Caption Fulton County election workers sort absentee ballots during a pilot audit after the June 9 primary. Credit: Stephen Fowler | GPB News
The Georgia Senate Ethics committee approved a number of elections bills Thursday, including a measure adding an ID requirement to absentee applications and a proposal to require counties to process mail-in ballots earlier, as more extreme bills wait in the wings.
While Republican lawmakers in the chamber have filed several pieces of legislation that would make voting harder for Georgians, some of the bills now sent to the Senate floor contain smaller changes with broader support.
SB 40, proposed by Democratic Sen. Jen Jordan (D-Atlanta), would require county officials to begin processing absentee ballots eight days before Election Day, codifying a pair of emergency State Election Board rules enacted in 2020 seeking to cut down on delays in counting an overwhelming number of mail-in ballots in the November and January election
House Small Business Development Committee
Chairman Mike Cheokas (R-Americus) and his Committee and adopted its Committee Rules. This Committee will operate with four subcommittees: 1) Barriers to Regulation (chair is Representative Tim Barton (R-Calhoun)); 2) Retail Hospitality (chair is Representative Bill Yearta (R-Sylvester)); 3) Incentives and Education (chair is Representative Dale Washburn (R-Macon)); and 4) Agribusiness (chair is Representative Steven Meeks (R-Screven)).
The Committee heard presentations from NFIB, Nathan Humphrey, which indicated that the small business climate in Georgia was overall good Georgia has AAA bonds; low tax rate; it is a “right to work” state; has a solvent unemployment trust fund; has a workers’ compensation fund; and is a diversified economy. NFIB’s Humphrey pointed out the COVID-19 response and allowing businesses to open; the passage of HB 486; passage of covid liability protection law, SB 359; and the $1.5 billion for unemploymen
Senate Finance Committee
Senator Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome) led his Committee this afternoon with a hearing on SB 1, a bill authored by Senator Dean Burke (R-Bainbridge) which amends Title 31 to require that entities, that receive state income tax credits and provide self-funded, employer sponsored health insurance not subject to the regulatory authority of the Commissioner of Insurance, must report insurance claims information to the Georgia All-Payer Claims Database. The legislation further requires compliance with the reporting requirement beginning January 1, 2022, as a condition to continued receipt of any such tax credits.
The Committee held a hearing only discussion today on the legislation. Senator Burke explained the legislation on the All-Payer Claims Database initiative which has been adopted in 34 states. The goals are to provide transparency and predictability to improve outcomes and access to healthcare. The claims completed by providers for patients would be translate