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CAPITOL UPDATE – 2019 Week 1The 2019 session of the Georgia General Assembly was gaveled into session on Monday, January 14, 2019. Later that day, Brian Kemp was inaugurated as Georgia’s 83rd Governor, along with new Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan, new Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, P.E., and the other statewide Constitutional officers. As is usually the case, the first week of the legislative session is mostly filled with ceremonial events, such as swearing in the new members, announcing new committee assignments, the Georgia Chamber’s Annual Eggs & Issues Breakfast and the Governor’s annual State of the State Address. That was even more true this year, with 36 new members of the General Assembly, a new Governor, Lt. Governor and Secretary of State and many former leaders in the General Assembly not returning to office. Many of the Capitol’s new occupants spent the first week figuring out where their new offices were, unpacking boxes and getting adjusted to their new roles. Change will continue to be a constant theme this year, as the new Governor begins to put his own stamp on Georgia’s state government and the process of putting new people into leadership roles. While indications are that the Governor wants to take some time to evaluate current executive branch department and agency heads before making changes, expect to see a lot of folks in new roles and perhaps even some special elections as current elected officials are tapped to take on new roles within the Kemp administration. Look for issues such as teacher raises (Gov. Kemp has proposed an initial $3,000 permanent raise for all Georgia teachers, with the goal of increasing that incrementally in future years to $5,000), reforming Georgia’s Quality Basic Education funding formula, expanding broadband access to rural areas, freight and logistics investment and possible changes to Georgia’s Certificate of Need (CON) program to dominate this year’s session. PROFESSIONAL LICENSING REFORMACEC Georgia's top legislative priority for the 2019 session will be to lead an effort to reform funding and staffing for the 41 professions within the Professional Licensing Division of the Secretary of State’s Office (PLD), which includes the Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (PELS) Board. Combined, these 41 professions generate approximately $18 million per year in fees, yet the annual budget for the PLD is less than half that amount, at only around $8 million. Last fall, ACEC Georgia worked closely on these issues with the House Study Committee Professional Licensing Boards Operations and Funding, which will soon release its recommendations for potential reforms. ACEC Georgia will be working with members of the General Assembly toward a solution that would achieve three simple goals (1) give each individual licensing board the ability to determine the service, staffing and enforcement level needed for that profession, (2) give each board the commensurate ability to set a licensing fee that would pay for the costs associated with that service, staffing and enforcement level, and (3) create a legislative framework that would ensure that those licensure fees are appropriated back to the PLD to be used to deliver the intended levels of service, staffing and enforcement for each professional licensing board.While there has long been significant dissatisfaction within the engineering community with the lack of efficiency and enforcement of engineering licensure and safety regulations, we want to be clear that those problems are not in any way a criticism of any Secretary of State, Secretary of State’s Office employees or of the individual members of the PELS Board. They are longstanding, across many different administrations, and ultimately are a result of the General Assembly’s continued failure to adequately fund the operations of the PLD. In short, the PLD is understaffed, overworked and spread too thin in trying to manage the diverse licensing, enforcement and regulatory functions of 41 different professional licensing boards and the more than 500,000 individual licensees those boards represent. It is not hard to imagine the challenges of a relatively small PLD staff trying to manage occupations ranging from nurses, engineers and architects, to barbers, cosmetologists and lactation consultants, with wildly varying types of examinations, applications, enforcement and disciplinary investigations. Of course, we also want to point out that this issue is not just a “problem.” The approximately $12 million delta between what those 500,000 licensees are cumulatively paying to the state for professional licensing services and the actual cost of the services they are receiving is a de facto tax on those professionals, for which you receive nothing in return. This is in direct contravention of O.C.G.A. 43-1-7, which requires that “the total amount of fees charged by the professional licensing board shall approximate the total of the direct and indirect costs to the state of the operations of the board.” Ultimately, what we are asking for is a fiscally conservative “user fee” system, where each profession could determine the administrative support structure that best meets its needs and then have the members of that profession, and ONLY the members of that profession, bear all of the costs of administering that system in the form of their own licensure fees. Those of you will licenses in other states already known that this is exactly how it’s done in our neighboring states like Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina & Texas and many others across the country. Stay tuned to these ACEC Georgia Capitol Updates for updates on this issue as the session progresses. The Week AheadThe General Assembly did pass an initial adjournment resolution (which lets us know what days the legislature will be in session), which takes us through Legislative Day 11 of the 40-day legislative session (days 1 through 4 were last Monday-Thursday):Monday, January 28 – Legislative Day 5Tuesday, January 29 – Legislative Day 6Wednesday, January 30 Legislative Day 7Tuesday, February 5 – Legislative Day 8Wednesday, February 6 Legislative Day 9Thursday, February 7 – Legislative Day 10Friday, February 8 – Legislative Day 11The General Assembly traditionally does not meet in regular session during the week of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, taking the Monday holiday off and then dedicating the rest of the week to budget presentations from the Governor and state agency heads before joint meetings of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.The second week of the legislative session is traditionally "Budget Week," with Monday (yesterday) off for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and dedicating the rest of the week to budget presentations from the Governor and state agency heads before joint meetings of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Next week, legislators will be in session Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before leaving town just as the hordes descend upon Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII.Legislation ACEC Georgia is FollowingHB 1 - By Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) would rename Georgia’s existing Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act the “Senator Eric Johnson Scholarship Act.” Eric Johnson is a former state senator from Savannah who served as President Pro Tem of the Senate and is President of ACEC Georgia Member Firm, Hussey Gay Bell. A well-deserved honor for a great Georgian. STATUS: Assigned to the House Education Committee.HB 3 – By Rep. Matt Gurtler (R-Tiger) would repeal the $5 per night hotel/motel room fee for transportation that makes up a significant part of the revenue generated by the Transportation Funding Act of 2015 (HB 170). While ACEC Georgia will oppose this bill, it is unlikely to even receive a hearing. STATUS: prefiled and not yet assigned to a committee. HB 22 – By Rep. Penny Houston (R-Nashville) the Rural Telephone Cooperative Act would allow Cooperative nonprofit corporations who currently provide telephone service in rural areas to also provide broadband services. STATUS: Assigned to Economic Development. Hearing is on Monday, January 28th.HB 23 – By Rep. Penny Houston (R-Nashville) would allow Electric Membership Corporations to provide broadband services. STATUS: Assigned to Economic Development. Hearing is on Monday, January 28th. HB 42 – By Rep. Scot Turner (R-Holly Springs) would prohibit professional licensing boards from refusing to issue a license, suspending or revoking the license of a person who is a borrower in default under an educational loan. STATUS: has not been assigned to a committee yet. HR 37 – By Rep. Kevin Tanner (R-Dawsonville), House Transportation Chairman, would create a joint House/Senate Commission on Freight and Logistics. The goal of the Commission is to develop a state-wide comprehensive, strategic business plan for freight and rail to handle the increased import volume from the Port of Savannah. The Commission will also look at alternative freight routes and funding mechanisms. STATUS: Assigned to House Transportation HR 38 – By Rep. Dar'shun Kendrick (D-Lithonia) would create a House Study Committee on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Fields. STATUS: Assigned to House Special Rules Committee. SB 2 – By Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) would allow Electric Membership Corporations to provide broadband services. STATUS: Assigned to Regulated Industries SB 17 – By Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) the Rural Telephone Cooperative Act, would allow Cooperative nonprofit corporations who currently provide telephone service in rural areas to also provide broadband services. STATUS: Assigned to Regulated Industries.SR 19 – By Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta), Senate Transportation Chairman, would create a joint House/Senate Commission on Freight and Logistics. The goal of the Commission is to develop a state-wide comprehensive, strategic business plan for freight and rail to handle the increased import volume from the Port of Savannah. The Commission will also look at alternative freight routes and funding mechanisms. STATUS: Assigned to Senate Transportation. ................
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