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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE |
Clock is Ticking: No Action in Senate Yet on FY '03 Budget
With only five days remaining in the 2002 session of the General Assembly, the rush is on to finalize all pending legislation.
Of course, the biggest issue on the table is the Fiscal Year 2003 Budget. The Senate Appropriations Committee will meet late today (Monday, April 1) to work on the state's spending plan. Once the Senate takes action on the budget, it will move to the Conference Committee, which will work to resolve any differences in the recommendations of the House, the Senate and Gov. Roy E. Barnes. Then, it will be up to the Governor to sign the budget bill. Legislative Update will report on any action taken in next week's issue.
A Progress Report on Legislation of Interest
March 26, the 33rd day of the current legislative session, was "Crossover Day" - all bills winding their way through the state House and Senate this spring had to have cleared at least one of those two chambers by that date to stay alive. Here's an update on how several bills of interest to University System of Georgia institutions fared:
- House Bill 1231 requires post-secondary schools to report any international students who miss classes to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The bill was assigned to a subcommittee where it remained at adjournment on March 26.
- House Bill 1342 requires publishers to make textbooks available in electronic format. This legislation is in the hands of a subcommittee of the Senate Education Committee chaired by Sen. Jack Hill. A hearing on the bill is expected this Tuesday afternoon. The House Higher Education Committee made some changes to the original bill, most notably giving it an effective date of July 1, 2004, and a narrower definition of the term textbook.
- A number of bills dealing with the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) of Georgia, and therefore affecting University System employees, also remain in action:
- House Bills 488, 765 and 955, which relate to service creditable toward retirement benefits under TRS of Georgia, are in the hands of the Senate Retirement Committee. HB 488 allows TRS of Georgia members to obtain creditable service for having taught in certain private schools. HB 765 allows TRS of Georgia members to obtain creditable service for prior service with certain programs relating to early-childhood development. HB 955 allows TRS of Georgia members who have accrued at least 25 years of creditable service to obtain up to three years of additional creditable service.
- House Bill 995, which relates to the annuity savings fund of the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia, is in the hands of the Senate Rules Committee. This bill authorizes the board of trustees of TRS to establish, under certain conditions, an employee's contribution rate at not less than 3 percent nor more than 6 percent of his or her compensation.
- Senate Bill 373, which relates to employee and employer contributions to TRS of Georgia and the creation of funds for contributions, benefits, and administrative expenses, is in the House Retirement Committee. This bill limits any actions by the board of trustees to increase the employee contribution rate or decrease the employer contribution rate to the month of January.
Information for this report was provided by Jim Flowers, special assistant to the University System's chief information officer.