Day 23 - Minority Report

The House debated SB 31 for about 3 1/2 hours today. This is the bill we've reported on several times already, which would do an end run around the Public Service Commission (PSC) and allow Georgia Power to charge us, its individual customers, in advance, for the planned construction of a nuclear plant.

How ever one feels about nuclear power, this bill was terrible for consumers.

The main argument of those who supported the bill was that it would save consumers a huge rate hike in the future by allowing Georgia Power to charge us a little bit at a time so that we wouldn't have to pay interest on interest later. This was nonsense.

Rather than demonstrating that with bits of the back-and-forth debate, we'll instead give you the Minority Report.

It's rarely used, but if something about to pass is egregious enough, a legislator can call for a Minority Report. This allows, at the end of debate, for an important group to speak. Those members of the committee that sent the bill on to the full Senate who voted against the bill when it was in that committee - in other words those who were on the losing side when the bill was voted out of committee - are allowed 20 minutes to speak about why they opposed the bill, and their report is printed up and given to all Senators.

Democrats Brian Thomas and Dubose Porter gave the Minority Report.

Thomas dismantled the arguments of the bill's supporters with the skill and precision of the archaeologist that he is. (Yes, he really is an archaeologist - pretty cool.)

First, he crushed the argument that this plan will save consumers money. Of the money that we would have added to our Georgia Power bills in fees that's supposedly going to prevent us from paying interest on interest:
Only 25% - $500 million - is going towards that goal of paying as we go so that we don't pay interest on interest later on.
50% - $1.1 million - is going straight to Georgia Power as profit. (They call it "return on equity".)
25% - $500 million - would go to paying taxes on that profit.
So, rather than saving us money, 75% of the extra fees we're charged will go towards Georgia Power making bigger profits.

Second, he said that this was not a referendum on nuclear power. The PSC will decide on construction of nuclear plants March 17 at its next meeting.

Third, he pointed out that it's not a referendum on jobs in Augusta. Those jobs will arrive if and when a nuclear plant is built there, which has nothing to do with this bill.

This bill was only about how Georgia Power gets its money.

Dubose Porter informed younger members that when a scheme like this passed through the Georgia Legislature many years ago, it became known as the "Retirement Bill," because so many members lost their seats for voting for it.

Of course, this valiant effort didn't take the day.
The converts to the church of Georgia Power ignored the many unanswered questions, and didn't seem to think it mattered if we had to fight to get them answered later. Apparently their votes were lined up in advance.

The bill passed 107-66, with about 20 Republicans voting against it and about 20 Democrats voting for it.

With so many people and groups opposing it, it's a tough loss to take, because legislators admitted that they had gotten very few to zero calls in favor from constituents. That's not the way things are supposed to work.

Day 14 - "Pass the Buck" and Buckle Up

"Pass the Buck" is gaining momentum. The coalition aiming to pass Ron Stephens' (R-Savannah) $1/pack cigarette tax held a press conference this morning with probably 30 doctors, and Stephens spoke to the Working Families Caucus this afternoon.

He noted that each pack of cigarettes carries with it $9 in healthcare costs for Georgia taxpayers, and that what he's asking for is only what turns out to actually be a $1 voluntary user fee. And could be expected to raise $350 million for the state.

Rep. Stephens and many doctors also noted that studies have proven that price hikes do help prevent teens from smoking, because, let's face it, most teens are broke.

With the current budget crisis, this bill -- which would help financially and directly help save lives -- seems like a no-brainer. A smokin' good idea.

And also remember, there are a couple of bills floating around that would remove the exemption from truck owners having to wear seat belts. This little change in law would trigger $4 million in Federal Highway Safety Funds to be released to Georgia. Hey this stuff adds up. Anyone have any more good ideas? Could be helpful.

Day 13 -- One way to get out of the house

Another person commented on school vouchers today: "After 9 years of cuts, this is just another chip in the plan to eventually eliminate public schools."

Maybe it was because this assault on public education was on our mind, but it was difficult to be excited about the homeschoolers lobbying all over the place today. Not wanting to disparage them or their education, it was sort of painful to watch them unsuccessfully try to interact. They were cute, and they had their literature and their promotional tables, but they really did seem to need to get out more. Sorry.

Day 13 -- Who said fathers know best?

The Women's Policy Group held a lunchtime Capitol Briefing today that was so well-attended that about 15 of us sat on the floor.

And it was a good thing it was crowded -- with the budget cuts, women are taking some of the hardest hits, as usual.

Nice to hear from the crowd that many of them intended to run for office, as women are underrepresented under the Gold Dome.

Lobbyist Extraordinaire Elizabeth Appley listed some of the things coming down the pike:

The Governor's proposal to eliminate the Family Violence Commission: Since its creation in 2001, the Commission has reduced Georgia's per capita family violence homicides by 26.2%, a rate almost 6 times better than the national average. So why does he think cutting it is such a good idea?

He also wants to eliminate the Temporary Protective Order Registry, which keeps a computer record of every restraining order, so that when a woman flees her abusive partner with her kids in tow in the middle of the night, she doesn't have to find the paper copy of the restraining order first.

Oh, and he wants to freeze funding for Domestic Violence Shelters and Rape Crisis Centers. Who needs 'em anyway.

In the meantime, Appley pointed out, the state gives $5 million a year in tax exemptions to llama farmers. Call us if you want to find out how to get in on this great deal.

Oh, and if the state's in such a budget shortfall, wouldn't you think the 90% federal matching funds for family planning money make the state think twice about the 34% family planning cuts?

It's amazing how some people in our state government have said they are willing to turn down matching federal dollars.

Day 13 -- One of the most frequently asked questions was . . . not answered today

Don't you know politicians always have to have it both ways . . .

This morning we heard legislative session would be 40 consecutive workdays and General Assembly would be out early this year -- Hooray.

But wouldn't you know, this afternoon, equally credible sources were saying, "Hey, it looks like they'll be taking Fridays and Mondays off for a couple weeks."

We're kind of hoping they go home early, because then we'll be safe until next year.

Day 12

February 3

Cutting education funds, cutting school nurses, and now proposing vouchers, which would take even more money out of the education system.

Why don't they just go ahead and engrave the tombstone "Public Schools R.I.P." and be done with it?