2008 Legislative Accomplishments

Healthcare 2008

My health care legislation in 2008 is a market-based patient-centered package of reforms that eliminate out-dated insurance laws that unintentionally limited the offering of affordable insurance. To make insurance more affordable, the new law allows financial “dividends” to be placed into Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for engaging in wellness, prevention, and treatment compliance. Rewards and incentives paid into the HSA by insurers can reduce or eliminate the entire deductible otherwise payable by the patient. Affordability is also achieved through health choices and behavior changes. HSA eligible plans are typically 25-40% lower cost than traditional health insurance.

The 2008 legislation also eliminated all state and local “sales taxes” on HSA eligible plans (technically called premium taxes). As an incentive to offer insurance, companies (with fewer than 50 employees) are granted a $250 tax credit for each employee enrolled in an HSA eligible plan. Individual insurance buyers can now deduct the insurance premiums of their HSA eligible plans. The new Georgia law also allows small employers to contribute tax advantaged HRA dollars to employees for the purpose of buying individual portable health insurance and/or paying for health expenses saving on federal and state income taxes.

Soon, Georgians will see products at a fraction of their current costs and be able to purchase portable new generation HSA eligible plans that can provide full coverage for those willing to take personal responsibility for their health and well-being. This legislation is not a panacea. It is a model for others to follow.
 

 2005 - 2007 Legislative Accomplishments

Budget & Taxes

The Taxpayer Protection Act, which I co-sponsored and worked hard to pass through the years, is a proposed Constitutional Amendment that would require that all revenue  growth (after accounting for inflation and population growth) be used to pay down the debt, increase the reserves, or returned to the taxpayers.

The FY’08 budget includes $480 million in grants to local governments to provide property tax relief. The Senate passed the Governor’s proposal to eliminate the tax on unearned income for seniors.

A Better Educated Georgia

The Georgia General Assembly changed the entire education debate to promote local control and choice.

The Charter Systems Act will allow entire school systems to apply for charter status, not just individual schools. If approved, the system will be allowed to waive many regulations and get more flexibility in exchange for performance measures. Every school within the approved charter system will be a charter school.

We also gave parents of special needs children scholarships to use at the best school for their child - public or private. This historic bill creates Georgia’s first public school voucher.

We also passed the Career Academies Act through the Senate which is designed to increase graduation rates and potential job opportunities for students. These creative partnerships are run jointly by the local school system and the Technical College combining academics from the high school and technical education from the college.

We put a Graduation Coach in every High School. Graduation rates are already showing signs of improving. This year, we funded Coaches for every Middle School. Their sole purpose is to keep students in school.

We passed the Grade Integrity Act so that classroom teachers will not be required, coerced, intimidated, or disciplined in any manner by the local board of education, superintendent, or any local school administrator to change the grade of a student.

Local boards of education will be authorized to employ school administrative managers, in lieu of assistant principals, and determine their qualifications. This will allow persons with business experience to be hired instead of just educators who may not be capable of managing and hiring staff or handling site-based budgets.

Every local school is run by a School Council. Previously, teachers and administrators made up the majority. We changed the law to require that parents make up the majority and that at least two of such parents/guardians are businesspersons. The chairperson of the School Council must be a parent member. Parents now run the school.

We must reinvest in research and science at our universities. We funded the Georgia Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Core Facility at the Medical College of Georgia. We added an Eminent Scholar at Georgia Southern University. The Herty Advanced Materials Development Center and the Traditional Industries and Research Alliance received almost $22 million for major research and development equipment.

Finally, we passed legislation that allows the surviving spouse of a deceased member of the Georgia National Guard or a reserve component of the armed forces to apply for the Georgia HERO scholarship.


A Safer Georgia

We expanded our Meth Task Force within the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, began to implement the SecureID initiative to catch those who create false identification, and expanded the number of agents assigned to investigate child internet predators and child pornographers.

The Senate defeated legislation that would require judges to consider releasing convicted sex offenders convicted of child molestation, aggravated child molestation, or enticing a child for indecent purposes onto the street.

We increased county jail subsidies from $20 to $25 per day to help local property taxpayers who are paying to house state prisoners in local jails.

To cut down on illegal immigration and tax fraud, we made it a felony to manufacture and distribute false identification cards and other documents.

To crack down on illegal immigration, we required license plate applicants to have a
valid driver's license or other government issued identification card. We also strengthened the penalty for illegal aliens and others who habitually drive without obtaining a license.

We eliminated an archaic “sentence review panel” which previously allowed a panel of unelected people not from the victim’s county to overturn the decision of a trial judge and reduce a convicted felon’s prison sentence even when that sentence resulted from a negotiated plea agreement.

After watching the abuse of the public defender system in the Nichols trial, the legislature limited the hiring of excessive attorneys in capital murder cases and limited the judges’ authority to tax the county for related costs.

In response to a suggestion from a prison warden, we prohibited convicted sex offenders from obtaining and possessing photographs and other depictions of their victims to use in their prison cells.

To stay ahead of technology, we updated the law to assist law enforcement in tracking down and prosecuting offenders who are using computers, cell phones and other electronic devices to commit sex crimes against children.


 A Cleaner Georgia

Jekyll Island is a state treasure that is slowly deteriorating. The legislature reached an agreement to extend the land leases another 30 years to allow financing for redevelopment while still protecting the environmentally fragile south end and protecting 65% of the island for greenspace.

The General Assembly granted a sales tax exemption for materials and equipment used in the construction of biofuel facilities in Georgia. The tax incentive will be available to facilities producing and processing certain biofuels (ethanol, biodiesel and butanol) derived from Georgia-grown agriculture products and biomass. The biofuels tax credit will help make Georgia a national leader for the development of home-grown alternative fuel sources. As a nation, it is vitally important that we decrease our dependence on foreign oil and we hope Georgia will lead the way with innovative companies making use of products grown in our state.

We began to provide grants to encourage retailers to stock and sell alternative ethanol fuel such as Ethanol-85 to consumers to help us begin to create demand for fuels other than oil and gas.


 A Working Georgia

The legislature supported Delta's efforts to emerge from bankruptcy and remain a stand-alone carrier by helping to head off the hostile takeover by U. S. Airways. We also extended their temporary sales tax exemption on jet fuel.

To encourage competition for Cable TV, we passed the Consumer Choice for Television Act. This will provide a new statewide franchise and allow a new provider to enter the market.

We increased funding to regional and rural airports by to help communities with economic recruitment.

We passed the Community Development District legislation that allows developers to sell bonds for infrastructure and amenity construction and pass along the debt to the purchasers of residential lots rather than local property tax payers.

Georgia has funding available to build a new visitors center and design a tourist map of key sites all over Georgia as we prepare for the upcoming Civil War sesquicentennial anniversary. This is expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors to the south.

International marketing efforts for Georgia were expanded in Asia and Canada to develop international trade and investment opportunities for the state.

To improve boating and fishing as well as attract lucrative bass fishing tournaments, Georgia developed “Go Fish Georgia”. This includes an education and visitors’ center, boat ramps and a bass trail.


A Healthier Georgia

To meet the shortage of doctors in a fast growing state with an aging population, we created a new 4-year Mercer Medical School campus in Savannah and authorized the Medical College of Georgia to begin expanding the number of physicians it graduates.

Research into lifesaving science was enhanced by the passage of the Saving the Cure Act which creates the Newborn Umbilical Cord Blood Bank to collect postnatal tissue and fluid for stem cell research. Postnatal stem cells can be used for medical research and treatment without destroying human life at any stage of development.

With the passage of transforming healthcare legislation, people will be able to save money and make informed healthcare decisions with website access to the retail price of prescription drugs plus the ability to compare the cost and quality of services provided by hospitals and nursing homes. In addition, we began to implement a Health Information Technology pilot program so that consumers can get information on outcomes and price before deciding which provider to use.

We increased funding to improve access to primary health care in rural Georgia and expanded the number of secure forensic beds in our mental hospitals.

There is a shortage of public health nurses due to salaries being half of those in the private sector. We increased their pay to 85 percent of the market so that these critical health care workers will be staffed and trained and available to deliver services to our poor and in case of emergencies.
We funded the recruitment of twenty Eminent Cancer Scientists and Clinicians.

A Trauma Care Commission was created to develop a plan to ensure that every Georgian has access to trauma care as needed and manage the distribution of future funding. Adequate trauma centers could save more than 150 lives each year in Georgia.

We established the Deaf Children’s Bill of Rights which sets out the basic rights that deaf students have for the creation of an individualized education plan (IEP) tailored to their specific communication needs and requires that it be explained to their parents. We also included sign language as a “foreign language”.

Senior Tax Cut

In 2006 Senator Hill con-sponsored the largest senior tax cut to date eliminating the income tax on the first $70,000 of a couples’ retirement income.

Judson pushed legislation through the Senate that limits the annual increase in property assessments to help protect property owners from being taxed off their land. He co-sponsored legislation to give homeowners more rights through the Property Tax and Appeals reform bill designed to ensure all Georgia properties are properly assessed at fair market value and that property owners have guaranteed and expedited rights to appeal.

Senator Hill co-sponsored a Constitutional Amendment known as the Taxpayer Protection Act that limits the amount state spending can grow.

Senator Hill has also advocated for and helped pass several Homeowner Tax Relief Grants to lower property taxes, require that special local option sales tax (SPLOST) referendums coincide with major election to maximize voter participation and passed the Transparency in Government Act that permits every citizen to see how their state government spends their money.

Protecting Our Natural Resources

Georgia has experienced tremendous economic growth that has led to many environmental challenges. Judson believes that preserving our natural resources and our quality of life must be based on sound science and that private property rights encourage stewardship of our resources. Judson has worked to prepare our state to meet its present and future water challenges and advocated for streamlined and expedited measures to develop new reservoirs.