Last week, the General Assembly completed Day 30 of its 2008 legislative session. Known as "Crossover Day," this perennial marathon meeting-often lasting more than twelve hours-marks the day when bill must be passed by one chamber in order to be considered for passage by the other chamber within the forty days allotted each year for sessions of the General Assembly. (Even if a measure fails to survive the Crossover Day deadline, it could still become law by having its language attached to another bill as an amendment.)

In all, the House considered 68 measures during Crossover Day and has considered well over one hundred pieces of legislation over the last two weeks. Summarized below are some of the more notable measures that received approval over the last two weeks.

Several bills were approved by the House over the last two weeks, including the following:

House Bill 470, extending Georgia's automobile "Lemon Law" to two years or 24,000 miles and providing for an out-of-court dispute resolution process. (Georgia's Lemon Law protects consumers against defects that substantially impair the use, value or safety of a new motor vehicle to the consumer or renders the new motor vehicle nonconforming to a warranty).

House Bill 535, which creates a Patient Advocacy Board and Patient Advocate General to serve the interests of Georgians with mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders or developmental disabilities.

House Bill 641, creating the Georgia Excellence Foundation to solicit and to accept money and in-kind contributions in support of education in Georgia.

House Bill 670, which encourages the development of renewable energy from biomass by providing income-tax credits for individuals who transport or divert wood residuals to a qualified renewable-biomass facility.

House Bill 831, the Public Charter School Capital Financing Act, allowing the State Board of Education to establish a grant program to provide dollar-for-dollar matching funds for private contributions made to qualified charter school projects.

House Bill 905, the Building Resourceful Individuals to Develop Georgia's Economy (BRIDGE) Act, which addresses Georgia's high school drop-out rate by offering students a curriculum choice other than college preparatory. Sponsored by DeKalb Rep. Fran Millar, this measure supports those students for whom a traditional college route is not the appropriate option.

House Bill 948, establishing July 21, 2008, through August 3, 2008, as sales-tax holiday weekend for the purchase of back-to-school items and October 2, 2008 through October 5, 2008, as the tax-free weekend to buy energy-efficient products.

Although HB 895, my proposal to provide a tax-free weekend for water-efficient products, did not make the Crossover Day deadline, it is still possible that the language of that bill could become law by adding it as an amendment in the Senate to a bill that has already passed the House.

House Bill 977, which exempts insurers from state premium taxes equal to 2.25% of premiums collected from Georgia residents for high-deductible health plans sold or maintained in connection with a health savings accounts. It also provides an income- tax credit for certain individual taxpayers under certain circumstance for the premiums paid for these plans.

I voted against this bill because I believe that instead of benefiting individual policy-holders, HB 977 instead provides a windfall to insurance companies. Moreover, studies have shown greater success can be achieved by providing front-end tax credits directly to the taxpayers and allowing them to choose the plan that best suits their needs, rather than providing incentives to participate in a particular sponsored plan. By failing to provide adequate "first dollar" coverage, the bill also renders ineffective mandated coverage for tests such as ovarian cancer screenings and preventative health care for children.

House Bill 1035, extending the exemption from motor-fuel taxes for public transit and public campus transportation systems from June 30, 2008, to June 30, 2010.

House Bill 1158, which provides for a $10 fee on all vehicles registered in Georgia to fund the Georgia Trauma Trust Fund to provide a statewide trauma care network, including Grady Hospital.

House Bill 1184, authorizing the Board of Regents to establish pilot programs for collegiate sports for persons with disabilities and to provide scholarships.

House Bill 1189, which requires the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to report to the legislature on the progress of the Statewide Strategic Transportation Plan and to include costs, funding sources, and timelines for current and future GDOT projects.

House Bill 1196, providing a 25% income-tax credit for cash investments made in certain research fund investment entities resulting from the research conducted at the research universities of Georgia.

House Bill 1209, which implements recommendations of the Governor's "Investing in Education Excellence" (IE2) task force, which are intended to provide schools with greater flexibility, accountability, and consequences for poor performance. Because the IE2 did not fulfill its original responsibility of devising a new education funding formula to help adequately fund our public schools and because the recommendations proposed by HB 1209 are essentially a reiteration of current law, I did not support this measure. Serious education reform is sorely needed, and I do not believe that HB 1209 met its goals of serving this vital purpose.

House Bill 1226, expediting construction of water reservoirs, setting up a revolving fund for building and increasing the size of existing reservoirs, and creating the Georgia Water Supply Act Legislative Oversight Committee.

House Bill 1244, which extends through 2011 an income tax credit for expenses incurred by employers who allow their employees to telecommute.

House Bill 1245, which I co-sponsored, grew out of the Joint (House-Senate) Indigent Defense Study Committee on which I served over the last year. Among the reforms is a provision to prohibit retired judges from presiding over death penalty cases, such as the infamous Brian Nichols trial currently taking place in Fulton County, which is costing Georgia taxpayers millions of dollars. Unlike their elected counterparts on the bench, senior judges are not held accountable to the voters for their actions.

House Bill 1249, which provides an income tax credit for solar energy companies that establish or expand a Georgia headquarters.

House Bill 1297, a measure that I co- sponsored, provides greater protections to sexual assault victims and mandates the preservation of biological evidence in sexual assault cases.

House Bill 1299, another measure I co- sponsored, requires that hospital authorities constituted by two county governments (such as Grady Hospital) must contract with nonprofit corporations for the operation and management of the hospitals. The bill further declares any non-complying authority to be ineligible to receive funds from the Georgia Trauma Trust Fund. This bill is intended to put an end to Grady's foot-dragging on reform of its operations.

House Resolution 1246, the Property Tax Reform Amendment, amending the Georgia Constitution to eliminate ad valorem taxes on personal vehicles over a two-year period as well as on the state portion of real property taxes. The measure also limits property assessment increases to 2% per year for residential property and to 3% per year for commercial property. Although the legislation was not perfect, I voted in favor of HR 1246 as a first step towards meaningful property tax reform.

To become effective, however, the measure requires statewide voter approval during the November General Elections and must first be approved by the Senate before voters have a chance to cast their votes.

Both Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, who presides over the Senate, and Governor Perdue have expressed reservations about the Amendment, which may result in the legislation failing to receive further consideration.

Senate Bill 276, which allows insured drivers to realize the full benefit of uninsured motorist (UM) coverage by "stacking" UM policy benefit on top of other automobile insurance coverage. It also opens up certain rate premiums to free-market competition, which has resulted in reduced rates in states that have implemented this deregulated approach.

New and Improved Website. Please visit my recently updated District 82 website ( www.kevinlevitas.org), which has both new information and a new look. Keep visiting for more improvements and updates in the near future. Thank you for your support!

Committee Action. In the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, we approved Senate Bill 24, providing criminal punishments for persons using the Internet or email to induce another to provide identifying information by falsely representing themselves to be a business without the authority or approval of the business. At the request of the author, I will be the chief House sponsor of this important consumer- protection legislation.

The Committee also approved Senate Bill 1, prohibiting convicted sex offenders from photographing minors without parental permission. The measure received a "Do Pass" recommendation from the Committee and now moves to the House Rules Committee.

The House Transportation Committee last week took up Senate Resolution 845. This measure is a constitutional amendment that allows regions to ask voters for a local 1% sales and to use the tax revenues to fund regional transportation projects and mass transportation networks. The measure was approved by the Committee.

If you are interested in more detail about what happened at the General Assembly this session, then please feel free to call or write me or visit the General Assembly website: www.legis.ga.gov. The website provides direct access to the text of legislation and vote tallies as well as schedules and live coverage of committee meetings.

(Another resource is offered when the General Assembly is in session by Georgia Public Broadcasting through a television program called "Lawmakers," which airs daily at 7 PM and rebroadcasts at 5:30 AM the following morning. The program covers each day's events at the Capitol.)

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