Rep. Randy Nix Weekly Capitol Update

February 18, 2008 - This Valentine’s Day marked the completion of the eighteenth day of the 2008 Georgia General Assembly session. Many important pieces of legislation have passed the House this year and while not all garner the excitement of tax cuts, water policy or guns, they are equally important, especially to the people affected by the policy.

For example, House Bill 297 is a piece of legislation unanimously passed to allow recreational vehicle conventions to invite out-of-state dealers and manufacturers to participate in these conventions if more that 2,500 vehicles are registered. We also passed legislation that would allow narcotics agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to purchase creditable service for retirement purposes. H.B. 209 passed unanimously also.

We unanimously passed H.B. 930, a bill that makes exemptions for disabled veterans and blind persons, from the payment of occupation taxes, administrative fees, or regulatory fees for certain activities are valid for ten years. We also defined the role of “wax technicians” as it relates to cosmetology. The bill, H.B. 494, allows for the certification of master estheticians and wax technicians, as well as, establishing standards for the practice. It also allows for barber shops, which aren’t set up as a cosmetology shop or salon, to employ wax technicians. While I have very little knowledge in this area, I was convinced by the debate that this is a safety issue and voted for the measure which passed 136-18.

In response to some very sizeable bonuses handed out to lottery employees recently, I supported creation of a legislative oversight committee for the Georgia Lottery Corporation which created a nine member board of directors. We also created some of the duties that the chief executive officer must perform. The Georgia Lottery provides the money for the HOPE scholarship and many pre-k educational programs and was established in the 1990’s by the Georgia General Assembly. This bill passed 119-32.

In an effort to spur interest in tourism, we have created the War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission. This will allow for coastal areas that were involved in the short war which was fought against the British over trade issues, to have festivities honoring the heroism of the valiant soldiers and sailors. This bill easily passed 141-7. In addition, we also passed another tourism bill that would designate “agricultural tourist attractions” and provide for proper directional signs to those attractions. H.B. 1088 passed 154-1.

House Bill 1055 helped us in the area of professions and licenses that are controlled by legislative action. The state licenses doctors, accountants, real estate agents and barbers to name a few. This bill allows the designee of the division director to sign and attest orders and processes. It also revised the requirements for interior designers, geologists, massage therapists, physical therapists and veterinarians. I voted for this bill which passed 153-4. I get a lot of questions related to professional licenses and hope this will help simplify the process. Another measure we passed requires all hospitals to offer flu shots to any patient over age 65 who is discharged between October 1 and March 1. I voted for this measure because flu and the complications from it, is a major cause of death for many seniors. The bill passed 151-9.