2022 legislative session Full of twists and turns

2022 legislative session

Full of twists and turns

by Bryan Tolar, Tolar Capitol Partners

Lawmakers finished the 2022 legislative session

on April 4, wrapping up a productive three months ahead of a very important campaign and election season. UAC is pleased to serve your member interests through this annual policy process and proud to provide this abbreviated recap on legislation impacting our industry.

Governor Kemp wasted little time putting pen to paper and signing into law many of the bills that

made it to his desk. Without question, the winners of 2022 are teachers and state employees that saw much needed pay raises sent their way. The expected growth in tax revenues during FY 2022 and FY 2023 budgets also directed benefits to taxpayers. A personal state tax refund and a gradual reduction in state income taxes will benefit all Georgians – there’s much to like about that!

After years of struggling with trying to help farms stave off lawsuits from activists, the Freedom to Farm Act cleared all hurdles and has been signed into

law by Governor Kemp. With this new law, nuisance protections for new and expanding farms, forestry, food processing and other such operations and associated facilities have now been updated for the first time in over thirty years. UAC supported the bill even though there are parts that we would have liked to have seen changed. It is unfortunate that all new and expanding farm operations will now be subject to a two-year period to receive nuisance protections. The two-year language was added to address poultry and livestock production nuisance concerns regarding offensive odor lawsuits in Georgia and other states. We believe other areas of the law were improved. Time will tell if the new law can indeed provide the protections needed for all farm operations in the state.

Efforts to secure a state preemption law for the use of gasoline powered leaf blowers fell short, but our efforts did not go unnoticed as legislators are now keenly aware of this otherwise

unknown issue. Agriculture has statewide preemption for outdoor water use, fertilizer, pesticides, and genetically modified crops. Our bill would have added protecting the use of gasoline-powered leaf blowers during hours allowed for all outdoor power equipment. That didn’t happen, but lawmaker sentiment is on our side. Georgia cities looking at banning such equipment are now on high alert as state lawmakers have largely stood with us to protect the use of such equipment. Your continued engagement will be very important to this process. We remain grateful for the contacts made by UAC member companies during the legislative session. This remains an important issue for our members.

UAC played a lead role in a resolution passed by House Natural Resources Committee Chair

Lynn Smith. HR 1050 featured past statewide policies and future efforts for Georgia to continue leading on water conservation. Chairwoman Smith has been a critical ally on water policy since first elected in 1996. She has also attended UAC events and engaged with our members, so she made sure our interests were included. The role of drought tolerant turfgrass cultivars was part of the resolution and demonstrates the state’s commitment to

outdoor water use reductions by advancing opportunities for resource stewardship in landscapes and landscape design. UAC testified in committee about the importance of water policy initiatives and the role of the landscape industry to help advance outdoor water conservation initiatives. This includes the benefits of agricultural irrigation technologies that have made the industry more efficient in landscape and farm production practices. The good news of our advancements in water conservation needed to be highlighted; HB 1050 was key to this effort.

Also of note, it was great to see action taken to expand agricultural education in elementary schools.

Governor Kemp has already signed HB 1303 into law. The initial effort to bring ag education into elementary schools started a few years ago with former Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Wilkinson. The success of that pilot project led to House Agriculture Committee Chairman Robert Dickey and Senator Max Burns advancing this program to all schools on a voluntary basis. This bill authorizes the Department of Education to administer this program across the state. Many schools are interested in getting started in the upcoming school year. These programs help enhance STEM content as well as the concepts of agriculture. This is a big win for students and educators.

We were very pleased to support Senator Brian Strickland’s bill to establish a High-Demand Career Initiatives Program to help develop a workforce

that is work ready upon graduation. It incentivizes apprenticeship sponsors to create new, or expand upon, existing registered apprenticeship programs in Georgia. Upon successful completion of the requirements of a contract, a completion award will be provided to the employer sponsor. This initiative has been signed into law by Governor Kemp, but it is set to end July 1, 2027, unless it is renewed by the legislature.

UAC has heard from many members about the many

challenges with metal theft. A decade ago a broad group of business interests, including UAC, crafted the current metal theft law that includes many safeguards and security measures for the sale of scrap metal to secondary recyclers - it excludes cash payment for recycled metal. We need to enhance penalties for the sale of catalytic convertors and SB 591 would have helped achieve that goal, but it would have also allowed for cash payments by the secondary recyclers. Ultimately this bill failed to pass - and that’s fine with us. UAC did manage to insert cash payout language that would have limited such transactions to two per day. We remain concerned that any cash payments would influence the sale of stolen metal goods, including those from UAC member farms, nurseries, and businesses. The UAC amendment and other safeguards would have been helpful to deterring such theft. Senator Bo Hatchett led this effort and worked with us to address our concerns. This issue is likely to return in 2023. Please continue to let UAC know about your experience with the theft of metal and other items from your business.

Looking ahead to the 2023 legislative session, we know the House and Senate Chambers will

look very different. We also know we will have new faces serving as Commissioner of Agriculture and Commissioner of Labor…perhaps others. A long list of elected leaders will not be back next year. These include House Appropriations Committee Chairman Terry England, Senate Rules Committee Chairman Jeff Mullis, Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan, as well as many longtime legislator friends including, Rep. Tommy Benton, Rep. Jan Tankersley, Rep. Don Hogan, Rep. Randy Nix, and Rep. Dominic Lariccia, among others. The shift in the dynamics of the House, Senate and Constitutional Officer positions will be significant as the 2023 Georgia General Assembly will see numerous shifts in chairmanships and committee makeup. This will certainly change the way we approach UAC member interests.

Thank you for your support of UAC. Your annual investment, engagement, participation, and encouragement help build the strength of our organization. With your continued help, we will further grow our reputation in the public policy arena and among the many new elected officials headed our way next year. We can only achieve success with you on the team– thank you!