Unwrapping the 2012 Session
Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, April 20, 2012
By Sue Ella Deadwyler
Good morning, Jim. The legislature convened January 9th, ended March 29th, the 40th day (the most dangerous day of the session, due to the sheer volume of legislation handled). That morning, the House convened at 9:30, the Senate at 10:00 and they ended sine die at midnight.
During that time, the House made decisions about 111 bills and 99 resolutions, while 73 bills and 85 resolutions went through the Senate. Some bills are deliberately left ’til the last day, but their passage or defeat has already been decided. S.B. 293, a good bill that passed the last day, was the first Senate bill introduced this year. It originally required “In God We Trust” to be printed on license plates. Now, it requires license plates to have an open space to accommodate a free state-issued decal. Consumers may choose a decal that says “In God We Trust” or the one with their county name on it. S.B. 293 was handled 15 times before it passed.
Getting a pro-life bill passed was much tougher. H.B. 954 was handled 19 times and survived six floor votes before passing as a conference committee report. A key point in the debate was the proven fact that unborn babies do feel pain. The last hurdle was overcome by a conference committee reconciliation of differences between the House and Senate. The final bill allows an abortion after the 20th week of gestation, if a pregnancy is diagnosed as “medically futile,” meaning the baby has a profound congenital or chromosomal abnormality that is fatal and cannot be corrected. It passed the House 106 to 59 and the Senate 36 to 19 on the last day.
If the governor signs H.B. 954, his signature will trigger the regulation/rule-making process, which would begin July 1st if he chooses not to sign it. With or without his signature, the remainder of the law takes effect January 1, 2013, unless he vetoes it, which is highly unlikely. However, the State Constitution provides a sign-or-veto period of 40 days from a bill’s passage, which is May 8th for H.B. 954.
March 29th was the last day some members of the General Assembly will convene in the House and Senate chambers, because their two-year terms are up when the 2013 session begins. By the end of the session, one senator and 13 representatives had announced they won’t run again. Two representatives are running for Congress and another was appointed Superior Court judge.
The announced changes are: Sen. Greg Goggans is not running again; Rep. Roger Lane was appointed Superior Court judge for the Brunswick Circuit; Rep. Mark Hatfield is campaigning for Senator Greg Goggans’ seat; Rep. Lee Anderson is running for Congress, 12th district; Rep. Doug Collins is running for Congress, 9th district.
Representatives not running again: Roberta Abdul-Salaam; Amos Amerson, Stephanie Benfield; Elly Dobbs; Joe Heckstall; Sistie Hudson; Billy Horne; Lynmore James; Gene Maddox; Martin Scott; Tommy Smith; Roger Williams. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.