By Bill Hamrick
The 2011 Legislative Session came to a close late Thursday night after nearly 14 hours of action in the Senate Chamber. The headlining issue from the last day of session was the passage of HB 87, an illegal immigration reform package. Also this week, the General Assembly adopted a balanced spending plan for FY 2012 as well as a bill that re-writes the evidence laws in Georgia.
In the final hours of the legislative session, the Senate and House reached agreement on a bill aimed at curbing illegal immigration in Georgia. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011 requires businesses with 10 or more employees to use E-Verify, the federal online program used to verify an employee’s citizenship. Small businesses will have an additional six months to come under the E-Verify requirement, and companies who commit “good faith” violations have 30 days to correct the error before facing penalties. In response to concerns about how the bill’s provisions would impact Georgia agriculture, the bill calls for a study about how the legislation would affect the industry and the federal guest worker program. The legislation also makes it a crime to knowingly transport illegal immigrants while committing another criminal offense, and allows law enforcement officers to verify a person’s immigration status while investigating a criminal suspect. The bill now goes before the governor for his approval.
The legislature has passed an $18.2 billion budget for the 2012 Fiscal Year, successfully balancing the spending plan amid a $1.5 billion shortfall. This budget falls 13.6 percent below the 2009 budget. Lawmakers prioritized spending to address the projected $273 million shortfall in the State Health Benefit Plan and to cover loans in the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. The budget also includes funds to improve state agencies’ frontline services to consumers and businesses and dedicates $12.9 million to the Department of Revenue to recover uncollected taxes. Among the budget’s bond projects are $45 million to fund reservoir development across the state and $32 million for the Savannah Harbor Deepening Project. To save money, the legislature is consolidating payroll services for a number of state agencies and programs and eliminating all state funding for the Aviation, Music and Sports halls of fame, making them self-sufficient.
Another initiative I have been involved in is the re-write of the laws pertaining to evidence used in court. We’ve been working since 2008 to modernize the evidence code and bring it in line with 42 other states. Our current evidence code was created in 1863 so we had to take circumstances like advanced technology into account with this significant undertaking. These new laws, now awaiting the governor’s signature, will offer consistency, cost-savings and fairness.
As always, it’s an honor to serve you, the 30th Senate District. If you have any questions on current legislation in the General Assembly, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
COLUMN
For Immediate Release:
April 18, 2011
For Information Contact:
Kallarin Richards, Deputy Director
Katie Wright, Communications Manager
Katie.Wright@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028