By: Sen. Larry Walker (R – Perry)
The Senate completed its last full legislative week on Friday, leaving us just one day away from Sine Die. Over the course of the last week, we passed 88 bills and resolutions, and several important measures, including the budget and heartbeat bill, received final passage. Here are a few of the bills that were passed last week that are relevant to our area:
HB 31, or the Fiscal Year 2020 General Budget, was agreed on by both the Senate and the House. Here are some appropriations that will benefit our area:
- A $1,710,000 bond for major improvements to the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter through the Georgia Agricultural Exposition Authority. This appropriation will help update and improve the facilities on the fairgrounds and allow us to continue to provide guests with a positive experience when visiting.
- A $10,600,000 bond to fund the construction and renovations of Roberts Library and Dillard Hall at Middle Georgia State University’s Cochran campus. Improvements to these buildings will help grow this campus and support higher education for generations to come, and I look forward to seeing these building renovations completed in the future.
We pride ourselves on being one of, if not the most, military-friendly states in the nation. This past week, we passed legislation to help solidify that through HB 25 and HB 59. HB 25 would allow certain contracts including television, video and audio programming, internet access and gym memberships to be immediately terminated by military service members. Service members may do so upon receiving military orders to relocate for a period of at least 90 days. Additionally, HB 59 passed the Senate and would allow children of military parents to enroll in a public school, before establishing physical residency, based on official military relocation orders. Both of these bills passed unanimously. This is great news for our service men and women and their families. Our hope is that it will make the transition from a Georgia base or instillation, to one elsewhere in the nation or world, easier.
A bill I think many of our students and teachers will be excited about is HB 83, which would require recess to be scheduled for students in grades Kindergarten through fifth, with certain exceptions for weather and other scheduled activities. Studies and testimony have proven that unstructured exercise and play time is one of the best ways to encourage students to focus. I believe this bill will benefit teachers and students in the classroom and make for a more productive learning environment
Several weeks ago, we heard from farmers across Southwest Georgia who had their entire farms and timber stands destroyed by Hurricane Michael. The General Assembly listened and introduced HB 446 to help them recover. HB 446 would provide an additional avenue for claiming the income tax credit on timberland damaged by Hurricane Michael that we passed in special session last November. Currently, someone who has damaged timberland can claim the credit upon replanting the trees. This bill would allow an individual to claim the credit upon ‘restoration’ or cleaning up the land damaged by the hurricane. We know that times can be tough immediately after a natural disaster and we want to ensure our farmers can receive the financial help they need before they’ve replanted, so that they can make it to that phase of the rebuilding process.
Thank you again for your continued trust in me. This session has been productive and I look forward to seeing what the 40th legislative day has in store tomorrow. I’ll provide you with a Sine Die update soon so I can share all the legislation the Senate and House decided to send to the Governor. It is an honor to serve you. Please let me know if you have any questions or need anything from my office.
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Sen. Larry Walker serves as Caucus Vice Chairman for the Majority Party. He represents the 20th Senate District, which includes Bleckley, Houston, Laurens and Pulaski counties. He may be reached by phone at (404) 656-0095 or by email at larry.walker@senate.ga.gov