Newspaper Page Text
•State of Carroll 2019
Page 10 October 13, 2019 StarNews www.starnewsgaonline.com
A successful 2019 Legislative Session
Mike
Dugan
STATE
SENATOR
(R) Carrollton
Carroll Douglas
Paulding counties
The Senate and House convened for the
first session of the 155th Georgia General
Assembly on January 14, 2019. We started
the session with a lot of changes including
the inauguration of the first new governor in
eight years and first new Lieutenant
Governor in 12 years. It was also my first
session serving as the Majority Leader of the
Senate Republican Caucus. My election by
my peers to this position is humbling and I
made a commitment to push a conservative,
business centered agenda through our cham
bers and to the Governor.
Over the course of the session, which
adjourned Sine Die on April 2, 2019, the leg
islature sent Governor Brian P. Kemp over
300 general and local bills and resolutions to
be considered. These pieces of legislation
addressed a variety of issues impacting the
daily lives of Georgians including improve
ments to education, rural broadband expan
sion, access to quality health care, expanding
victims’ rights, protecting the unborn and job
creation. Governor Kemp signed all of these
into law and most have been in effect since
July 1,2019.
Improvements to Education:
• Senate Bill 48 addresses the implemen
tation of several new standards for dyslexia
education in public schools as well as refer
rals for students with identified dyslexia
characteristics in grades one through three.
• Senate Bill 83 allows Georgia public
high schools to offer a course in Hebrew
Scriptures and Old and New Testaments.
Additionally, this legislation includes the
establishment of the Realizing Educational
Achievement Can Happen (REACH)
Scholarship Program.
• Senate Bill 108 will require courses in
computer science to be provided in middle
and high schools in the coming years.
Broadband Expansion:
• Senate Bill 2 allows electric membership
corporations (EMCs) to provide or expand
broadband access to their customers by util
izing existing easements.
• Senate Bill 66, “Streamlining Wireless
Facilities and Antennas Act,” outlines a stan
dardized application process for 5G compa
nies wishing to collocate small wireless
facilities (antennas) on existing or new poles.
Under SB 66, the use of public rights of way
by wireless providers to deploy broadband is
also addressed and clarified.
Access to Quality Health Care:
• Senate Bill 16 authorizes an expedited
licensure process for doctors who have a
clean disciplinary record and wish to prac
tice medicine in Georgia.
• Senate Bill 18 allows for a direct pri
mary care agreement between a doctor and a
patient. They can agree on a payment proc
ess without being subject to insurance
regulations.
• Senate Bill 106 allows the Governor and
Department of Community Health to ask the
federal government for waivers to the
Medicaid program.
• Senate Bill 115 allows doctors outside of
Georgia who have a clean disciplinary
record to obtain a telemedicine license from
the Georgia Composite Medical Board.
• House Bill 62 will update procedures
during a mammogram and require the loca
tion or person conducting the assessment to
notify a patient when their results show
dense breast tissue.
Expanding Victim’s Rights:
• Senate Bill 158, “Anti-Human
Trafficking Protective Response Act,” makes
numerous changes to how victims of human
trafficking and sexual servitude are identi
fied and how the crimes are punished.
• House Bill 281 increases the penalty for
conviction of pimping or pandering to
include a minimum of 72 hours of imprison
ment (increase from 24 hours of mandatory
imprisonment).
• House Bill 282 specifies that in cases
where a victim reports a sexual assault to
law enforcement, the investigating law
enforcement agency will be required to
maintain all physical evidence that contains
biological material for 30 years from the
date of arrest, or seven years from the com
pletion of the sentence, whichever occurs
last.
• House Bill 530 requires the Georgia
Department of Education to provide a decla
ration of homeschooling to focal school
districts.
Protecting the Unborn:
• House Bill 481, effective on January 1,
2020: “The Living Infants Fairness and
Equality (LIFE) Act,” will outlaw abortions
after the heartbeat of the child in the womb is
medically detected. It is important to note
conditions under which the four exceptions
when a pregnancy could be tenninated up to
20 weeks - a pregnancy that resulted from
rape or incest, is medically futile or puts the
mother’s life at risk.
Job Creation with New Industries:
• House Bill 213 authorizes the growing
and processing of hemp in Georgia. The
hemp cannot contain more than .3% THC
and licenses for growth will only be
approved for those who meet specific
requirements.
• House Bill 501 outlines how oyster
fanning would operate in Georgia and estab
lishes how the industry would be regulated
under the Georgia Department of Natural
Resources.
Along with passing legislation to address
these critical issues, the Georgia General
Assembly also passed a $27.5 billion Fiscal
Year 2020 budget. A top priority within the
budget was increasing funding for our edu
cation system so that we can ensure it contin
ues to thrive and that those who lead the way
- our teachers, support staff, counselors and
others within education - are properly com
pensated. I am proud to say that to meet this
goal, we appropriated $530.8 million to
address a $3,000 pay raise, which began on
July 1, 2019, for Georgia’s teachers and
other certified school personnel including
See SENATOR DUGAN page 40
State Representative District 68 J. Collins (R)
770-259-8143
Keep68great@gmail.com
Thank you for allowing me to serve
and represent you, the citizens, of
Georgia’s District 68
I will continue to be fiscally
conservative and pro-business.
Please feel free to contact me if you
have any questions or concerns.
- State Representative J. Collins
770-562-3369 fax 770-562-9440
240 Carrollton Street, Temple, GA 30179
www. templega. us
Temple City meetings of Council and Mayor
are held the first Monday of each month 6:30 pm
at Temple City Hall, 240 Carrollton Street