A Watchful Eye

By: Katie Roberts, Fiveash Stanley

The Georgia General Assembly convened on January 10. The session will last forty working days, likely adjourning on April 4. 2022 is the second year of a two-year legislative cycle. Therefore, all legislation not enacted during the 2021 session remains viable for consideration.

This year’s session is particularly unique as it comes on the heels of a 2021 special session for legislative and congressional reapportionment. This once-in-a-decade constitutionally mandated activity is one of the most critical actions taken by the legislature.

While the US Congress and state House and Senate redistricting process made headlines in November, county commission districts, school board districts, and other local boundaries must also be redrawn following the census to ensure approximately the same number of people reside within each district. This process happens within the regular meeting of the General Assembly and typically follows the process for local acts.

A local act is a legislative measure that applies to a specific city, county, or special district. This type of bill is commonly used to create cities, changes city boundaries, alter forms of local government, create local authorities or special districts, and make other changes that apply only to the political subdivision named in the act. In postcensus sessions, local legislation typically accounts for about 55% of all bills adopted and signed into law.

The vast majority of local bills have the support of the representatives and senators whose districts include the city or county affected by the local act. Local bills are drafted by legislative counsel with the assistance of the Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office. They are properly advertised in their local community. Then they are introduced and assigned to the Intragovernmental Coordination Committee (in the House) or the State and Local Governmental Operations Committee (in the Senate). These committees focus almost exclusively on the consideration of local legislation. After they are vetted by committee, these measures are generally grouped and considered by the full House and Senate each legislative day as part of the local calendar. They are not debated and voted on individually. “Local courtesy” typically prevails – so long as the legislative delegation from the impacted city or county agrees on the need for the measure, other members will generally defer to them and support passage.

There are exemptions to this standard practice, and they have been on full display this year as partisan politics have entered this generally passive process.

There have been several instances this year when a delegation lacks a sufficient majority to advance a local measure through the standard practice. Local legislators have been unable to agree, within their own delegation, to redrawn boundary lines for school boards and county commissions. This has happened in Gwinnett, Cobb, Chatham, and Augusta-Richmond Counties.

In the House, these bills have been rerouted to the House Government Affairs Committee, where they have been considered like any other general bill. The Government Affairs Committee has twenty members from all over the state and bills must simply garner the support of a majority of members, not just those representing the impacted local area.

When the time comes for consideration by the full House or Senate, the process deviates again for local legislation that presents as a general bill. While uncontested local bills are voted on as a group, these general bills are called for a vote, debated at length, and voted on one by one. Bills pertaining to Cobb, Gwinnett, and other communities have been adopted along party lines and Governor Brian Kemp has already signed several into law in advance of the upcoming election season.

While these lingering effects of the redistricting process make their way through the General Assembly, the Association continues to monitor several other measures of interest to the commercial real estate industry.

The first is House Bill 961. In August 2021, the Georgia Supreme Court upended Georgia’s longstanding apportionment statute. In the opinion, the court ruled that only named defendants could be apportioned fault. This increases exposure and liability for “deep pocket” defendants. HB 961 restores the statute by allowing apportionment of damages in single-defendant lawsuits. The law would become effective for all cases filed after the signature of the Governor. The measure is House Bill 961; the Association is part of the Legal Climate Coalition, which has worked at length to support passage.

Senate Bill 511 reduces the time a county board of equalization must notify the taxpayer of corrections or changes to the assessment after reviewing the appeal. Current law allows 180 days after receipt of the appeal notice; SB 511 allows 90. Current law gives the board 15 days to set a hearing date; SB 511 requires the hearing to take place within 90 days. If the hearing fails to take place within 180 days from the date of appeal, the taxpayer’s asserted value stands. Similar changes are made to the timeline specific to appeals to hearing officers.

The Association is also watching the debate surrounding House Bill 1133 and House Bill 1322. They aim to encourage the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure by allowing chargers to bill customers by the kilowatt-hour (instead of by the minute) without being regulated as a utility by the Public Service Commission. If adopted, this may have long-term implications for the necessity of having charging infrastructure at commercial and retail properties.

Lastly, House Bill 994 calls for increases to civil penalties for failure to inspect elevators from $500 to $2500 per elevator, dumbwaiter, escalator, manlift, or moving walk not inspected. Fine increase again, up to $5,000 per unit, if inspections are further delayed. The legislation follows a deadly elevator accident last August in which a property owner failed to request a timely inspection. The Association intends to work during the interim to identify ways the industry can support timely, risk-based elevator inspections.

BOMA Georgia will continue to monitor all bills – both local and general – through the end of the legislative session and through the Governor’s signing window. The viability of commercial real estate in Georgia depends on maintaining productive relationships with elected officials and continuing to serve as a resource when issues arise that impact our industry.

About the Author

Katie Roberts serves as Director of Government Affairs at Fiveash-Stanley, Inc. In this role, she is critical in managing legislative and regulatory issues specific to the industry. Fiveash-Stanley is recognized as one of Georgia’s leading government and public affairs consulting firms and has represented BOMA Georgia since 2000.

the Gold Dome Dispatch

Stay briefed on the latest legislative and advocacy activity that the association is watching by reading BOMA Georgia’s weekly newsletter, the Gold Dome Dispatch. To see past issues of the Gold Dome Dispatch, visit www.bomageorgia.org/issues.

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