Rep. Deffenbaugh's Legislative Report

  • Sunday, February 19, 2017
  • Rep. John Deffenbaugh, Ga. District 1

My colleagues and I returned to the State Capitol and went back to work on Tuesday, February 14, for our sixth week of the 2017 legislative session. By the end of week six, we completed legislative day 20, meaning we reached the half-way mark of the session. We have 20 legislative days remaining to complete our business, and “Crossover Day” is rapidly approaching. With that in mind, the House passed several key bills each legislative day this week, including one of the General Assembly’s most important pieces of legislation of this session: House Bill 44, the Fiscal Year 2018 (FY 2018) state budget.

Each year, the General Assembly is constitutionally required to pass a balanced budget, and on Friday, the House fulfilled this constitutional duty by passing House Bill 44, the Fiscal Year 2018 budget that will serve as our state’s spending guide from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018. The FY 2018 budget is set by a revenue estimate of $24.9 billion, an increase of $1.25 billion, or 5.3 percent, over the FY 2017 budget, making it the largest budget in our state’s history.

With this record-setting revenue, we are able to fund top House initiatives in the FY 2018 budget. Much like in years past, the bulk of our funding, $780.2 million in HB 44, is budgeted for education to ensure that each of the nearly 1.74 million full-time equivalent students in the state, as well as Georgia’s instrumental teachers, administrators, faculty and staff, have access to the educational resources they need to thrive. First and foremost, the FY 2018 budget allocates $162 million to provide Georgia’s dedicated teachers with a 2 percent merit pay increase incorporated into the salary schedule to provide raises to more than 126,000 teachers, as well as a 2 percent salary increase for bus drivers and school nutrition personnel. The FY 2018 budget also includes $1.6 million for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) trainers and school climate specialists to help reduce disciplinary incidents and promote school safety. In addition, the budget provides $2.7 million in new and existing funds to provide one AP STEM exam for every student taking an AP STEM course in the state as a way to encourage participation in AP STEM courses. Furthermore, the FY 2018 budget includes $4.05 million to fund additional school counselors for all school systems as well as $445,145 for a competitive grant program available to school systems that have a large military population to fund counselor positions to provide additional support to students of military families. Finally, HB 44 includes $1.5 million for the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement for a grant program to provide low performing high schools with a certified school counselor-graduation specialist. This competitive grant program would give priority to those high schools on the state’s chronically failing schools list. These budget allocations provide Georgia’s learners, as well as our teachers, with quality educational resources, and the House’s appropriation for education in the FY 2018 budget is ultimately an investment in our state’s future.

Initiatives that promote the well-being and mental health of all Georgians are vital, and another significant budgetary focus in the House was ensuring that our state funds programs that support our citizens in these aspects. For that reason, HB 44 includes funding for several key services under the Department of Human Resources. The FY 2018 budget supports critical programs aiding over 19,000 young people in the foster care system statewide through the inclusion of $10.7 million for a $10 per diem rate increase for foster parents and $14.9 million for relative foster parents caring for and raising our state’s foster children. Moreover, HB 44 provides $25.8 million for a 19 percent salary increase for child welfare services caseworkers, $2.8 million for 80 new positions in the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) to provide support services for foster parents, $500,000 to expand the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) to advocate on behalf of our children and $1.5 million for a $5 hourly rate increase for Special Assistant Attorneys General (SAAGs) who support child welfare cases. Additionally, the FY 2018 budget includes $6 million for the creation of a Behavioral Health Crisis Center which would address emergency crisis needs for individuals struggling with mental illnesses by providing 24/ 7 walk-in services and would offer an alternative to expensive hospital care for patients experiencing a mental health or substance abuse crisis. Other important additions include $500,000 for the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency to match federal funds to continue providing scholarships for students with developmental disabilities and $2 million for Georgia Alzheimer’s Project to promote early detection and treatment to provide early detection and treatment of this devastating disease. No matter the age, from the youngest citizen to our aging population, we must ensure that adequately funded programs are in place to support all Georgians.

Allocating funds for our military communities and service members was another House priority for the 2018 fiscal year budget. Our veterans fought to protect the freedoms we all benefit from, and our active-duty military personnel continue this fight today, and it is only fitting that we respect and care for those who made and continue to make great sacrifices for our state and country. In addition providing support to our military families by funding additional school counselors to school systems serving large military communities, the HB 44 also designates $358,996 for four veteran benefits training officers who would work with the Veterans Accountability Court to serve those who have entered the criminal justice system upon returning home from combat and war, along with $137,650 for a women veterans coordinator position in an effort to recognize the unique challenges and needs facing our female veterans. An increased allocation of $359,437 is also included to fully fund the actuarially determined employer contribution for the Georgia Military Pension Fund to continue fiscal soundness and sustainability. In addition, HB 44 would fund the establishment of the Military Family Support Center in Marietta, a commissary that would sell discounted groceries and household goods to active-duty and retired military personnel and their families. Over 400,000 authorized users per year in our state would be eligible to take advantage of the benefits this center would provide, and I’m proud to support the inclusion of these funds in our budget to benefit our veterans and active-duty military personnel.

Our state has seen tremendous population growth over the past several years, greatly increasing the demand and complexity of our citizens’ health needs. To address health concerns, HB 44 includes $92 million in Tenet settlement funds, which will be matched by federal funds and used to meet a variety of needs, including $38.4 million for Medicaid growth, $20.7 million for behavioral health services for children under 21 who are diagnosed with Autism, $325,000 for an Adolescent to Adult Transition model to improve outcomes for adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, $2.5 million for behavioral health services for children ages 0 to 4, among other health programs. The FY 2018 budget also acknowledges the unique medical needs of Georgia’s citizens by allocating funds for 97 new residency slots in primary care medicine, 10 additional OB/GYN residency slots at various hospitals and a new psychiatry residency program. Allotting funds to support these crucial health-focused initiatives reflects the House’s commitment to creating a healthier Georgia.

One final yet key highlight of the FY 2018 budget is the appropriation for pay raises for specific job classifications within the Department of Defense, Department of Human Services and Department of Public Health to provide incentives to fill jobs within these agencies that have high demand or turnover rates. FY 2018 designates $55.5 million to annualize 20 percent salary increases for those who risk their lives daily to ensure the safety of our state’s citizen, our law enforcement officers, as well as additional increases for criminal investigators and canine officers to attract new recruits and reduce turnover, impacting officers and criminal investigators across 16 state agencies. Additionally, HB 44 includes $2.6 million for public safety training to support and adequately train state and local law enforcement officers for the challenges faced by today’s police forces. Lastly, HB 44 provides funds for additional Georgia Bureau of Investigation personnel, including four scientist and two technical positions, to help expedite rape kit processing to address the backlog of untested rape kits as a result of Senate Bill 304 from the 2016 legislative session. These are just a few highlights of the House version of the FY 2018 budget, and the budget as a whole includes many other areas of funding reflecting the wide range and diversity of our state’s programs, initiatives and priorities to meet the needs of the citizens of our state.

In addition to passing the FY 2018 budget this week, the House passed a number of other important bills that will now be considered by the state Senate. Among the legislation that passed out of the House this week, one significant measure was House Bill 139, a bill that would increase transparency in Georgia’s public school systems. HB 139 would require the Georgia Department of Education to create and publish an online database reporting the financial performance of each local school system and school in Georgia, including the costs of all materials and equipment, staff salaries and benefits, professional development, facility maintenance, new construction or renovation, per student expenditures for each local school system, the schools system’s annual budget, ratio of expenditures to revenue and the total property tax revenue the system is authorized to collect. This bill would also require each public school that maintains a website to post a link in a prominent location to the Department of Education’s website where this valuable financial data would be compiled, aggregated and reported. Currently, there is no user-friendly method for the public to access this information, and HB 139 aims to make our school systems’ financial information more readily available to the public. Because education funding accounts for more than half of our state budget each year, it is essential that we increase governmental transparency by ensuring that Georgians know how their tax dollars are spent.

In order to maintain a successful and thriving economy, Georgia must have a solid transportation infrastructure to move its goods, services and people across our state. As such, the House overwhelmingly passed House Bill 160, bipartisan legislation that would assess Georgia’s need for mass transportation systems and potential funding sources for mass transit by creating the Georgia Commission on Transit Governance and Funding. In order to accomplish the commission’s objectives, the commission would hold public meetings that would provide opportunities for public input. As a result of the commission’s work, the commission would release a report of its findings and offer recommendations for the establishment of a mass transportation systems and funding mechanisms for such systems, including possible state funding, and any legislation the commission may deem necessary to accomplish its proposals. The commission would be co-chaired by the chairmen of the House and Senate Transportation committees and would be made up of four members appointed by the governor, four additional members of the House appointed by the Speaker of the House, four additional members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate, the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Commissioner of Transportation, the Executive Director of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and the Chief Executive Officer of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). Mass transit systems could offer a solution to traffic congestion and meet the needs of the state’s growing population, and the Commission on Transit Governance and Funding would provide the much needed political structure, knowledge base and support to better understand our state’s transportation shortcomings and its future.

In an exciting effort to bring the commercial space industry to Georgia, the House also saw the passage of a measure this week that would establish the groundwork for this industry in our state. House Bill 1, the Georgia Space Flight Act (GSA), would define procedures for commercial space flight activity, allowing Georgia to be more competitive with neighboring “space friendly” states. The GSA would limit a willing space flight participant’s ability to sue for damages related to spaceflight activities occurring in this state if the willing participant was required to give written informed consent and would not protect against injuries suffered by non-consenting third parties affiliated by space flight activity. This language is the foundation of the bill, echoing federal regulations regarding liability coverage and meeting an industry standard used in all other states with space programs. GSA would improve our state’s competitiveness in the estimated $330 billion per year space industry, with the proposed site to be located in Camden County. Spaceport Camden would have a tremendous impact on Camden County’s economy, as well as many surrounding counties, and housing a spaceport in our state would significantly impact STEM related job growth and tourism in Georgia. The development of commercial space flight friendly programs and competencies to attract and retain commercial space and related businesses would not only grow and diversify our state’s economy, but would also drive our state into the future, and the House is committed to supporting this initiative.

House Bill 9, which passed the House overwhelmingly, would update Georgia’s invasion of privacy law, making filming under or through a person’s clothing a felony in Georgia. HB 9 criminalizes the use of a device, such as a camera or mobile phone, to secretly observe, photograph, videotape, film or record underneath or through a person’s clothing to view intimate parts of the body in circumstances where that person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. This legislation would also make it unlawful to disseminate images or recordings that were obtained this way. HB 9 was introduced in response to a Georgia Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the conviction of an individual for one count of criminal invasion of privacy for recording cell phone video underneath a woman’s skirt at a grocery store. The court found that the defendant’s actions did not violate Georgia’s current invasion of privacy law because the incident occurred in a public space. Current Georgia law related to the invasion of privacy only applies to activities that occur in any “private place out of viewing.” Therefore, HB 9 would close this loophole by prosecuting those who commit this violating practice.

Finally, my colleagues and I the saw final passage of HB 43, the Amended Fiscal Year 2017 budget, this week which was among the first pieces of legislation of the 2017 session signed into law by Gov. Deal. On Wednesday, February 15, Gov. Deal met with various officials and legislators at the future site of the Georgia Cyber Training and Innovation Center in Augusta for a signing ceremony for HB 43, authorizing $24.3 billion in spending for the current fiscal year. This additional funding will allow the state to invest in its top priority initiatives. The location of the bill signing ceremony was significant because the Amended Fiscal Year 2017 budget includes $50 million to establish the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center, a state-owned education and training center and will promote innovation in cybersecurity technology to defend our state and country against hackers and other cybersecurity threats. In addition to the training center, the amended budget will allow Georgia to invest in economic development initiatives, provide law enforcement officers with salary increases, address growing educational needs and improve our state’s transportation system.

Now that we have passed the annual budget and are halfway through the 2017 legislative session, we will continue to vote on many more important bills each legislative day under the Gold Dome through the remainder of the session. During this time, I hope that you will contact me with your ideas and opinions so that I can apply your thoughts to my work throughout these remaining 20 legislative days. If you have questions or concerns regarding these bills or any other pieces of legislation, I encourage you to contact me. As your state representative, it is my responsibility to represent your thoughts and opinions at the State Capitol. You are always welcome and encouraged to visit my capitol office in Atlanta. My capitol office phone number is 404-656-0202, and my email address is john.deffenbaugh@house.ga.gov.

As always, thank you for allowing me to serve as your state representative. 

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