Gold Dome Digest – Crossover Day

Gold Dome Digest is an ongoing series of updates and analysis of bills moving in the Georgia General Assembly during the 40-day session.

Thursday of last week marked Crossover Day, the 28th legislative day when regular general bills must pass out of the chamber where they were introduced to be considered for passage in the opposite chamber. Surprises and last-ditch maneuvering over controversial pieces of legislation were rampant. Deep divides over the hardest fought topics cut through both parties and brought the votes on some of the weightiest issues in American government to razor-thin margins.

Following up on the bills mentioned in the last edition:

• SB143, giving MARTA bonding authority seems to have stalled.
• HB 511, Chairman Tanner proposed legislation dealing with state transit agency consolidation soared off the House floor 159 to 11. HB 511 also applies the state sales tax to taxi and limo services for the first time.
• HB 302, the controversial bill to prevent municipalities from regulating the design of single family dwellings was sent back to the committee drawing board, where it once again emerged with a favorable report. It didn’t make it to the floor, but will remain alive for the second half of the 2019-2020 biennium.

The rush to Crossover Day produced winners and losers from the heaviest topics of the session, highlighting the recent divide between the new socially conservative administration and more moderate House leadership. A ‘Religious Freedom Restoration Act’ (RFRA) bill did not come to the floor, however legislation to redefine Georgia’s hate crimes statutes and a state bid to assume control of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport did advance. A measure described as the nation’s most stringent abortion law caused fireworks on the House floor as Democratic members staged protests and led to the most dramatic moment of the session so far; a defiant Minority Report turned filibuster by Representative Renitta Shannon. Representative Shannon only yielded the well after Democratic leadership convinced her to go peacefully, instead of being dragged out by the Chamber’s Sergeant at Arms.

Other legislation of note passing before the Crossover deadline:

• HB 239 (Efstration, R-Dacula) is a lengthy bill that would establish the Georgia Business Court. The bill provides for the structure and responsibilities of the court.
• HB 324 (Gravley, R-Douglasville) would allow for the legal production, manufacturing, purchase, and sale of THC oil.
• SB 92 (Beach, R-Alpharetta) would prohibit licensing boards from refusing to issue a license to an applicant because he or she is in default on their government-issued student loans.

About the Author:
Kip Dunlap is Livable Buckhead’s Mobility Concierge and moonlights as Chief Legislative Aide to Representative Park Cannon whose district includes parts of Midtown, Downtown, Old Fourth Ward, Peoplestown, Pittsburgh, Summerhill, Sylvan Hills, and Capitol View. Over the past four legislative sessions Kip has acted as legislative policy analyst, speech writer, constituent contact, and intern-wrangler.