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A4 Lake Oconee News Friday, Feb. 17,2017 Start the conversation Send us your opinions by Monday at 1 p.m. news@lakeoconeenews.us 11 i| .... trtgf State Rep. Belton updates House votes The Session is picking up as we move towards the last day in which a bill must pass one chamber in order to be considered by the other. This year, that day will be the third day of March. As the Chairman of Military Affairs, I am leading the effort on several initiatives to save our military bases. One is to expand HOPE to Reserve and Georgia National Guard person nel, as well as to their military spouses. I am also sponsoring legis lation that would allow school choice for children living on a military base, as well as a pilot program grant that would supply school counselors to public schools that have a great number of military children. As we learned from my committee last year, positive K12 initia tives are the most critical components being consid ered by the Pentagon for the coming round of base closures. I was pleased to have the very first bill that passed the House Educa tion Committee this year. I’m working with the De partment of Education and the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement to provide fiscal trans parency to the $19 billion annual education dollars we are spending each Dave Belton State Representative year. I hope it receives a vote in the House next week. So far, very few bills have been considered. The first big bill is a state-funded cancer insurance policy for firefighters. A more expansive worker’s com pensation bill was rejected by the Senate last year due to pressure from the City and County lobbyists. The “ask” this year was much more modest: a one-time $25,000 benefit for a di agnosis followed by 6 0 percent of their salary for three years. The cost is $4.2 million a year against the $10.8 million last year. It passed the House with only one “No” vote. The second major bill was the recurring hospital provider fee. This is a com plicated and misunder stood issue, but the long and short of it is that six years ago, at the request SEE BELTON » A7 Seep, of Agriculture-designate Perdue knows a bit about draining swamps You may have read that unusually cold winter in parts of Europe as well as drought conditions in the southwest United States have created a severe shortage of broccoli. I cannot say I was grieved to hear the news. I don’t like broccoli and have spent much of my adult life trying to fend off the Woman Who Shares My Name’s fiendish efforts to make me eat it. I have told her on more than one occasion that eating the stuff can cause your toes to turn green and that the only sure antidote is to consume massive amounts Dick Yarbrough Guest Columnist of banana pudding. I was congratulating myself on my cleverness when I got a call from Junior E. Lee, general manager of the Yarbrough Worldwide Media and Pest Control Company located in Greater Garfield, Georgia, and a pest control professional. He had heard the same news about the broccoli shortage. He said he had also heard that hackberry psyllids were rumored to be headed this way. I don’t know if that is true or not because I have no idea what a hackber ry psyllid is. Sometimes, I think Junior says these kinds of things just to show off his pest control knowl edge. Junior likes to boast that he knows as much about world affairs as the weenies at The New York Times, but he doubted a one of them would know the difference between a rhagoletis po- monella and a tree stump. I suspect he is correct. Anyway, Junior was calling to tell me not to get too excited about the shortage of broccoli because he had a feeling that was about to change. I asked him why. He said that is because George E. Perdue is about to be named the Secretary of Ag- SEE YARBROUGH » A7 "There's no need to worry. You get to keep your doctor!" Update from the Georgia Senate Another eventful week has passed at the Georgia State Capitol, and the Senate has been hard at work passing meaningful legislation that will continue to improve the lives of our citizens. This week, my colleagues and I spent countless hours vetting and discussing 10 important bills on the Senate floor that will help improve access to mental health care, give an income tax credit to those who donate to rural hospi tals and address duties of Burt Jones State Senator dental hygienists. One of the 10 measures we passed was House Bill 43, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 amended budget. In the FY17 amended budget, the Senate agreed to the Governor’s proposal of adding $27.2 million to begin funding the signifi cant salary increase for law enforcement officers, public safety trainers and criminal investigators. These brave citizens respond to the call no matter what and put their lives on the line every day to protect us. This is a step in the right direction to decrease turnover within the departments and to ensure Georgia keeps its most talented employees. Along with addressing the well-earned salary increases for our law en forcement officials, the Senate agreed with the Governor and House to add $50 million for a new Georgia Cyber Range in Augusta. This center will help Georgia attract young people who are interested in cyber security and will increase economic develop ment by bringing compa nies interested in protecting their cyber infrastructure to our state. Bringing ad ditional businesses here will ensure our future as the number one state to conduct business in. Additional funds are also proposed for the Depart ment of Natural Resources to address project expendi tures and recreation trails within our state parks and historic sites includ ing some located within District 25. A complete overview of the Senate substitute to HB 43 can be found at the link below: http://www. senate.ga.gov/sbeo/Docu- ments/AppropriationsDoc- uments/FY2017/Amended/ AFYl7_SAC_FINAL.pdf It remains a pleasure to serve you, the constituents of the 25th Senate District. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 404.656.0082 or via email atburt.jones@senate. ga.gov. Lake Oconee News General Excellence Award Winner 2015-2016 GEORGIA PRESS ASSOCIATION President / Publisher A. Mark Smith Vice President Jo Ann Smith Vice President, General Manager Mark Smith Jr. Vice President, Circulation Matt Smith Vice President Michael Smith Associate Editor T. Michael Stone Sports Writer Justin Hubbard Staff Writer Lynn Hobbs Staff Writer Dave Brown Staff Writer Shannon Sneed Staff Writer Katherine Klimt Advertising Representative Vicki Parker Advertising Representative Chelsea Selby Advertising Representative Mary de Guiseppi Advertising Representative Michael Payne Lakelife Editor Beverly Harvey Lakelife Associate Editor Hank Segars National Advertising Manager Amy Hood Legal Advertising/Circulation Becky Meyer Production and Technology Manager Josh Lurie Graphic Artist Ali Henderson Graphic Artist Mark Brill Business Manager Cassandra Fowler DEDICATION Battle B. Smith EDITOR AND PUBLISHER 1956-1988 Micky Smith EDITOR AND PUBLISHER 1989-2003 ADVERTISING, NEWS AND INFORMATION Lake Oconee 1106 MARKET ST. • GREENSBORO 706-454-1290 Fax 706-454-1292 Madison 195 W. JEFFERSON ST. 706-342-9833 Fax 706-342-9839 Call 706-485-3501 for subscription information Subscription Rates One Year Two Years Putnam, Morgan, Greene counties $35 $65 Other Georgia counties $45 $80 Out of Georgia $55 $95 Postmaster: Send address changes to the ,1106 Market St., Greensboro, GA 30642. Periodicals postage paid at Greensboro, GA 30642. The (USPS 024-046) is published every Friday by Smith Communications Inc., 1106 Market St., Greensboro, GA 30642. All rights reserved. Reprints by permission of the and individual writers only. State and Federal Elected Officials Gov. Nathan Deal (R) 203 State Capitol Atlanta, GA 30334 (404) 656-1776 Web/e-mail: gagovernor.org Sen. David Perdue (R) B40D Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Phone: 202-224-3521 Sen. Burt Jones (R) 407 East Second St., Jackson, GA 30233 Phone: (770) 775-4880 Fax: (770) 234-6752 Sen. Johnny Isakson (R) United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 (202) 224-3643 Rep. Dave Belton (R) 401-B Coverdell Legislative Office Bldg. Atlanta, GA 30334 404.656.0152- Office dc.belton@house.ga.gov Rep. Jody Hice (R) 1516 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-4101 Fax: (202) 226-0776 Rep. Trey Rhodes (R) Room 612-B Coverdell Legislative Office Building Atlanta, GA 30334 404-656-0325 trey.rhodes@house.ga.gov The deadline to submit letters to the editor each week is Monday at 1 p.m. Send letters and other news to news@lakeoconeenews.us
