Capitol Update Week 8

This week, as we passed the halfway point of the legislative session, the Georgia House passed several important measures - HB 326 HOPE preservation, HB 200 Anti-Human Trafficking, and HB 87 Anti-Illegal Immigration bills.

Under HB 326, next year, merit-based HOPE scholarship students attending public colleges and universities, as well as technical college students, will receive 90% of 2011 tuitionamounts. HOPE scholarship students attending private colleges and universities would receive $3,600 for tuition. The HOPE Scholarship will continue to require a 3.0 GPA, but will no longer cover books, fees or remedial college classes. The bill also creates the Zell Miller Scholarship, which will offer full tuition to Georgia's public colleges to students who graduate from high school with a minimum 3.7 GPA and1200 on the SAT or 26 on the ACT. To continue receiving the Zell Miller Scholarship these students will have to maintain a 3.3 GPA while attending college. Home school students continue to qualify for HOPE as they have in the past.

House Bill 200 targets the horrendous crime of human trafficking and gives victims of this crime a pathway out of their criminally forced servitude. Gwinnett's own Rep Buzz Brockway co-sponsored and spoke forcefully from the well in support of passage (view Rep Brockway video on HB 200 here).

With nearly 425,000 illegal aliens, Georgia has the seventh highest total illegal population in the nation. After exhaustive public hearings and 21 revisions, the House passed House Bill 87, legislation calling for fair practices for Georgia's laborers and local communities. Under HB 87, employers would be required to verify that newly hired employees are eligible to work in the United States by using the E-Verify system. Additionally, HB 87 requires secure and verifiable identification for official purposes, and helps local law enforcement agencies handle issues associated with illegal immigration. It is important to note that this legislation does not affect the existing H-2A visa programthat provides a legal avenue for foreign workers to temporarily come to Georgia and work with the agriculture industry in our state. Gwinnett again actively participated in this legislation as Rep B.J. Pak assisted in rewriting several sections to improve enforcement, eliminate profiling, provide a private cause of action, and preserve our clergy and non-profit community's ability to continue humane activities.

Now that House Bills 326, 87, and 200 have passed the House, they will make their way through the Senate committee process. If passed by the Senate and signed by the governor, these bills will become law.

Finally this week, HB 291, the bill I authored to prevent non-tax fees added to property tax bills had a preliminary hearing in the Ways and Means Ad Valorem Subcommittee. The meeting was well attended and the bill received great interest. I anticipate additional committee meetings in the near future.

Next week, the House will consider HB 175 that I co-sponsored with Rep David Casas, providing an Online Clearinghouse for local school systems to make online classes available to students across the state.

As I continue to consider sensitive issues and legislation, I need to know how you and your family feel about matters concerning the future of our state. Please feel free to call me with any questions or comments that you might have regarding HOPE, illegal immigration, public safety, or an outstanding member of our local community deserving recognition. You can reach me at my Capitol office at 404-656-7859 or on my cell at 404-966-5804 or via email at brett.harrell@house.ga.gov.

Thank you for allowing me to serve as your representative,

Brett Harrell

Biennial Institute - Athens, GA

I will be attending the Biennial Institute hosted by the Carl Vinson Institute at the University of Georgia from Sunday, December 12, 2010 until Tuesday, December 14, 2010. The event includes freshmen and incumbent Senators and Representatives and provides opportunities for education and briefings on several of the topics facing the state. I've posted the agenda below.

AGENDA

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2010

11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Registration
2:00 p.m.

House convenes in Mahler Auditorium
Senate convenes in Masters Hall

4:00 p.m. - Opening Plenary Session

Welcome - Michael F. Adams, President, University of Georgia

Introduction of New Legislators

Lt. Governor Casey Cagle

Speaker David Ralston

Special Guest Speaker: John Pruitt, WSB-TV Channel 2

Reception Honoring New Members

Sponsored by the Arch Foundation for the University of Georgia

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010

7:30 a.m. - Breakfast
Speaker: Dr. Charles Bullock, UGA
8:30 a.m. - Plenary Session: Economic Outlook
Speaker: Dr. David Wyss, Chief Economist, Standard & Poor's
10:00 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. - Plenary Session: Behavioral and Mental Health Settlement

Speaker: Josh Belinfante, Attorney, Robbins Freed

Panelists: Sen. Johnny Grant
Rep. Jay Neal
11:30 a.m. - Plenary Session: Tri-State Water Update

Speakers: Nels Peterson, Executive Counsel, Office of the Governor
Kevin Clark, Executive Director, Georgia Environmental Finance Authority
Allen Barnes, Director, Georgia Environmental Protection Division

Panelists: Rep. Lynn Smith, Chair, House Natural Resources and Environment Committee
Sen. Ross Tolleson, Chair, Senate Natural Resources and the Environment Committee
12:30 p.m. - Luncheon
Speaker: Erroll Davis, Chancellor, University System of Georgia
2:15 p.m. - Plenary Session: Ethics

Speakers: Doug Chalmers, President, Political Law Group, a Chalmers LLC
Stacey Kalberman, Executive Secretary, State Ethics Commission

Panelists: Rep. Joe Wilkinson, Chair, House Ethics Committee
Sen. John Crosby, Senate Ethics Committee
Dennis Dunn, Deputy Attorney General
3:45 p.m. Break
4:00 p.m. - Caucus Meetings

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2010

7:30 a.m. - Breakfast
Speaker: Chief Justice Carol Hunstein
8:30 a.m. - Plenary Session: Georgia Ports Update
Speaker: Curtis Foltz, Executive Director, Georgia Ports Authority
9:30 a.m. - Plenary Session: Health Care Reform
Speakers: David Merritt, Executive Vice President of Policy and Communications, Center for Health Transformation
Wayne Oliver, Vice President, Center for Health Transformation
10:30 a.m. Break
11:00 a.m. - Plenary Session: Report of the Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians

Speaker: A.D. Frazier, Chair, Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians

Panelists: Rep. Larry O'Neal, Chair, House Ways and Means Committee
Sen. Jack Hill, Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee
12:30 p.m. - Luncheon
Speaker: Governor-Elect Nathan Deal
2:00 p.m.- Adjourn

Reducing congestion in Atlanta

Voluntary express toll lanes provide real relief

Originally published: December 2006, Page 5, Highway 78 CID Update

Metro Atlanta suffers today with serious traffic congestion, whose direct cost is estimated at $1.75 billion per year. The Governor’s Congestion Mitigation Task Force, on which I served, recommended a dramatic change in the focus of transportation planning by weighting a projects congestion mitigation benefit at 70 percent with a goal of substantially reducing Atlanta’s average travel time by 2030.

Recently the Georgia Public Policy Foundation (GPPF) released a study prepared by the Reason Foundation titled “Reducing Congestion in Atlanta: A Bold New Approach to Increasing Mobility”. Much of the reporting on the studies release focused on one of the proposed mega-projects – a double-decked, six lane tunnel parallel to the downtown connector through Atlanta.

Too much focus is being placed on this single project, I believe: The really BIG idea is the proposal for variable priced express toll lanes (ETL).

Why ETLs? Virtually everyone involved in transportation planning agrees additional and new revenue sources are desperately needed, and ETLs provide new revenues without new taxation. Most agree that a cost-effective, flexible public transportation system is a key component to reducing congestion and providing a competitive economic environment. ETLs provide a virtual equivalent of a region-wide express bus network without a major investment of limited transit dollars. ETLs also preserve consumer choice, improve response times for emergency vehicles, and greatly reduce compliance costs.

The Reason Foundation study recommends deploying the previously allocated $4.5 billion for expansion of the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) network as a network of ETLs instead. A complete network of variable priced express toll lanes on the existing freeway system would provide reliable, uncongested travel for buses, vanpools, and voluntary paying vehicles. Adding separate, voluntary truck only toll (TOT) lanes, as recently suggested by the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) study, would allow trucks the option of bypassing Atlanta’s congestion in exchange for paying a toll.

Voluntary ETLs, priced to offer significant timesavings by allowing those who are willing to pay for a faster and more reliable trip, also greatly increase throughput. Variable priced ETLs operating during rush hour produce about 50 percent more functional capacity than the highly congested general-purpose lanes alongside. During the height of rush hour congestion, the study says, ETLs would operate at 1,800 vehicles per lane per hour as compared to 1,200 or less vehicles per lane per hour on the adjacent general-purpose lanes.

Metro Atlanta will continue to face considerable congestion after 2030, but implementation of ETLs, much of which could be accomplished as early as 2009, would be an immediate improvement that will pay benefits for many years to come. ETLs are not the sole solution; we must continue to advance all reasonable transportation improvements including existing system enhancements such as freeway ramp metering, improved incident response, signal timing, and intelligent transportation systems (technology). Further, public transportation, transit, pedestrian facilities, and land use decisions will continue to play an important role in improving our future transportation system.

Referenced agencies:

Georgia Public Policy Foundation http://www.gppf.org

Reason Foundation http://www.reason.org

More support Harrell for House District 106

Tea Party Organizers endorse Harrell for House

Julianne Thompson, State Coordinator of Tea Party Patriots and Co-Organizer of the Atlanta Tea Party endorses Brett Harrell for State House of Representatives.

“It is my pleasure to endorse Brett Harrell for Georgia State House. Brett is the kind of conservative we need at the Gold Dome in Atlanta. He is a proven leader and will not compromise his values, as he has proven over the years. He will fight for fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free markets solutions in Georgia. Electing men like Brett Harrell is ethics reform in action. I am proud to endorse him.”

Debbie Dooley, Co-Organizer of the Atlanta Tea Party, also endorses Brett Harrell for Georgia House District 106.

“Brett Harrell is a great guy that understands that elected officials are actually public servants.”

Harrell "certified" Pro-Life by GRTL

I have been answering a number of questionnaires from various organizations interested in the positions of those running for office. I just received a letter in return from Georgia Right to Life stating I have been "certified Pro-Life" for this election. While I sincerely appreciate the "seal of approval" from GRTL, all should know I've held that conviction personally for all of my adult life and most certainly not related to any election.