Archive for the ‘Don Balfour’ Category

Sen. Balfour Begins Term as President of National Conference of State Legislatures

Sen. Don Balfour

Sen. Don Balfour

PHILADELPHIA (July 22, 2009) – Sen. Don Balfour (R-Gwinnett) today took office as president of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) at the organization’s annual legislative summit in Philadelphia. The first legislator from Georgia to be elected to NCSL office, Balfour will lead the bipartisan Conference in serving the nation’s state lawmakers and advocating for their interests before Congress.

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Sen. Don Balfour Congratulates Georgia Gwinnett College on Accreditation

ATLANTA (June 25, 2009) – Sen. Don Balfour (R- Snellville) today congratulated Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) on achieving accreditation from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). GGC is Georgia’s newest four-year college, and the nation’s first four-year college founded in the 21st century.

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Senate Unanimously Passes Bill to Change Snellville City Council Charter

ATLANTA (March 17, 2009) — The Senate voted unanimously today to eliminate tie votes of the six-member Snellville City Council that have created a gridlock for issues important to the city. Authored by Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville), Senate Bill 258 will change the council’s charter this year after the election by allowing the mayor to vote only in the case of a tie.

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Georgia Power Financing Bill Passes in the Senate

Sen. Don Balfour

Sen. Don Balfour

ATLANTA (Feb. 11, 2009) – Today the Senate took great strides in saving taxpayers and Georgia Power customers significant money by passing the Georgia Nuclear Energy Financing Act, Senate Bill 31. The bill allows recovering of financing costs during the construction of two nuclear power generators rather than have the financing costs compounded at the end of the project. Sen. Don Balfour, chairman of the Rules Committee, sponsored the bill.

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Senate Healthcare Transformation Study Committee Discusses Key Issues, New Strategies

Senator Judson Hill

Senator Judson Hill

ATLANTA (November 14, 2008) – State Senator Judson Hill (R-Marietta) presided over the third Senate Healthcare Transformation Study Committee meeting held yesterday at the Capitol where a grim outlook on the future of federal and state health care was presented. Dennis Smith, who was the Director of the US Medicaid and Medicare Services for the past seven years and now serves as a Senior Fellow in Health Care Reform at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, stressed action needs to be taken now at the state level to ensure the future quality of the state’s Medicaid, SCHIP, and Peachcare programs.
“Doing nothing to address our health care system is simply not an option,” said Sen. Hill. “We need to find sustainable, long-term health care solutions to fund these programs rather than the quick fix budget solutions that seem to take place more often than not. Discovering ways to decrease the number of uninsured citizens, increase support for our physicians, improve patient access to quality care, and ultimately lower health care costs for all taxpayers are simply the right thing to do for the state of Georgia.”

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