the General Assembly passed additional ethics provisions that increase disclosure, but refused to pass a gift ban or place a dollar limit on meals provided to legislators from lobbyists. This session I have introduced HB 1383, which would place a $50 limit on individual lobbyists’ meals to legislators and prohibit all other gifts, such as concert and sporting event tickets and free airplane rides. For the full text of this or any other bill, please visit the General Assembly website at: http://www.legis.state.ga.us.
Legislative Success of the Week: This week MMO celebrates two legislative successes. The Garden Club members have once again won against the billboard industry! I was happy to join a bi-partisan effort to defeat the HB1097, that would have threatened native plants and birds, and expanded the rights of the billboard industry to cut trees along highway rights of way. The House leadership supported the billboard owners and a surprising vote by rank-and-file members overturned their wishes.
With continued good debate on age limitations for marriage, HB 1023, which repeals the parental consent exception for marriage in the case of pregnancy, passed the House with broad bi-partisan support this week. I was quoted in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution in an editorial piece on February 24 speaking on behalf of the bill (http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/0224edteen.html).
MMO Legislative Activities: I introduced HB 675 relating to the reform and regulation of the title pawn industry in the 2005 session. This issue has been given some coverage from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, both in an article published on February 21 entitled “Title pawn lenders pull out wallets, Politicians who get cash say they can’t be bought” (http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/0221metpawn.html) as well as in an Op-editorial that I wrote, for the AJC, entitled “State must set borders for title pawn industry” (http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/0221edoliver.html). There are currently several drafts of title pawn bills floating around the Capitol that are written by the industry lobbyists that I oppose, and I am working with Georgia Consumer Watch and the AARP, to provide more meaningful protections to consumers.
I also introduced HB 1383, mentioned above, that would place a $50 cap on meals provided to legislators from individual lobbyists. This bill has been assigned to the House Ethics committee, and I have requested a hearing from Chairman Joe Wilkerson.
I continue to work on HB 1021, relating to the juvenile court’s treatment of minors charged with prostitution, and I anticipate a public hearing on this bill next week. A meeting was held last week by the Mayor’s Task Force to End Child Prostitution at the law offices of Powell Goldstein and a substitute bill with minor changes was discussed and reviewed.
HB 1130, relating to guardianship law amendments, has passed out of the House Judiciary committee and has moved to House Rules Committee, and hopefully will soon be put on a calendar for a vote by the House.
I also participated this week in floor debate to oppose HB 1325, which was proposed on behalf of the Atlanta Gas Light Company. The bill seeks to bypass the oversight of the Public Service Commission and allow Atlanta Gas Light to build a $300 million pipeline from Savannah and northwards, and pay for the pipeline by charging consumers a monthly surcharge.
I have also chaired a sub-committee for the Science and Technology Committee regarding HB1307, relating to web-based electronic publishing of state agency rules and regulations.
I appeared today with Julia Levy, Executive Director of the Decatur Preservation Alliance, before the House Appropriations subcommittee, to request a grant of state funding to assist the Alliance’s purchase of adjoining land for the Woodlands project.
And finally, in relation to local legislation, I am working with Bill Floyd, Mayor of Decatur, and the other mayors of cities in DeKalb county, to pass legislation that would alter the costs of services that residents of cities in DeKalb pay for services provided by DeKalb County. The special service district statute has not been updated to reflect the current operations of the cities and the county for many years. And, I continue to ask questions about DeKalb County’s request for 30 million dollars of additional bonds for the Public Safety Bonding Authority.
Capitol and Community Events: On Tuesday February 21 and Wednesday February 22, I met with two of Dr. Louise Bill’s Community Intervention classes from Kennesaw State University. The classes were visiting the Capitol to learn how to influence public policy and learn more about current issues affecting them and their communities.
On Thursday, February 23, I attended the DeKalb Delegation Public Hearing held in the Manual Maloof Building of the DeKalb County Government Building.
On Tuesday, February 28, I will attend the Fernbank PTA meeting at Fernbank Elementary at 7:00 pm with Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield and Senator David Adelman.
In the last two weeks I have hosted three Pages at the Capitol: Emma Claire Macon, Grace Herndon, and Jimmy Dilz. Any school child over the age of 12 is welcome to apply to be a Page at the Capitol. If you are interested, please go to the Georgia General Assembly, House website to download an application.
Please contact me with any questions that you may have about the Session or any opinion that you may have regarding a bill. Thank you!
By MARY MARGARET OLIVER Published on: 02/21/06 During last week's legislative session, Republican leaders demonstrated once again how insider politics and legislation drafted in the back room are commonplace under the Gold Dome. Legislation drafted by industry lobbyists and the lawmakers who have accepted record-high campaign contributions from title lending interests replaced a bill that would have finally brought real reform to title pawn lending.
Georgia is one of only two states that do not regulate title pawn lending. Every other lender in this state can charge no more than 60 percent interest under Georgia's criminal usury statutue. Title lenders charge as much as 300 percent. Georgia is the only state that allows title pawn lenders to repossess a borrower's car, sell it and keep all of the proceeds.
In the state House, the three lawmakers with the most power to make or break title pawn lending regulation are also the top three recipients of campaign contributions from the industry: House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), Rep. James Mills (R-Gainesville) and Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs). The state's top two elected officials, Gov. Sonny Perdue and Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, have accepted more than $20,000 each from these companies.
When bills to regulate were on the table, the title pawn industry lavished lawmakers such as Ehrhart, who drafted last week's substitute legislation, with flights on their corporate jets and enormous campaign contributions. In fact, the industry gave $328,310 to lawmakers with the power to kill or weaken laws that would affect their business, more than twice what was given in the previous two years.
These legislators are now carrying forward a substitute bill on behalf of the title pawn industry, allegedly to provide consumer protections. In truth, this will cement the industry's stranglehold on low-income, hard-working Georgians who are paying 300 percent interest, the highest in the nation, to borrow money using their car titles as collateral. They are attempting to create regulatory oversight of these loans in the Department of Banking and Finance, not the Office of Consumer Protection.
The current substitute eliminates any regulatory oversight by local governments and does not just fail to address the interest rates, but also arguably eliminates the 300 percent cap on rates.
We have been told that the title pawn industry provides "good service" to low-income families, who need short-term cash and would otherwise go to loan sharks on the street. Because this industry did not even exist 15 years ago, I doubt who the real loan sharks are in Georgia.
I admire the industry's sophistication and ability to generate profits, but I am weary of it controlling the process and the legislative product in the General Assembly. The title pawn industry's latest legislative substitute draft never had a public hearing, and copies of the draft were not shared with legislators who have worked in the area or lobbyists working on behalf of consumers.
We must pass meaningful reform of title pawn loans. These lenders are taking advantage of innocent Georgia families. This is a problem that transcends party affiliation and racial boundaries. The same state leaders who have the power to rewrite bills that would provide meaningful regulation can also use that power to fast-track legislation that would protect our constituents.
In a time when Washington is consumed with a scandal born in hardball lobbying and excesses of campaign cash, we can ill afford our own Georgia version. But this revelation about one industry's attempt to buy favor with the top leaders of our government is starting to sound awfully familiar.
Top Democrats call for ban on lobbysists' gifts February 16, 2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution By Sonji Jacobs
This bill . . . is a moderate, sensible, good, well-worded ban on gifts to legislators, with provisions that will allow the reasonable meal-entertainment that is part of our business and social life at the Capitol," said Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), the bill's sponsor.
Title Pawn Lenders pull out wallets, politicians who get cash say they can't be bought February 12, 2006
Atlanta Journal-Consitution By Alan Judd, Ann Hardie
The wave of title pawn money has had an obvious impact, said state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur). She sponsored a bill that would have significantly lowered the maximum interest rate on title pawns.
PSC perk unlikely to pass - Bill would help with expenses of one member February 9, 2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution By: Nancy Badertscher, Margaret Newkirk
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) said this could grant a "$40,000 benefit to one person. Is that a policy we should be passing on the floor of the House?"
Eldridge, Kemp are remembered February 7, 2006
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Reports
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), who also served previously in the state Senate, said Eldridge "carried out the part of the Scripture that says: 'You must do justice. You must love kindness, and you must walk humbly.'"
Bill would imprison predators 25 years February 3, 2006
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Nancy Badertscher, Carlos Campos
State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) cautioned about the potential consequences, citing the case of Marcus Dixon, a teen athlete whose felony conviction of aggravated child molestation and stautory rape and 10-year prison sentnece were overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court in 2004. Under this legislation, Dixon would face a 25-year sentence, Oliver said.
MMO Email Newsletter 3 February 12, 2006
This is the third edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 email newsletter for the 2006 General Assembly Session, sent upon completion of 16 days this legislative Session. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my website: www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all of your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly Question: Should the lawful use of “deadly force” as defined by SB 396 be extended by Georgia Law similarly to the “castle law” passed by the state of Florida? Should a person be immune from civil and criminal prosecution if he or she “stands his ground, or fails to retreat” and kills another person in response to attack or threat, not just at home, but at any other lawful place. And should a person be additionally immune from civil liability for shooting someone to defend property, instead of defending body or life?
Currently Georgia law allows for the defense of the use of deadly force when one is attacked at his or her home to protect himself personally, or another person from harm. A bill, SB 396 would extend the definition of “self-defense” to allow the use of deadly force against an attacker at any place that a person has a right to be, so long as the firearm used is legal. The bill would also protect the shooter from any civil liability for defending property. Will this make the citizens of Georgia safer because it will deter criminals who know they can be shot for stealing property, or by someone who perceives a threat? Or, will it endanger the lives of Georgians by making the use of firearms more excusable? What do you think?
SB 396 is introduced on behalf of the National Rifle Association, NRA, as is HB 998, that makes it illegal for your employer to prohibit an employee have a gun in his or her car on company property. HB 998 is opposed by Emory University and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. For the full text of any Bill, please go to the General Assembly Website at www.legis.state.ga.us.
Legislative Success of the Week: The House of the General Assembly favorably voted this week on HB 1066 that expands the number of health screenings for newborn babies to provide for early detection of many more genetic disorders thereby preventing later health consequences and costs. Currently, Georgia screens for 13 disorders and the legislation would expand this number to 29, as recommended by the American College of Medical Genetics. This improvement in the law is based, in part, on the pioneering genetic research conducted at Emory Medical School by Dr. Skip Elsas.
MMO legislative activities: HB 675, legislation relating to title pawn transactions I introduced in 2005, is being addressed in a substitute bill authored by the chairman of the Banks and Banking committee. I am opposing this substitute because it fails to limit the high interest rates of pawns and provide other meaningful consumer protections.
HB 102 calls for public funding of judicial elections, and HB 46 limits political party contributions to non-partisan judicial state-wide elections. They will be referred to study committee on issues of judicial elections that will be considered over the summer.
I continue to work of HB 1021 relating to the juvenile court’s treatment of minors charged with prostitution, and I anticipate a public hearing on this bill soon. And the House Judiciary committee will soon schedule a hearing for HB 1130, relating to guardianship law amendments. Finally, MMO led the opposition on the House floor, which was successful, to defeat legislation that would have granted a $45,000 benefit to one member of the Public Service Commission, who was seeking a daily per diem reimbursement for his service.
Capitol and Community Events: On Monday, January 30, MMO hosted a group of first year law students from Emory Law School at the Capitol for dinner. Senators David Adelman and Sam Zamarripa also joined to class to speak about current legislation facing the General Assembly.
On Tuesday, January 31, MMO spoke to the Sagamore Hills Civic Association at Sagamore Elementary regarding eminent domain and infill development.
On Wednesday, February 1, MMO addressed FAMA, a church group for lunch regarding children’s health care at the historic Shrine of Immaculate Conception. That evening she met with foster care children visiting the Capitol in conjunction with CASA legislative advocacy activities.
On Monday of this week, MMO was asked by the Speaker of the House to speak from the well in honor of former State Senator Frank Eldridge who passed away last week while serving as Secretary of the Senate. MMO also met on Wednesday with a north Georgia girl scout group touring the Capital to talk about women in politics in Georgia. On behalf of the DeKalb delegation, MMO is evaluating the county’s request to expand bonding authority for the DeKalb Public Safety Authority. Initially, the DeKalb Public Safety Authority was empowered to issue 50 million dollars in bonds, and the county is seeking additional authority for 30 million for new projects; and this authority may only be granted by the Georgia General Assembly in general legislation. Also, MMO joined Dr. Barbara Stoll, Chair of Pediatrics for Emory Medical School, and Emory physicians and residents for lunch on Thursday in relation to medical education and family practice issues.
Please contact me with any questions that you may have about the Session or any opinion that you may have regarding a bill. Thank you! Representative Mary Margaret Oliver Georgia General Assembly District 83 Legislative Office Building 18 Capitol Square Suite 604 Atlanta, FA 30334 Phone: (404) 656-0265
MMO Email Newsletter 2 February 1, 2006
This is the second edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 email newsletter for the 2006 General Assembly Session, sent upon completion of 9 days of this 40 day Session. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my website www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Should the state require local school districts to spend at least 65% of their federal, state, and local budget “in the classroom?” Or, should the state determine how local school boards spend local money? Expenses that are defined to be “in the classroom” include salaries and benefits for teachers and para-professionals, costs for instructional materials and supplies, and costs associated with classroom related activities, such as field trips, athletics, music, and arts.
Other essential costs of operating schools are excluded, such as costs for administration, plant operations and maintenance, food services, transportation, school libraries and media centers, teacher training, and student support such as nurses and guidance counselors. Currently, Georgia schools average about 63% of their budget on “in the classroom” expenditures, and both Decatur and DeKalb School systems oppose this budget proposal, based on the need for “local control”. This bill is also opposed by most school boards and would disproportionately affect different parts of the state. A small, rural, town may have high transportation costs per student, which would automatically put them at a disadvantage at reaching the 65% mark. Are transportation and lunch necessary to learn? Are guidance counselors, librarians, and school nurses vital to the safety and well-being of our children? Does the “65% Rule” help children learn, focus local school boards on the classroom, or is it a gimmick that is meaningless? What do you think?
MMO Legislative Activities: A sub-committee of Judiciary held a hearing on HB 945 on January 26, to remove the parental permission exception for minors to marry. I also introduced HB 1021 during the first week of the Session that prohibits the prosecution of teenagers for prostitution who are less than 17 years old, and defines in the Juvenile Court Code the term “victim of commercial sexual exploitation”. I hosted a meeting at the Capital on January 23 to discuss technical issues of the bill and gather input from community advocates including the Atlanta mayor’s office, the Juvenile Justice Fund, The Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic, and the District Attorney’s office. The group is discussing how to ensure counseling and other services for teenage prostitutes who are likely to run away from non-secure detention.
I introduced also this week new legislation, HB 1130, to amend Georgia’s Guardianship law at the request of the State Bar of Georgia, Fiduciary Law Section. I was the primary sponsor of a comprehensive reform of the Guardianship law in 2004, and this new bill follows-up to correct and improve provisions of the new law. The probate judges across the state are reviewing these changes.
Legislation I introduced in 2005 that did not pass last year, is still available for action in this second year of this two year term of the General Assembly. In future newsletters I will report of any activity on HB 675 relating to reforms of the title pawn industry, HB 879 regarding sale of used cars, HB 102 calling for public funding of judicial elections, and HB 46 which limits political party contributions to non-partisan judicial state-wide elections. For the full text of any Bill please go to the General Assembly Website at: www.legis.state.ga.us.
Capital and Community Events
MMO hosted a cub scout troop from the Northlake area for a tour of the Capital, with parents and troop leaders, and to observe the debate in the State Senate on the Voter ID bill. Professor David Jenkins’ class from Candler Theology School were also MMO’s special guests to discuss legislation impacting children. If your group would like to visit the Capital for a special tour, please let me know.
On Tuesday, January 31, MMO will speak to the Sagamore Hills Civic Association at Sagamore Elementary School at 7:30 pm.
On Wednesday for lunch, MMO will address a church group about children’s health care at the historic Shrine of Immaculate Conception, and that evening will meet with foster care children who are visiting the Capital in conjunction with CASA legislative advocacy activities. Later, MMO joins DeKalb County’s monthly Meet-up session for Georgians for Democracy to talk about pending legislation.
On January 29, from 10 am to 3 pm, and on January 30, from 9 am to 5 pm, Emory Recycles will collect old computer equipment, microwave ovens, batteries and other equipment that requires special disposal at the front of the parking area of the Emory West campus on Briarcliff Road.
Please contact me with any questions that you may have about the Session or any opinion that you may have regarding a bill. Thank you!
Impartiality key to policing utility rates January 26, 2006
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Stan Wise
Not one option under consideration "guts" the staff that would fight utility rate increases. One option calls for an independent staff that would present an impartial case, for or against the utility, based on sound evidence. A second option places the advisory staff on equal footing with the adversary staff, and they would no longer report to one another. A thrid alternative, once proposed by state Rep. Mary Margaet Oliver (D-Decatur), would create a public advocacy staff that would be housed under a separate agency, such as the consumers utility counsel. States all across the country use each of these models.
Bills give victim more right to use force January 23, 2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Nancy Badertscher, Sonji Jacobs
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), an attorney, said: "I am very concerned about any legislation that expands the perception that people should use guns against other people.
"There's too much gun irresponsibility, and there are too many trigger-happy people for me to feel comfortable giving people the perception they can shoot people in their yard anytime they want to."
Bill extends wait time for divorce; Counseling for couples with kids required January 20, 2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Sonji Jacobs
State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), a House Judiciary Committee member, said that she supports the mandatory class for divorcing parents, but opposes the waiting period provision in the bill. "Every case is individual and personal," Oliver said. "A general waiting period only provides that the government interferes further with people's personal lives."
MMO Email Newsletter 1, 2006 General Assembly Session January 13, 2006
This is the first edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 email newsletter for the 2006 General Assembly Session. If you do not want to receive this email newsletter please visit my web site www.marymargaretoliver.org to unsubscribe.
In each newsletter, which is sent every week or so during the Session, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Would you vote to repeal the parental permission exception to the statute that allows minors to marry? The existing exception allows minors to marry only with parental permission, unless the female of the marrying couple is pregnant.
Other legislators and I have introduced legislation to preserve the right of parents to give or withhold his or her permission for their child to marry even if the female is pregnant. For the full text of HB 945 relating this question, visit www.legis.state.ga.us. This is the General Assembly website where you can review any bill or watch the General Assembly live, as discussed below.
In 1962, the exception for parental permission for pregnancy for minors to marry was added to the law when the age of ability to marry was raised from age 14 from 16. To reply to the weekly question, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com. Thank you!
The 2006 General Assembly convened on January 9, 2006, and recessed on January 13 for the MLK holiday and for hearings on January 17 and 18 on the Governor’s amended 2006 budget. For an excellent analysis of the proposed 2006 amended and the 2007 budgets, you may visit the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute website http://www.gbpi.org/facts.htm. In later newsletters I will analyze how these budgets will affect DeKalb County.
Also, for the first time, the House committee meetings will be available to watch live on the General Assembly website. The House floor proceedings are also available for live viewing, and you are invited to watch the daily debates and hearings.
MMO Legislative Activities:
I introduced legislation on January 11, HB 945, to remove the parental permission exception for minors to marry as discusses above. I also introduced HB 1021 that prohibits the prosecution of teenagers for prostitution who are less than 17 years old , and defines in the Juvenile Court Code the term victim of commercial sexual exploitation. Minors less than 16 do not have the legal capacity to engage in sexual relations, so how can they be prosecuted for prostitution? Are 15 year olds who are engaged in prostitution victims of statutory rape or criminals? This legislation comes from the requests of advocates working with the City of Atlanta’s Task Force on teenage prostitution, and in consultation with child psychiatrists in community public health programs.
Legislation I introduced in 2005 that did not pass last year, is still available for action in this second year of this two year term of the General Assembly. In future newsletters I will report of any activity on HB 675 relating to reforms of the title pawn industry, HB 879 regarding sale of used cars, HB 102 calling for public funding of judicial elections, and HB 46 which limits political party contributions to non-partisan judicial state-wide elections.
Events of Interest:
On January 7, MMO and other DeKalb legislators met with representatives of middle DeKalb neighborhood associations at the Decatur Library to discuss the DeKalb County form of government and the status of efforts regarding infill development. Please let me know if you would like me to visit your neighborhood or interest group.
On January 9, the DeKalb delegation met to discuss the idea of the City of DeKalb and the City of Dunwoody. No specific legislation has been filed on these proposals but discussions are under way.
On January 11, MMO, Stephanie Benfield and David Adelman addressed the Glenn Memorial Church Wednesday night dinner group about the 2006 Session.
Please call or email me anytime you have a question about this Session or opinion on any bill. And any suggestions you have about this newsletter format are welcome. Thank you!
From the Atlanta-Journal Constitution By: CHRISTINE VAN DUSEN and BILL RANKIN
"It's embarrassing to have the weakest 'consumer protection' bill in the nation," said Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), who tried to offer amendments but was rebuffed.
MMO Email Newsletter 5 March 17, 2005
This is the fifth edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 newsletter for the 2005 legislative session.
Weekly Survey Question: Do you think insurance companies providing medical insurance should be required to pay for certain medical procedures like mamograms, diabetes screening, or minimum two day stay in the hospital for delivery of a baby? (These provisions are called "mandates" and HB 83 and SB 174 would strip the mandated coverage requirements from medical insurance policies and allow policies that cover fewer services and presumably cost less. For the full text of HB 83 and SB 174, visit www.legis.state.ga.us)
To respond to the survey, please click "reply" or email aeller1@lsu.edu.
Thursday, March 17, 2005 - Day 34 of 40 Day Session
Current Issues For the full text of any of these new bills or previously reported bills from the 2005 session please go www.legis.state.ga.us. If anyone wants to discuss any bill or vote in detail please call MMO directly at 404-656-0265.
HB 221: Child Support Guidelines On Thursday, March 10, the House voted 127-43 in favor of revising Georgia’s current child support guidelines, from a formula based on the non-custodial parent’s income to one that takes into account the income of both parents. The bill reduces child support payments for non-custodial parents who spend a certain minimum number of days per year with their children, irrespective of the nature and quality of that time together. The bill also creates a commission that will be appointed to create "income tables," which will determine the amount of child support based upon income of both parents. Because the income tables are yet unknown, it is unclear whether this bill will raise or lower the amount of child support children receive. Rep. Oliver offered an amendment that would have delayed the effective date of the new guidelines until July 1, 2006 to allow full discussion and printing of the new forms. The amendment received 79 votes but failed to pass in the House. Mary Margaret also supported other amendments to remove parenting time credits from the bill; however, those amendments also failed. Rep. Oliver voted against the bill as a whole.
HB 150: Georgia Bar Exam On Friday, March 11, the House voted 94-59 to allow graduates of law schools not accredited by the American Bar Association to take the Georgia Bar Examination if those persons are members of another state bar. Rep. Oliver voted against the bill.
HB 244: Elections and Voting On Friday, March 11, the House voted 98-65 to approve a law that would require voters to present only certain forms of photo identification at polls in order to vote. Current Georgia law permits 17 different forms of identification, and the change in the law would make Georgia’s voter ID law one of the strictest in the nation. Although supporters of the bill say that it is intended to prevent voter fraud, the bill sparked a walk-out in both the House and Senate by those opposed to the bill and raised racial tensions considerably. Many experts say the legislation, if passed, will result in multiple lawsuits regarding the law as a violation of the United States Constitution as well as the federal Voting Rights Act. Rep. Oliver voted against the bill.
SB 133: Fireworks On Thursday, March 17, Mary Margaret participated with other women by speaking from the House floor in a bipartisan effort to successfully defeat expansion of fireworks sale provisions. SB 133, had it passed, would have expanded the types of fireworks adults would be permitted to purchase, in particular "mega-sparklers," which shoot fire and are extremely dangerous to children. The bill would have prohibited only the sale of fireworks to children but would permit children to possess and use dangerous fireworks without adult supervision.
Progress of Legislation previously introduced by MMO
HB 10: On Thursday, March 10, HB 10 creating a specific criminal statute against female genital mutilation of minors was heard and unanimously passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Oliver’s is now attempting to have the bill scheduled for full consideration by the Senate through the Rules committee.
HB 675: Although the time had expired for a bill to be heard by the House and have time to pass in 2005, the Banks and Banking committee held a hearing on MMO’s consumer protection bill to curb title pawn transactions on March 15. Testimony was presented on the abuse by title pawn companies and the charging of 300% plus interest on title pawn transactions. The committee took no action concerning the bill due to the late date of the hearing. However, the chair appointed a subcommittee to investigate the bill and to meet regarding the bill no fewer than two times during the summer.
HB 212: Mary Margaret presented HB 212 to the Senate Judiciary committee legislation to mandate pre-appointment training for Guardians Ad Litem, individuals who represent children in child protection cases. The committee passed the bill forward and it was considered by the full Senate and passed on March 15th. On March 17, the House approved Senate amendments to bill, resulting in final passage of the provision. Rep. Oliver is a co-author of HB 212 and has worked with the primary authors through the process addressing amendments and suggested changes.
Events of Interest On Tuesday, March 8, Rep. Oliver joined House Minority Leader Rep. Dubose Porter and other Democratic House leaders in addressing Atlanta area grassroots Democrats for a spirit-building meeting at the Park Tavern in Midtown.
On Friday, March 11, Mary Margaret hosted a group of lawmakers and policy leaders from the Ukraine who were guests with the Friendship Force. The group was honored by a resolution from the House of Representatives during the session last Friday.
On Tuesday, March 15, Mary Margaret honored the life of Mr. Donald Homer "Tommy" Thompson with House Resolution 224. Through the Resolution, Rep. Oliver also expressed condolences to Mrs. Betty Thompson and her family at the passing of Mr. Thompson.
On Tuesday, March 28, MMO will address the student body of Kennesaw State University regarding her legislative work, particularly HB 10, filed this year. The event will take place at 12:30 p.m. in University Rooms A and B on KSU’s campus, for those who would like to attend.
On Wednesday, March 30, Rep. Oliver will give a lecture on legislative advocacy for the Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund’s Advocacy Training Workshop. The event will be held at Agnes Scott College in Decatur from 9-10 a.m.
Representative Mary Margaret Oliver Georgia General Assembly District 83 Legislative Office Building 18 Capitol Square Suite 604 Atlanta, GA 30334 Phone: (404) 656-0265 Fax: (404) 651-8086 mmo@mmolaw.com
From the Atlanta Journal Constitution By James Salzer:
Oliver called her bill "reform," noting that it calls for a separate office to hold hearings on rate increases before passing on recommendations to the commissioner. That, she said, would free up the commissioner's office to work on issues like consumer fraud and education and ensuring the solvency of insurers.
From the Atlanta Journal Constitution By Carlos Campos: "The state's intent should be focused on the financial well-being of the child," Oliver said. "This bill changes that to the financial well-being to the parents and not to the child."
From the Atlanta Journal Constitution By Jim Tharpe and Nancy Badertscher:
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) called the bill a "strong personal disappointment." She accused Republican House members of drafting the weakened bill in a "back room."
"The process gets a grade of F, and the product gets a D+," Oliver said.
MMO Email Newsletter 4 March 4, 2005
This is the fourth edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 newsletter for the 2005 legislative session.
Weekly Survey Question: Do you support expanding the right of a handgun owner to carry a concealed weapon into a restaurant?
(For the full text of HB 193 relating to concealed weapons, visit www.legis.state.ga.us)
To respond to the survey, please click “reply” or email aeller1@lsu.edu.
Friday, March 4, 2005 - Day 28 of 40 Day Session
Survey Results Through both email and mailed newsletters, Mary Margaret asked for your opinions on current issues in Georgia government. Combined, we received over 580 responses of individuals expressing their thoughts on issues affecting them. Here are the results on the topics covered:
Instituting a statewide ban on smoking in restaurants FOR - 374 AGAINST - 62
Extending the early voting period from one to two weeks prior to an election FOR - 60 AGAINST - 10
Raising pay for Dekalb County School Board members or judges FOR - 7 AGAINST - 34 FOR SMALLER RAISES - 10 FOR JUDGES - 15 AGAINST JUDGES - 2 FOR SCHOOL BOARD - 0 AGAINST SCHOOL BOARD - 22
Restricting the use of cell phones while driving: FOR - 292 AGAINST - 64
Raising the age of eligibility for issuance of a driver’s license from 16 to 17 FOR - 268 AGAINST - 79
Instituting a statewide 3% sales tax measure for property owners tax relief FOR - 106 AGAINST - 225
Instituting more restrictive ethics laws on government officials FOR - 348 AGAINST - 5
Top Five Other Issues of Concern to Many Constituents: Concern for environment and green space - 61 Concern for education - 49 Overturn the anti-gay marriage amendment - 41 Support equal rights for all/separation of church and state - 36 Legalize gay marriage - 30
Current Issues For the full text of any of these new bills or previously reported bills from the 2005 session please go www.legis.state.ga.us. If anyone wants to discuss any bill or vote in detail please call MMO directly at 404-656-0265.
HB 197: Abortion; Woman’s Right to Know Act On February 23, the House passed HB 197, which imposes a 24-hour waiting period before abortions can be performed in Georgia and mandates that abortion providers read specifically scripted information to patients prior to an abortion, including information about fetal pain and probable gestational state of the fetus. Rep. Oliver offered an amendment to the bill that would have created an exemption from the bill for victims of rape or incest, but the amendment failed by a vote of 93 to 81. Rep. Oliver voted for the amendment and against the bill. HB 218:Ending Disclosure of Public Economic Development Records On February 9, the House passed HB 218, which exempts from public inspection the records of all state agencies (and their city and county counterparts) engaged in economic development programs. The bill passed with an amendment that requires disclosure of any records necessary to the exercise of local government zoning powers as well as applications for a permit required by the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources. Rep. Oliver voted in favor of the amendment and against the bill. The issue of disclosures of economic incentive activity is still being discussed and will continue to be a topic of interest throughout the legislative session.
HB 85: Supplemental Budget On March 4, the House passed the state supplemental budget for 2005. Mary Margaret advocated for and the budget contains $25,000 for Dekalb Rape Crisis Center.
New Bills introduced by Rep. Oliver
HB 683: Modernizes system by which insurance companies enact rate increases by placing additional responsibilities and duties on the Insurance Commissioner and by increasing the risks and opportunities of insurance carriers regarding rate issues. The Property and Casualty Insurance Subcommittee considered HB 683 on March 3 and passed a substitute bill providing for flex band rates for property and casualty policy holders. This debate regarding restructuring of rates oversight will continue.
HB 675: Reduces the interest rates that may be charged on motor vehicle title pawn transactions. MMO’s bill would add significant protections for consumers to Georgia law and seeks to alleviate title pawn abuses such as those highlighted in the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s series “Borrower Beware,” available at http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/borrowerbeware.html.
Progress of Legislation previously introduced by MMO
HB 46, 47, and 102 relating to Ethics reform has not received a hearing before the House Ethics committee. On Wednesday, March 2, The Ethics Committee voted out a weakened ethics bill based upon HB 48, which was sponsored by the Governor. The bill, as passed by the Committee and the House, eliminated the authority of the Ethics Commission to address conflicts of interest, eliminated the ban on gifts above fifty dollars, and eliminated the ban on candidate to candidate contributions. Mary Margaret offered amendments to restore the deleted provisions and all amendments were defeated by the committee. All votes were on a purely partisan division with democratic committee members voting for the strengthening amendments and all republicans voting against. MMO presented the Minority Report regarding the bill to both the Ethics Committee and the House.
HB 229: Rep. Oliver’s bill, which would lengthen the advanced voting period from one week to two weeks prior to an election has been assigned to the Elections Subcommittee of the House Governmental Relations Committee. Despite several requests by Rep. Oliver, no hearing has been scheduled for the bill.
Events of Interest
On Sunday, February 20, Rep. Oliver addressed the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Roswell, Georgia. Mary Margaret spoke to a ‘full house’ in both morning services regarding individual involvement in the legislative process.
On Tuesday, March 8, Rep. Oliver will join House Minority Leader Rep. Dubose Porter and other Democratic House leaders in addressing Atlanta area grassroots Democrats for a spirit-building meeting. The event is free-of-charge and open to the public and will take place at 7 p.m. at the Park Tavern in Midtown, for those who wish to attend.
On Friday, March 11, Mary Margaret will host a group of lawmakers and policy leaders from the Ukraine who are guests with the Friendship Force. The group will be honored by a resolution from the House of Representatives during the session next Friday.
Finally, if you would like to nominate a child to serve as a page in the House, please let us know. Email the child’s name, address, age, school, activities, and reason for nomination to Ari Mathe’ at aeller1@lsu.edu. Pages must be at least 12 years old. Thank you for your interest!!!
Representative Mary Margaret Oliver Georgia General Assembly District 83 Legislative Office Building 18 Capitol Square Suite 604 Atlanta, GA 30334 Phone: (404) 656-0265 Fax: (404) 651-8086 mmo@mmolaw.com
"This crime is an unusual crime, but it is happening in Georgia," Oliver recently told a committee of legislators. The House unanimously passed her bill three weeks ago.
On Wednesday, state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) introduced House Bill 675, which would distinguish traditional pawn transactions from those backed by car titles. It would limit the annual interest rate on title loans to 60 percent, a cap placed on most other consumer loans in Georgia.
From the Atlanta-Journal Constitution Opinion Page:
The governor's [ethics] bill could be improved by provisions in a competing bill offered by state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) that would increase maximum fines for ethics violations from $1,000 to $10,000; require candidates for public office to disclose their family's financial interests; and reduce the amount candidates can receive from individuals, businesses, other candidates or political action committees in an election cycle.
MMO Email Newsletter 3 February 17, 2005
This is the third edition of the Mary Margaret Oliver House District 83 newsletter for the 2005 legislative session.
Weekly Survey Question: Do you support a pay raise for DeKalb School Board members or for DeKalb county judges?
To respond to the survey, please click "reply" or email aeller1@lsu.edu.
Thursday, February 17, 2005 - Day 20 of 40 Day Session
In past legislative Sessions of the Georgia General Assembly, Mary Margaret and State Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield sent a joint newsletter because they previously represented a multi-member district together. In March, 2004, the Federal Court drew new state House and Senate Districts and Mary Margaret and Stephanie now represent separate but adjoining districts in DeKalb County. Stephanie represents District 85 and you may email her directly at stuckey@mindspring.com. She will send a separate newsletter and you will continue to receive both newsletters until you unsubscribe. You may unsubscribe to this newsletter by visiting www.marymargaretoliver.org/maillist.html.
Current Issues For the full text of any of these new bills or previously reported bills from the 2005 session please go www.legis.state.ga.us. If anyone wants to discuss these bills in detail or any other vote please call MMO directly at 404-656-0265 or email her at moliver@legis.state.ga.us.
SB 3: Tort Reform On February 10, the House passed SB 3, which changes many provisions regarding civil lawsuits, particularly medical malpractice suits. The most noteworthy of the provisions of the bill include a $350,000 limitation on non-economic ("pain and suffering") damages against any one healthcare provider and the elimination of liability for emergency rooms who employ doctors that are "independent contractors" rather than employees of the hospital unless either the doctor or emergency room commits gross negligence. The Senate agreed to the House provisions and the bill is now before the Governor for his signature. Mary Margaret voted for some of the amendments and against the bill primarily because of its impact on women and constitutional issues of limiting jury awards. This emotional and controversial debate has ended and its results will be argued for some time to come.
HB 67: Benefits to Unmarried and Married Persons On February 7, the House passed HB 67, which mandates that the State of Georgia, local governments, and state agencies not fine or punish persons or organizations that choose not to confer the same benefits to unmarried persons as they do married persons. At this time, HB 67 only affects the City of Atlanta’s Human Relations Commission’s decisions regarding the Druid Hills Golf Club. Rep. Oliver voted against this bill in order to protect the authority of cities other than Atlanta to enact domestic partner benefits..
HB 218: Ending Disclosure of Public Economic Development Records On February 9, the House passed HB 218, which exempts from public inspection the records of all state agencies (and their city and county counterparts) engaged in economic development programs. The bill passed with an amendment that requires disclosure of any records necessary to the exercise of local government zoning powers as well as applications for a permit required by the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources. Rep. Oliver voted in favor of the amendment and against the bill.
HB 263: Educator School Expenses Deduction On February 9, the House voted unanimously in favor of allowing teachers to exempt up to $250 from taxable income each year for certain school supplies, equipment, and material purchased with their own funds.
HB 212: Required Training for Guardians Ad Litem in Child Deprivation Cases On February 15, this bill, co-sponsored by Mary Margaret, passed unanimously in the House. The bill requires that individuals serving as guardians ad litem for a child in a deprivation (child protection) case receive appropriate training by the Governor’s Office of the Child Advocate. Attorneys may obtain their training within the pre-existing continuing education requirements of the State Bar. The bill exempts from the training requirement those attorneys who have practiced as guardians in deprivation cases for at least 3 years.
HB 272: College Scholarships for Foster Care Children On February 15, this bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Oliver, passed overwhelmingly in the House. The bill creates a grant program that provides tuition, student fees, and cost-of-living expenses for Georgia foster and adopted children at any undergraduate program within Georgia’s public post-secondary institutions.
Progress of Legislation previously introduced by MMO
HB 10: On Wednesday, February 9, HB 10 creating a specific criminal statute against female genital mutilation of minors passed unanimously in the House by a vote of 159-0 with no debate creating no amendments. The bill will move on to the Senate and will begin consideration there soon.
HB 46, 47, and 102 relating to Ethics reform has not received a hearing before the Ethic committee. Mary Margaret continues to be involved in the ethics debate to strengthen the governor’s legislation.
Events of Interest The DeKalb County Legislative Delegation’s subcommittee on pay raises will host a Public Hearing on the issue of pay raises for DeKalb County School Board members, DeKalb County judges, and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department. The hearing will be on Thursday, Feb. 24th in the Manuel Maloof Auditorium in downtown Decatur from 6p.m. until 8p.m. For more information please contact Rep. Michele Henson at 404-656-0116 or 404-915-8393.
On Thursday, February 3rd, Mary Margaret hosted a dinner at the State Capitol for Emory Law School students pursuing careers in public interest law. Several members of the General Assembly addressed the group, including Senator David Adelman, Rep. Dubose Porter, Rep. Mike Jacobs, and Rep. Randall Mangham.
On Wednesday, February 9th, Rep. Oliver hosted Professor David Jenkins’ and his students from the Candler School of Theology at Emory. The class attended the Children’s Policy Watch breakfast and were briefed by Rep. Oliver regarding child advocacy issues.
On Wednesday, February 16, MMO hosted a focus group comprised of students from Kennesaw State University who are studying and tracking Rep. Oliver’s HB 10. Mary Margaret met with the students regarding their interest in the bill and instructed them regarding the Georgia legislative process. Rep. Oliver will address the entire student body of KSU on March 28th.
On Sunday February 20, Mary Margaret will address the congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Church in their morning services. Rep. Oliver will speak regarding the legislative process and ways in which individuals can be involved in Georgia lawmaking.
Finally, if you would like to nominate a child to serve as a page in the House, please let us know. Email the child’s name, address, age, school, activities, and reason for nomination to Ari Mathe’ at aeller1@lsu.edu. Pages must be at least 12 years old. Thank you for your interest!!
Representative Mary Margaret Oliver Georgia General Assembly District 83 Legislative Office Building 18 Capitol Square Suite 604 Atlanta, GA 30334 Phone: (404) 656-0265 Fax: (404) 651-8086 moliver@legis.state.ga.us
From the Atlanta Journal Constitution By: Henry Farber
"It appears politically that the city of Sandy Springs is going to be a reality," said Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), who questioned whether some elements of the bill might have an unforeseen impact on other cities.
From the Atlanta Journal Constitution By: Corey Dade
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), a longtime lawmaker from DeKalb who served with Jones in the Legislature, also frets about how the CEO's troubles affect the county. For better or worse, she said, Jones carried over his style as a lawmaker to the CEO's office.
"Vernon is an attractive campaigner with infinite energy to show up and hear people's issues," Oliver said. "He was smart . . . [and] aggressive about forming business alliances.
"But frequently there were clouds around what he was doing and why."
"The transition from legislator to lobbyist is just too cozy right now," said Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver of Decatur, who has authored several Democratic ethics-in-government bills this year. "To use your public service job to further your post-legislative opportunities for financial gain is not in the public's interest."
