We had great success this year under the Gold Dome. The following bills are ones that we lobbied on either for or against. Some of these bills were voted on very late in the day on Friday, so the final vote count has not been posted on the web. While these are not the only good bills that came out of this session – these are a few of the highlights – many passing in the last hours. We will be going through more of the bills to determine which ones will be on our 2007 Legislative Scorecard which will be out by the end of May.

Again, you have my heartfelt thanks for responding to our alerts when asked. YOU make the difference!

The leadership in both the Senate and House were willing to meet with us on these issues, and to take our views into account. We could not have been treated with more courtesy.

PASSED

S. B. 10 – This bill will provide scholarships to disabled children to attend eligible private schools if the parent so chooses. We were not sure we had the votes to pass this bill and were lobbying right down to the wire. Speaker Glenn Richardson cast the deciding vote to put us over the top with the necessary 91 votes. Senator Eric Johnson, the bill’s author, worked very hard on this bill and never gave up in his efforts to ensure passage.

H.B. 147 – The ultrasound bill will require physicians to offer an ultrasound or sonogram to the woman seeking an abortion. He is then required to offer her the right to view the sonogram. This requirement will be added to the Woman’s Right to Know bill passed last year. Representative James Mills did an excellent job getting this passed.

S.B. 148 – The "Saving the Cure" act establishes a Newborn Umbilical Cord Blood Bank to receive postnatal tissue and fluid in order to further moral and ethical stem cell research. The bill’s author, Senator David Shafer, did an outstanding job negotiating a positive outcome for this bill. [Just last week, an Australian man’s vision was restored by a corneal patch grown from adult stem cells. The patch, which replicates the cornea, was cultivated from a single stem cell from a donor eye and was transplanted to the surface of the man’s eyes.]

S. B. 38 – This bill will require an owner of a vehicle, unless otherwise exempt, to present a valid Georgia driver's license or identification card when registering or renewing the registration of a vehicle. Senator Chip Rogers is the author of this bill.

DEFEATED

S. B. 26 – This bill would have allowed convenience and grocery stores to sell beer and wine on Sunday. It was later changed to include the Sunday sale of alcohol also. The bill was killed in committee. Senator Seth Harp was the author of this bill.

S. B. 155 – This bill would have required 11 & 12 year old girls to take the HPV vaccine prior to entering the sixth grade. And, it included state funding (your tax dollars) to do so.  Senator Don Balfour, the bill's author, withdrew the bill prior to it coming out of committee.