Where I stand on key bills as the 2012 session wraps up
The AJC’s Capitol correspondents compiled a list of some of the most prominent bills yet to be settled in this year’s legislative session, which will end by midnight today. I haven’t written about most of them but, for the record, here’s where I stand on each (I’m not going to link to each one, but you can search for the text of any bill that interests you here):
- SB 469 (outlawing picketing outside private residences): The changes proposed by the House, which broaden the bill to cover anyone’s residence rather than just those of business leaders dealing with labor unions, strike me as constitutional and desirable — a protest outside one’s home isn’t a negotiation tactic, just pure intimidation. I support it as amended by the House Judiciary Committee.
- HB 954 (limiting elective abortions to the first 20 weeks of a pregnancy, rather than the current 26): Anti-abortion activists say the bill has been gutted; pro-abortion-rights activists still oppose it anyway. What’s the point of passing it at this juncture, except to have something to tout in an election year? As it stands now, I see no good reason to pass it.
- HB 1176 (criminal justice reform): Georgia has to get a handle on prison costs. Using alternative sentences for the likes of nonviolent drug offenders is a sensible step. I support it.
- SB 458 (tweaks to last year’s illegal-immigration bill): The big change from the bill’s original text is the removal of a provision to ban all illegal immigrants from attending the state’s public colleges. That would have changed current Board of Regents policy, which is to bar them only from colleges which have had to turn away qualified, legally present Georgia residents. Allowing illegal immigrants merely to attend a public college which has open spots does not strike me as enough of a state subsidy to fight about, so I prefer the Regents’ policy. Absent that provision, I support the bill.
- HB 347 (changing unemployment benefits and taxes): The question is not whether to raise unemployment taxes. The federal government already imposed a tax increase on employers as a condition of its loan to the state to cover a shortfall in the trust fund that pays jobless benefits. And it’s an undesirable one, because it treats employers the same whether they have a history of laying off employees or not. HB 347 would head off the worst of the federal tax increases, which grow each year until the debt is repaid, by paying it off sooner, and it does so by re-linking the tax burden to a company’s use of the benefits system. As for the benefits changes: They only affect new claimants, and the biggest changes would not kick in until unemployment has started easing anyway. It’s unfortunate that the state is in a position to have to pass a bill like this one, but that position can’t be wished away. This bill is better than the alternative, and I support it.
- HB 811 (ensuring that state fees are spent for their intended purpose): Well, that was the original intent of the bill, anyway. The Senate essentially gutted it by adding a requirement that the state’s reserves hit $1 billion before the changes kick in. If Georgia Republicans don’t like their growing reputation for increasing “fees” to avoid raising “taxes,” they ought not be in the business of blurring the distinction between the two (a “fee” ought to cover the cost of providing a particular service and nothing more; “taxes” are general revenues to be spent at the Legislature’s discretion). They shouldn’t be able to shed that reputation so easily. Unless the original House language is restored, I oppose this bill.
- HB 861 (requiring drug testing for welfare recipients): The state has an interest in ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent for their intended purpose. I say pass it.
- SB 448 (limiting the recovery of bad loans made to developers when the loan is sold to a third party; the news story says HB 448 but that’s a different bill): Call it the developer-bailout bill. There are some legitimate concerns for some small-business owners, but they’re not the ones whose problems would be addressed by this bill; well-connected developers are more likely to benefit. There are constitutional questions about whether this bill could be applied retroactively. The substitute text proposed by the House Banking Committee is not enough of an improvement. It’s a bad bill and ought to be defeated by the full House.
- SB 321/HB 872 (restricting metal recyclers to fight metal theft): I understand the recyclers aren’t the criminals here and that a requirement that they wait 14 days and then mail payments to sellers may be burdensome. That said, the recyclers can probably pass along their compliance costs to their customers. Metal theft is enough of a problem that I think it’s worth a try.
That’s a lot of fodder for discussion — no one should feel the need to go off-topic today.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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117 comments Add your comment
gm
March 29th, 2012
2:31 pm
Kyle
They only affect new claimants HB347
I tell you what Kyle lose your job and see how important the bill is for new people receiving unemployment, which barely keep lights and food on the table.
This is the selfish nonsense I dispise in the I am for self rep party, it only matters until it happens to you, are we sure these people are Americans?
gm
March 29th, 2012
2:37 pm
JohnnyReb
Should we do that to people who receive free money from Fema, SSI, Va, Medicaid, I mean its all gov money.
What about the people who paid for welfare for 30 years and lose their job and need help? should we treat them like dogs to? I have said it over, over the rep party is satan best work”””
Intown
March 29th, 2012
2:38 pm
@Kyle: I agree HB 386 was not worthwhile, but probably for different reasons. Did you study the energy tax credit provisions?
@@
March 29th, 2012
2:48 pm
no one should feel the need to go off-topic today.
I feel so constricted.
Sho ’nuff alota fodder. O.K…..
SB 469: A Husqvarna 356BT makes more sense. That big boy’ll toss any unwanted debris into the street. No enforcement or prosecution costs either.
A double-doody tool.
schnirt
Steve
March 29th, 2012
2:49 pm
I agree with some your ideas, Kyle, but asking me to pay for welfare recipient drug tests? Silly, expensive, and waste of time.
Dusty
March 29th, 2012
2:53 pm
gm
Did it ever occur to you that people who lose their jobs might try some solutions that do not involve government help? Did you ever hear of “pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps”?
It is usually done by independent people who want to stay that way. They take any job available. They cut expenses. They rent out a room. They take temporary or part time jobs. They ask their family if they could spare a few. They move in with their family. They shop at GoodWill and lower level groceries. They do minor repairs to car & home. They do without cable TV. They take aspirin and chest rubs for a cold and other aches and pains. If their church has a food bank, they offter to help there to repay the free groceries they receive. They have a yard sale and unload.
It has been done, gm. It is still possible to be independent if you give it a try. Unemployment is not a death certificate.
Kyle Wingfield
March 29th, 2012
3:00 pm
Gm: I challenge you to name even one of the reductions in question. Then, we’ll talk about it.
JohnnyReb
March 29th, 2012
3:21 pm
Aquagirl
March 29th, 2012
1:38 pm
If I was in charge, a person would not recieve a welfare check in the mail. They would pick them up at state supervised work site. People who could not find a job would be put to work blah blah blah
That’s quite an elaborate fantasy there, JohnnyReb. Bitter much?
But if you want to engage in vengeful, angry behavior, please use your own money. If drug testing doesn’t save money the only advantage is stoking angry folks. If you want tax dollars for that purpose, what makes you any different from the other people looking for a handout?
______________________________
LBJ’s Great Society started more than 40 years ago. What it has done is create multi-generations of families dependent on the government for their existence. It has reduced their self-worth to less than zero. Too many men are in jail. Fatherless families are the norm which contributes to multiple social problems. Democrats have this group right where they want them – dependent on them, so they vote Democratic.
Look no further than a famous Chinese proverb for the answer – Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. However, the man has to want to learn to fish. I’m not sure enough welfare recipients want to learn.
Until those dependent on welfare ditch Democrats because they have made them slaves, I prefer my tax dollars not go them.
gm
March 29th, 2012
3:22 pm
Kyle Wingfield
Taking unemployment from 26 weeks to 21 may not seem a lot but to someone who has been out of work, it may be the difference of a child getting the nex meal.
Dusty
Please get off your high horse and join the human race every body may not have family to help or live off, what about people that do not have a home or car, and have lost their life savings?
I mean you act like these people did not earn this money, employers paid in to this for their employees, I know fox news may not report this but every body that is on welfare on unemployment are not lazy, its amazing welfare has been around for over 50 years and now since Obama is President their is a problem, wow, America the beautiful .
JohnnyReb
March 29th, 2012
3:27 pm
gm
March 29th, 2012
2:37 pm
JohnnyReb
Should we do that to people who receive free money from Fema, SSI, Va, Medicaid, I mean its all gov money.
What about the people who paid for welfare for 30 years and lose their job and need help? should we treat them like dogs to? I have said it over, over the rep party is satan best work”””
__________________
gm – please see my 3:21 to the wetone. I don’t know if you consider yourself a Liberal, but you have the symptoms. That being, taking a statement to the extreme to try and disprove it.
I believe you fully know my post on welfare recipients is directed at those who won’t help themselves. Quite a bit of difference from the examples you list.
gm
March 29th, 2012
3:37 pm
Democrats have this group right where they want them – dependent on them, so they vote Democratic.
So what does this say about the millions of Rep who receive food stamps? and who have the same social issues as people on the right, you can not brush everybody with same brush.
JohnnyReb
March 29th, 2012
3:38 pm
gm – one more comment on your “I have said it over, over the rep party is satan best work”””
Very sanctimonious considering Liberals have manuvered the government to use force for taking a man’s hard earned wages from him to give to someone who won’t help themselves. All in the name of good intentions. Liberals are like that, they hold themselves morally superior for their intentions with complete disregard for the damage they do. If there are “Pearlie Gates,” I look forward to being there to hear St Peter tell Liberals as he turns them South that the road to Hell is Truly paved with good intentions.
JohnnyReb
March 29th, 2012
3:42 pm
gm
March 29th, 2012
3:37 pm
Democrats have this group right where they want them – dependent on them, so they vote Democratic.
So what does this say about the millions of Rep who receive food stamps? and who have the same social issues as people on the right, you can not brush everybody with same brush.
________________________
Another Liberal tactic. The subject is Welfare, you turn to Food Stamps. With that stated, I am sure there must be a few completely dependent on welfare republicans. If they are, they are brave souls to vote Republican knowing our drive is to take away the government check.
Jefferson
March 29th, 2012
3:49 pm
“Let’s give it a try” = meddling without facts or ideas.
Michael H. Smith
March 29th, 2012
4:03 pm
I would love to hear the case these litigants have against HB861, though, I’ve very serious doubts any RIGHTS have been violated, since government assistance is a “PRIVILEGE” and not an individual RIGHT. Furthermore, all PRIVILEGES” are conditional based on the grantor’s, as in this case, the State’s prerogative.
“If you want the privilege of using our taxpayer money or other taxpayer provided benefits, then you will have to play by our taxpayer rules.”
I have no problem with that prerogative, nor will the Constitution that doesn’t protect State granted PRIVILEGES as though they are individual rights.
Dusty
March 29th, 2012
4:23 pm
gm,
You should get off your “welfare train” that everybody should hop on because they lost their job. etc, etc.,etc.
Independent people do not wish to be dependents. They are the smart ones who want to manage without a crutch. They can manage but it is not easy. But they will certainly get a job faster than one who has someone supporting them.
There are certainly tragic people who do need help. But able bodied people who lose a job should not necessarily be on welfare. They should only receive it as a last ditch rescue.
YOu don’t seem to realize that this country is already deep in debt and every cent “given” from the government makes it more in debt. Government funds are your tax money and mine and should not be given out like Christmas candy. It is not there to give. We have already spent more than we have! It is called DEBT!!
Real Athens
March 29th, 2012
4:34 pm
“Reagan proved deficits don’t matter” – Dick Cheney, Vice President, U.S.A., 2000-2008
MarkV
March 29th, 2012
4:35 pm
Dusty @2:53 pm and @4:23 pm
Dusty,
I wish you would explain more clearly what you are arguing for or against. What you wrote are all fine notions. But why not be more specific. Are you saying there should not be unemployment benefits?
Michael H. Smith
March 29th, 2012
4:37 pm
…every cent “given” from the government makes it more in debt?
…every cent “borrowed” that is “given” from the government makes “us, our children and their children more in debt”.
Our debt is also partly responsible for the high prices we now pay for things like gas: Since oil is valued on our dollar. And, fewer jobs can be created as a result of our inflated currency which is directly tied to, and primarily caused by, our debt.
We have already spent more than we have! It is called DEBT!!
Nah, by now it is, we’re closer to just being called Greece!
Steve
March 29th, 2012
4:39 pm
Every dollar given to folks on unemployment goes back into the economy when they buy food, pay rent. You take all that away, you tank the economy.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 29th, 2012
4:44 pm
““Reagan proved deficits don’t matter” – Dick Cheney, Vice President, U.S.A., 2000-2008″
Debunked multiple times, Real Athens.
He was speaking about re-election chances, not about what debt and deficits mean to the country.
Try to keep up, will ‘ya?
Michael H. Smith
March 29th, 2012
4:49 pm
The problem with the unemployment dollars is their negative economic trajectory. Ground is constantly being lost, even if at a slower lower rate of decline, it still is definitely not economic ground being gained.
The Safety Net must remain just that: A net to prevent an unrecoverable fall from occurring not a hammock for pleasant hibernation until the economic climate feels just right to awaken after a long slumber.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 29th, 2012
4:52 pm
“Every dollar given to folks on unemployment goes back into the economy when they buy food, pay rent. You take all that away, you tank the economy.”
So you’re saying we take money we don’t have, run up debt we cannot pay back (or do not have a plan in which to pay it back), and keep our economy afloat?
That’s the best you’ve got?
What’s your plan to pay off the debt, Steve?
Just saying..
March 29th, 2012
5:12 pm
Good sensible choices, Kyle. And thanks for informing voters.
Linda
March 29th, 2012
5:13 pm
Steve@4:39, If you learned that in a college economics class, you should demand a refund.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
March 29th, 2012
5:16 pm
We’ve beat this subject to death so what about obozo and the #killZimmerman crowd?
Civility and fairness, eh?
Just saying..
March 29th, 2012
5:23 pm
“The toughness of anonymity is legendary. I’m sure you shoot people all the time.”
Fun-ney!
Linda
March 29th, 2012
5:27 pm
gm@2:32 & 2:37, As a black man, you don’t seem to know much about black history & the Republican party. Would you take the word of another black man, born in Georgia, a retired colonel, a member of congress & headed to become president or vice-president of the US?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohQnixLNrXE
The Republican party wants to make people independent OF govt. & the Democratic party wants to make people dependent ON govt. Republicans believe in equality of opportunity & Democrats believe in equal outcomes. It’s a difference between economic freedom & economic dependence, a fancy name for slavery. It’s a difference between a safety net & generational welfare.
Eric
March 29th, 2012
5:27 pm
Trying to prevent picketing is against freedom of speech (wherever the locale), and requiring a drug test in order to receive unemployment benefits goes against “innocent until proven guilty,” thus adding an unwarranted level of “red tape” to the majority of those who truly need help. Find some other way to address the drug issue.
Dusty
March 29th, 2012
5:38 pm
MarkV 4:35
I do hope that people will aim for NO unemployment benefits. Benefits do not encourage greater efforts at securing employment. Did you not like my help yourself list? Probably not….too practical.
Also I would encourage citizens not lawmakers to take care of some of their own problems instead of making new laws about them. Our legislators seem to be seriously trying hard to cure every problem with these “fiddle faddle” laws. That is their job but I would hope they would not be exposed to so much extraneous material. What are your feelings on today’s subject?
And yes, I am still stuck on the ‘DEBT’ or as Michael H. Smith aptly called us “Greece”.
Linda
March 29th, 2012
5:38 pm
I Report@5:16, There was an insightful article written today by a black liberal FOX News contributor (a regular). (I bet liberals don’t know there’s liberals on FOX.)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303404704577307613183789698.html?KEYWORDS=Juan+Williams
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 29th, 2012
5:51 pm
Are you going to starve someone’s kids because they might spend $20 on marijuana?
———————-
Are you going to starve your own kids so you can keep smoking marijuana?
Seems really irresponsible.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 29th, 2012
5:53 pm
Real Athens: “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter”
—————–
Do you agree?
Rafe Hollister
March 29th, 2012
6:03 pm
Kyle, I agree with you on all of these but other than the recycling reform law, the others seem to me just something to do, because they are there and getting paid. Yeah, some of them help out, but are not going to change the way we live.
The recycling thing is important, as in rural areas metal theft has become a big problem. In my hometown someone stole the telephone lines, climbed the poles, and pulled down over a mile of line. We were without phones for two or three days. My friends that farm say that theft of $300 dollars of copper from a $100K irrigation rig, may cost them 5-10,000 dollars to repair. It is a very common theft. The recyclers have been remiss for years by not asking questions and just buying rolls of wire, obviously too much to be scrap from a construction site. They pay cash and the PD can not locate the crooks. Take photos of every sale, including the seller, and mail checks.
Linda
March 29th, 2012
6:15 pm
Deficits don’t matter to a president who added less to the debt in a year than Obama does in one month, as much over his 8-year term than Obama does in one year.
Daniel
March 29th, 2012
6:23 pm
I don’t like SB 248. I never really understood the flap about illegal residents enrolling in college; most Georgia schools already have international students anyway, and it’s not like someone who’s working their way through school is some sort of menace to society. Get them a student visa, make them pay out-of-state tuition, and everyone wins.
@Hillbilly D on SB 321/HB 872
The law’s targeted at people who are bringing in hundreds or thousands of pound of scrap, not anyone looking for a $5 recycling deposit. Abandoned properties (especially big commercial/industrial places) are really attractive targets; they aren’t well secured, and prices for copper and aluminum are pretty high, so it’s easy to go in and strip copper wiring, siding, etc.
The idea is if you show up with a trailer carrying 2 tons of scrap metal, you should have to show that you obtained it legally (most salvage/transport services have some sort of title transfer process anyway, so it shouldn’t be a big deal).
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
March 29th, 2012
6:27 pm
They’re so convinced of their own correctness — and so determined to believe conservatives are either a) corrupt, b) stupid or c) deluded — that they find themselves repeatedly astonished to discover conservatives are in fact capable of a) advancing and defending their own powerful arguments, b) effectively countering weak liberal arguments and c) exposing the soft underbelly of liberal self-satisfaction as they do so.
Kinda like this blog.
MarkV
March 29th, 2012
6:28 pm
Dusty @ 5:38 pm
Dusty,
You still have not answered my question. “Aiming for NO unemployment benefits” is not a solution. Had you written that you were AGAINST unemployment benefits, I would simply answer that you wanted to turn time back about 80 years, and reject everything that every developed country in the world has found human and necessary.
But I suspect that you would argue that the unemployment benefits should be given only to the real hardship cases. And that is where the core of the problem is. It is easy for people on this blog and elsewhere to pontificate about that. But you hit the nail on the head when you wrote earlier today, “I am glad I am not a legislator.” Because they are the people who have to write the laws that should differentiate between those who are in a real need, and those who just want to game the system. And that is much more difficult than to write the simplistic comments seen here.
Daniel
March 29th, 2012
6:29 pm
@Rafe
That sucks. I didn’t even think about farm equipment (yeah, I’m a city kid). But seriously, how many legitimate industries still prefer cash on delivery? Most businesses mail a check in 30-60 days.
MarkV
March 29th, 2012
6:49 pm
Dusty,
I hope Kyle will not object too much if we continue our conversation from yesterday.
When I wrote that I doubted you could answer some basic questions about the national debt, I did not have in mind the exact status of it which, in my view, is one of the less interesting facts. We can easily agree that it is enormous – as a simple number it is so big that is difficult to imagine – and for most people it is like thinking of distances between stars. On the other hand, I would argue that it is not “sky is falling enormous.” There are ways how to “humanize” it to make it more comprehensible. But more about that later.
I think that the national debt is an interesting and sometime even fascinating subject. The first interesting item here, in my view, is the simple fact that you always bring it up as a major point against the President, and why. Because the national debt is not something that you can “feel” in your life directly. I do not deny that it affects us, indirectly. But other things affect us more directly. The gas price when you are at the gas pump, tax rate when you are paying taxes, inflation if you see prices in the store go up, etc. But the national debt concerns you because …? I submit that it is because you heard that argument from other people. It is not your personal experience, it is what you heard or read. And the people you heard it from have their own agendas. We all do that, of course, but I think it gives an interesting perspective when a major item of your criticism is something you do not know much about, only heard about it, heard it a bad thing and therefore you use it.
So next time, if you are game, let’s explore some of the other interesting things about the national debt, and your understanding of them, shall we?
gm
March 29th, 2012
7:34 pm
Linda
West could not find his way to the black community if you gave him a map,
black communtiy is the same as the white community just because you have the same skin color does not mean they are looking out for your interest, example say Newt”””
Hillbilly D
March 29th, 2012
8:01 pm
Daniel @ 6:23
I know the law is aimed at the big transactions. My response was actually more of a question. Is there a transaction amount cut-off? If not I can see how it’d be a big hassle for the businesses. If it is limited to a certain amount and above, I don’t have a real problem with it. It’s the unintended consequences that I wonder about.
I worked in construction years ago, and it’s actually pretty easy to look at a large amount of wire (or other materials) and tell if it’s scrap or not. An electrician for instance, isn’t going to throw away half rolls of wire. He’s going to be selling his scraps, which probably will be an assortment of pieces a foot or two long, or less.
I worked in plumbing and we sold scrap copper all the time but you’d never see a piece thrown away that was over a foot long.
This isn’t a new problem, it comes up every few years when the economy gets bad and copper and other metals go up in price.
Real Athens
March 29th, 2012
8:04 pm
Tiberius @4:44
Ha? Debunked by who? Dick Cheney in his own memoir. You can keep up with what Cheney said at multiple places on the web.
Keep up? Don’t revise.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 29th, 2012
8:21 pm
Real Athens agrees with Reagan and Cheney that deficits don’t matter.
Americans disagreed in 2010 and likely will again in November.
Finn McCool (Class Warfare = Stopping Rich People from TAKING MORE of OUR MONEY)
March 29th, 2012
8:34 pm
Drug testing for corporate welfare recipients too? Didn’t think so.
Test those poor people! Make em pay somehow?
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 29th, 2012
8:41 pm
What point would there be in drug testing Solyndra et al? They’ve already lost the money.
Linda
March 29th, 2012
8:43 pm
gm@7:34, The black community? What is the black community? There is NO white community.
The black community is nothing more than a mind set. West escaped it. He succeeded, despite the black community telling him that he could not & trying every way to prevent him from doing so.
Of all the vile comments made in America today about classes & racism, the MOST vile comments are made by blacks against blacks who have succeeded, understood what their leadership was all about, lifted themselves out of poverty, became educated, achieved the American Dream & who support conservative principles of self-reliance.
West, along with Condi Rice, Herman Cain, etc. are just as black today as when they were born. They see the Democratic platform for exactly what it is: slavery, succession, segregation & socialism, the 4 S’s.
Calista scares me
March 29th, 2012
9:10 pm
The Truth: I have personally heard these two comments from GOP Tea Party Members
“How hard can it be, Black people do it?” on learning how to use a computer
“I only let White people get near the front row at graduations” from an usher at a college graduation.
Yeah, race has nothing to do with it……..
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 29th, 2012
9:18 pm
Calista, that sounds just like “typical white people”…oops, those were Obozo’s words.
Obozo: Racist.
Linda
March 29th, 2012
9:19 pm
Calista@9:10, Your hearing, your credibility & capitalization efficiency are all in question.