ATLANTA (February 26, 2020) | Last week, Sen. Steve Gooch (R– Dahlonega), along with 22 Georgia State Senators, introduced Senate Bill 415 to repair the state’s problematic lawsuit climate by reducing the financial burden of out of control legal costs faced by Georgia’s small businesses. Many of these senators will hold a press conference on Thursday, February 27, 2020, to discuss SB 415 and describe the impact it will have on Georgia’s farmers, truck drivers, doctors and small businesses.
Continue reading “Georgia Senators to Hold Press Conference on Litigation Reform”Sen. John Albers Introduces Max Gruver Act
ATLANTA (February 26, 2020) | Last week, Sen. John Albers (R – Roswell), introduced Senate Bill 423 in the Senate. SB 423, also known as the “Max Gruver Act,” is designed to reduce and prevent hazing at Georgia’s colleges and universities.
Continue reading “Sen. John Albers Introduces Max Gruver Act”Sen. Chuck Hufstetler on the Passage of Senate Bill 359
ATLANTA (February 25, 2020) | Yesterday, Senate Bill 359, the “Surprise Billing Consumer Protection Act” which was sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hufstetler (R – Rome), received unanimous passage in the Senate. SB 359 provides for consumer protections against surprise billing by delineating an arbitration process between the insurer and provider, as well as establishing a maintained database of all-payer health claims and insurer payments.
Continue reading “Sen. Chuck Hufstetler on the Passage of Senate Bill 359”Capitol Recap: Week 6
By: Sen. Larry Walker (R – Perry)
Successively following last week’s extensive dedication to reviewing the budget, members of the General Assembly reconvened on Tuesday for Legislative Days 13 through 16 of the session. With each and every Appropriations subcommittee meeting, the General Assembly is getting closer to adopting our budgets for the Amended Fiscal Year 2020 and Fiscal Year 2021. As always, our intention as your state senators is to ensure this process presents Georgians with the greatest possible impact, while still maintaining a conservative spending model. In order to maximize the number of benefits available to citizens, we must also exert an equal amount of effort in determining the legislative solutions for other challenges affecting our state and Senate District 20, in particular.
Continue reading “Capitol Recap: Week 6”Capitol Recap: Week 5
By: Sen. Larry Walker (R – Perry)
This week, the Senate took a slight pause from its regular cycle of legislative days in order to dedicate a significant amount of time to additional budget discussions. The Amended Fiscal Year 2020 Budget and the General Fiscal Year 2021 Budget have been a topic of concern over the last couple of weeks, as members of the General Assembly must ascertain which areas in our state agencies will see funding increases and which areas will see cuts. Business wise, Georgia is prospering. Our industries are growing, unemployment is at a record low and our workforce participation is at an all-time high; nevertheless, state revenues have been basically flat and we budgeted for increased revenues. Therefore, we need to make cuts in our spending plan to ensure we end the year with a balanced budget. Also, Governor Kemp wants to reallocate some resources in order to fund his priorities. Our state economy is strong, but we want to make sure we are operating as efficiently as possible and spending your tax dollars wisely.
Continue reading “Capitol Recap: Week 5”