ATLANTA — Legislation that would allow Georgia governors to remove problem school board members passed the Georgia House of Representatives on Monday, pushing it close to final passage.
Senate Bill 84, which Gov. Sonny Perdue proposed, also contains new ethics requirements for school board members across the state. It passed the House 137-33 in a Monday vote.
The bill already had passed the Senate, but because of changes made in the House, it will have to go back to the Senate for final approval.
The bill allows the governor to remove school board members in systems in danger of losing accreditation — a problem two systems in the state have had in recent years. Before the governor can remove anyone, though, the state school board would have to hold a hearing and recommend the removal.
That extra step was put in after some complained the bill gave too much power to the governor’s office.
The legislation also contains a nepotism clause stating that people with close relatives working for a school system can’t serve on that system’s board. But it contains a grandfather clause for current board members. Those affected by the new rule also can petition the state board for a waiver.
Cheating bill may move
Teachers and others who help students cheat on tests or change their answers would be guilty of a misdemeanor under legislation that may move forward this week.
The changes, in House Bill 1121, come in the wake of widespread questions about erasure marks on state tests. The abundance of those marks leads many to believe teachers changed student answers to help them pass.
House Bill 1121 may be voted out of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. A hearing was held Monday, with more discussion planned for Wednesday. There are some concerns among teachers and state elected leaders that criminalizing cheating is going too far.
Already teachers can lose their jobs if they help students cheat or change their answers on tests.
‘Time-served’ bill passes committee
Legislation meant to make it easier to give juvenile offenders credit for time they spend locked up before their court dates moved forward Monday, clearing the House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee.
House Bill 1144 would make sure the state treats juvenile offenders the same as it treats adults, giving them full credit for time they serve before going to court, Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner Albert Murray said. That will help the state move juveniles through the system, freeing up beds quicker. Space has become an issue with the recent closure of two facilities, including the Bill E. Ireland Youth Development Campus in Milledgeville. The closures mean the state lost more than 400 beds for juvenile offenders, Murray said.
Making this change is “a fairness issue, as well as a budget issue,” Murray said, since juveniles deserve credit for time served just like adults.
“This should have been state law many years ago, in my opinion,” he said.
Bill would gut red-light cameras
Legislation that would essentially gut state laws allowing local governments to write tickets based on red-light camera footage could move forward this week at the Capitol.
House Bill 31 was discussed Monday in the House Judiciary Committee and is expected to come back up Wednesday. The bill repeals quite a bit of the state code dealing with red-light cameras. It doesn’t outlaw them, but it “creates a fairly expansive loophole” to get people out of tickets given because of the cameras, said state Rep. Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, who is a Judiciary Committee member.
Since red-light cameras started popping up in Georgia, some legislators have said they are unfair, particularly since it’s difficult to prove who is driving a car photographed running a red light.
Bill moves to keep Falcons
Legislation to allow the city of Atlanta to extend its hotel-motel tax another 30 years, paving the way for a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons — or at least a remodeled Georgia Dome — passed the Georgia House of Representatives on Monday.
The legislation, House Bill 903, will have “far-reaching and positive” results in the state, sponsoring state Rep. Mark Burkhalter, R-Johns Creek, said.
Local leaders still would have to levy the tax, but this legislation will allow them to do that through 2050, Burkhalter said. Otherwise, Atlanta’s 7 percent hotel-motel tax would sunset in 2020.
The long timetable is needed to establish a large line of credit to finance needed changes at the Georgia Dome and Georgia World Congress Center, or a new stadium, Burkhalter said. Various upgrades are expected as part of a package meant to keep the Falcons football team in Atlanta.
Burkhalter’s bill had bipartisan support, with Minority Caucus Chairman Calvin Smyre, D-Columbus, taking the House well to support it. It passed 151-13 and moves now to the state Senate for consideration.
Senate: Teach first aid in public schools
Legislation that would require Georgia public schools to teach first aid as part of the health and physical education curriculum passed the state Senate on Monday.
Senate Bill 298 calls on the state Department of Education and Department of Community Health to decide what will be taught. The bill passed 36-16. There was some concern that this amounted to an unfunded mandate from the state, since no new state funding comes with the requirement.
But state Sen. Robert Brown, D-Macon, who is one of the bill’s sponsors, said educators teaching health now can simply add first aid to their curriculums without needing a salary change.
Brown and other Middle Georgia senators voted for the bill, which moves to the Georgia House of Representatives.
Telegraph staff writer Travis Fain compiled this report.
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