House Republicans pose legal challenge to Senate fix for trauma care
House Republicans have picked what could be an important fight with the Senate, over a measure to fund the state’s woefully unmonied chain of hospital emergency rooms.
On March 10, the Senate passed SR 277, a proposed constutional amendment that would ask voters in November whether a $10 fee (or tax, House members would say) should be added to the price of a license tag to fund a statewide trauma network.
State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock) penned the letter below to legislative legal counsel Sewell Brumby:
Fourteen other House members joined her.
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19 comments Add your comment
lmno
April 1st, 2010
1:07 pm
Well, we desperately need a statewide trauma network. I suppose I wouldn’t mind paying for it. $10 is all they are asking? Fine. I will be happy to do it.
As far as the proceedural stuff as to who gets to ask me for the money, it seems we’ve made government so complicated, no one can remember how to run it.
Road Scholar
April 1st, 2010
1:11 pm
Imno: It’s not complicated; we just have morons as legislators. Where is the ethics bill? Transportation? education? Jobs? Water? But we have tax breaks that can’t be judged to have a good effect to the state’s economy, esp the woeful budget! Repubs talk a good game, but they can’t manage squat!
chefdavid
April 1st, 2010
1:19 pm
Good Job fellas, I am glad my Senator from the 53rd Voted for it.
http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/votes/sv0342.htm
Pat
April 1st, 2010
1:39 pm
Charlice Byrd misrepresented the Senate Resolution in her letter. The article stated that it is a proposed constitutional amendment that will allow voters to decide. It is not a simple bill to raise the tax.
d2
April 1st, 2010
1:43 pm
Great job this year–no transportation funds, no covering the 1,000,000,000 budget gap, a ruined education system that is getting worse, worried about impeaching with 9 days left, no budget because we always wait until next month that some magic will happen (let’s wait until Jan figures, let’s wait until Feb figures, now let’s wait until March figures), creating another commission to come up with new revenue that won’t meet until next year, passing a 1 cent for Fulton Stadium but not allow 1 cent for museums in Macon–and now bickering over something like this. At least we passed the microchip bill and the slowpoke bill. Boy, they all should be proud of the S*** they have done this year. Maybe they can celebrate at the 9,000,000 Horse Arena when the session is over at taxpayers’ expense.
maryanne
April 1st, 2010
1:52 pm
Our legislature is full of ignorant, bigoted rednecks. Georgia used to be a fairly progressive state, but no more. God help us.
Jim Harris
April 1st, 2010
1:54 pm
Jim,
Did you forget about Austin Scott and his bill to do this?
WAW
April 1st, 2010
2:13 pm
Thank the Flaggers, Teachers, and Republican/RightHandTeaDrinkingEvangelicals for the total failure of the State of Georgia since Roy Barnes left office. Some folks got class and some folks just ain’t got no gumption. Roy wants to run again (don’t ask me why, I don’t have any idea) maybe this time some folks will finally understand why Georgia had not had Republicans in charge since reconstruction.
Ostrich Racer
April 1st, 2010
2:21 pm
Representative Byrd might want to consider taking a basic English Composition class.
clem
April 1st, 2010
2:34 pm
WAW, you are right on!
lmno
April 1st, 2010
2:43 pm
Let me make sure I understand, because some of the commments are confusing.
Basically, the Senate passed a bill that said we would all pay $10 for a tag fee that would fund a Trauma Network. The bill then went to the House. Members of the House feel that this type of bill constitutionally cannot originate in the Senate and are asking for legal opinion on that?????
If that is all, where is the fight?
I mean, isn’t this jjust a proceedural question?
If the legal opinion is that the House must write the bill, then they will simply write a new bill, correct?
OR, are you saying something that I am not picking up?
Look before I leap
April 1st, 2010
2:55 pm
Pat is correct.
SR277 calls for an amendment to the state constitution to create this fee and allocate the funds.
Which is a chickensh*t way of getting around the constitutional requirement that revenue and appropriations be initiated by the house.
While it does not technically violate the letter of the law, it certainly does violate the spirit. It is also a disingenuous way of levying yet another tax while maintining deniability come election time.
Democrat or Republican – these guys have taken the ability to talk out of both sides of their mouths to terrifying new heights.
If the clowns in the gold dome spent half as much time trying to serve the public as they spend trying to mislead and dupe us, things might actually get done that really do improve or enhance the quality of life for John Q. Public.
d2
April 1st, 2010
2:55 pm
@ Imno—I think that about sums it up…Just think our taxpayers dollars are paying for them to resolve this crap. Teachers can’t even get paper, yet they can send a letter across to the chamber instead of just talking to someone and say lets correct it. Wow—I wish they just go home–we couldn’t be worse off if they just shut down today and took the rest of theyear off.
d2
April 1st, 2010
2:57 pm
IDIOTS at the General ASSembly. It makes so mad to watch them waste yet another year because of egos. We may have a different speaker but we have the same crap.
Peachy
April 1st, 2010
3:03 pm
Go Barnes
Bill
April 1st, 2010
3:27 pm
I thought the Super Speeder law that was passed last year and recently went into effect was supposed to fund the trauma centers.
OLD CONSERATIVE HERE
April 1st, 2010
3:31 pm
Barns, Roy Barns? You mean the Roy Barns who voted against our teachers and Kids, but loves that Big Union group. That Roy Barns? Had him once and dont want to do that again. Sorry. Keep looking.
Georgia Conservative
April 1st, 2010
3:54 pm
WAW, I think the reason we hadn’t had a Republican legislature since Reconstruction was because the Democrat party was home to those who opposed desegration.
Mugwump
April 2nd, 2010
7:59 am
Seems to me, if the bill is constitutionally questionable, the letter should go to the Attorney General. I am sure AG Baker could offer his legal opinion.