3 days remain for bills to ‘cross over’
Local lawmakers are pushing legislation on gun permits, medical bills, foster care and Cave Spring.
A bill dealing with weapons carry permits for mentally ill or addicted Georgians introduced by Rep. Christian Coomer late last week has just three days to pass the House.
Local lawmakers will be scrambling to get their legislation passed to the other chamber by midnight Wednesday, the Crossover Day deadline after which the bills are no longer considered.
Coomer, R-Cartersville, is the majority whip and hasn’t signed on to many bills this session. His House Bill 999, submitted Thursday, would clarify that only applicants involuntarily committed to a mental hospital or drug or alcohol treatment center could be denied a gun permit.
Currently, state law lets a probate court judge make the call on any applicant who’s spent time in such a facility — voluntarily or involuntarily — during the past five years.
The bill needs a committee hearing and full House vote by Wednesday to remain alive for the session.
Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, also has a piece of legislation that requires fast work. His Senate Bill 471, submitted last week, would require prescriptions for Schedule II or Schedule III drugs to be electronically transmitted to pharmacies.
Hufstetler also will be shepherding two bills through Senate floor votes.
His SB 359 addresses so-called “surprise” medical bills patients can receive from out-ofnetwork providers.
SB 355 nullifies a state law that lets utilities charge ratepayers the cost of financing construction of nuclear generating facilities. Hufstetler was trying to take aim at costoverruns at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle but the measure was changed in committee to apply only to new projects.
“At least it’ll end it going forward,” he said.
Reps. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, and Eddie Lumsden, R-Armuchee, both have bills slated for House votes today.
Lumsden’s HB 921 — cosponsored by Dempsey
and Coomer — would let Cave Spring raise its hotel/ motel tax to 8 percent from 5 percent. He also has a vote scheduled on HB 760, which would require insurance companies to give advance notice of a reduction in coverage.
Dempsey will be presenting her HB 906, which would close records on foster parents or former foster parents that reveal
personal information or identify immediate family members or dependants.
She’s also trying to schedule votes on HB 494, which expands safety oversight provisions at daycare and early learning centers, and HB 920, which allows wider access to information about a child in foster care in the case of a near-fatality or allegations of abuse.