Georgia Attorneys Title Guaranty Fund

Legislative Bulletins

Keeping our members informed.

GeorgiaLink Legislative Update - Week 1

The 2008 Session of the Georgia General Assembly officially convened on Monday, January 14th, 2008. As is provided in the State Constitution, the legislators will be in Session for forty legislative days with final adjournment tentatively planned for the first week in April. Among the highlights of the first week of this year's Session were:

The annual Eggs & Issues Breakfast, sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. A record crowd attended this event, and GeorgiaLink's Skin Edge introduced Governor Sonny Purdue, Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle, and Speaker Glenn Richardson to the group. A number of our clients served as sponsors of this event, including Publix, Tenet, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., Atlanta Gas light Company, Georgia-Pacific, and Siemens. GeorgiaLink also was a Silver Sponsor of the event. We appreciate our client's supporting this important gathering.

Governor Purdue delivered his annual State of the State Address to a joint Session of the House and Senate on Wednesday. The Governor used this opportunity to unveil his FY 09' budget and to tout his legislative package. The Governor is advocating for significant funding for the Medicaid Program (a position strongly supported by the Access Healthcare Coalition), a tax cut for senior citizens and a cut in property taxes for all Georgians.

The House and Senate both overwhelmingly ratified the Comprehensive Statewide Water Management Plan. This Plan had the strong support of the business community and is a major step forward for the state.

Legislation to allow employees to have guns in their vehicles while using employer-provided parking facilities passed out of the Senate Rules Committee and was approved by the full Senate. This legislation was substantially amended so that it only applies to employees who possess, "Georgia Firearms Licenses" and the bill still allows property owners to ban weapons form their parking lots should they so desire. The measure was a major victory for the business community and private property and employer rights and was a significant defeat for the NRA.

The legislature will not be in Session the week of January 21st but will be conducting budget hearings at the state capitol on the amended FY 08' budget and the budget for FY 09'. The Session will resume on Monday, January 28th.

During the week of January 21st GeorgiaLink will be hosting a luncheon at the capitol on behalf of the Georgia Pest Control Association for members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. We will also be hosting a luncheon next week sponsored by the Access Healthcare Coalition for members of the House and Senate Healthcare Appropriations Subcommittees. We are also looking forward to a dinner we are sponsoring for the House Democratic Leadership on February 6 th. Finally, the GeorgiaLink Team will all be attending the annual Pigeon Dinner which honors the Capitol's leading lobbyists on January 22nd.

Following The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on January 21, the House and Senate budget committees will begin their hearings. These meetings will allow review of the mid year budget proposals.

Upcoming Events:

Jefferson- Jackson Dinner, hosted by the Democratic Party of Georgia, will be January 30, 2008 at 5:30 pm at the Georgia World Congress Center Building C. Tickets are available online.

To find out more information visit: http://www.democraticpartyofgeorgia.org/jj08

As a reminder, GeorgiaLink tracks legislation of importance for each client on a daily basis. Please remember to check your legislative tracking page by logging onto: www.ciclt.net/galk/client.asp. You should have received your login information, but if you are having any trouble at all accessing the page, please let us know.

As always, GeorgiaLink appreciates the opportunity to work with you.

-The GeorgiaLink Team-