General Assembly Convenes. The first week of the 2010 session of the Georgia General Assembly concluded last Friday, focusing mostly on organizational matters, such as the appointment of House members to committee posts and the Governor's State of the State address to a joint session of the General Assembly.

The Governor submitted to the General Assembly his budget proposal for fiscal year 2010, which begins July 1 of this year.

I was disappointed not only by proposed funding cuts to education (which unfortunately have been part of the proposed budget for the last six years), but also by the shortchanging of DeKalb County relative to the other major metropolitan counties out of the proposed spending. I and other members of the DeKalb County House Delegation will be busy this week fighting for equitable treatment of DeKalb in the 2010 budget.

The House will be in recess this week to conduct hearings on the supplemental Fiscal Year 2009 and this year's Fiscal Year 2010 state budgets.

As it was in 2008, transportation will be a key issue this session as the General Assembly seeks to address our state's growing infrastructure needs. I am pleased to have been appointed to the House Transportation Committee for the 2009-2011 term of the General Assembly to help develop a long-term, statewide solution to our transportation challenges. The Transportation Committee will examine a variety of programs as part of a comprehensive plan, including light rail, commute alternatives, road- building, truck lanes, mass transit and other systemic approaches. I will provide updates as this plan takes shape during the upcoming session.

Last week, I filed a number of bills on which I will be working during this session on subjects, including, among others, property tax reduction, public safety, consumer protection and DeKalb County government reform.

I have provided below brief descriptions of the bills. To read the full text of the bills as well as others that I have co-sponsored, click here: http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_ 10/mbrs/levitaskevin82nd.htm. You can view legislation filed by all House and Senate members by clicking here: http://www.legis.ga.gov .

House Resolution 2. Titled the BEST plan (Bringing Equity Statewide to Taxation), HR 2 proposes freezing property values for taxation purposes at the price paid for the property until the property is sold.

House Resolution 4. HR 4 protects taxpayers against the imposition of additional tax burdens from the state by prohibiting unfunded mandates. The resolution prevents the state from imposing mandates on local governments that require the expenditure of money unless the state appropriates sufficient money to the local government for purposes of implementing the mandate.

House Bill 4. HB 4 gives a dollar-for-dollar credit against state income taxes for any property taxes paid by a taxpayer. Had the General Assembly passed this bill when it was pending during the last legislative last session, the State could have a current budget surplus instead of facing the at least $2.5 billion shortfall now estimated.

House Bill 6. HB 6 adds insulation to the list of tax-exempt products included as part of the annual energy-efficient products tax holiday in October. Last year, the Governor signed into law a similar tax holiday for water-efficient products, which I introduced in 2007 as House Bill 895 (the bill was incorporated as part of comprehensive water-conservation legislation).

House Bill 7. HB 7 would implement additional reforms to the structure of the DeKalb County government in order to ensure a true balance of power between the County Commission and the office of the Chief Executive Officer. Last session, our DeKalb legislative delegation passed important reform measures in Senate Bill 52, which for the first time allows the Commission to set its own agenda and to preside over its own meetings. However, more reform is needed, and I will continue to work diligently for passage of additional reform measures.

House Bill 8. HB 8 increases the current income threshold for taxpayers 70 years old and above to qualify for a break on school taxes.

House Bill 9. HB 9 makes it easier to prosecute habitual violators of serious traffic offenses by removing overly complicated notice provisions for the offender's benefit that exist in current law.

House Bill 10. HB 10 makes misdemeanor arrests and convictions public record so that professional shoplifters and copper and other thieves will be easier to track and to catch.

House Bill 11. HB 11 allows district attorneys in most cases to bring charges against criminal defendants by signing an "accusation," instead of being required to present the case to a grand jury. Permitting cases to proceed by accusation would benefit both the state and the accused by preserving precious judicial resources and by speeding up the process for allowing defendants their day in court.

House Bill 12. HB 12 outlaws engaging in dishonest, unfair, or deceptive insurance practices in marketing or sales of insurance.

House Bill 14. HB 14 makes nonpartisan the elections for Sheriff, District Attorney and Solicitor- General.

House Bill 15. HB 15 allows a majority of either the Senate or the House to object to proposed rules devised by government bureaucrats that often have the impact of law.

House Bill 16. HB 16 prohibits the placement of a GPS tracking device without consent on a person's car by another person, which is not illegal under current Georgia law so long as the vehicle is on public property or does not otherwise involve trespassing.

House Bill 28. HB 28 restores the law on kidnapping in the wake of a potentially disastrous Georgia Supreme Court decision handed down in November of last year. The Court in one fell swoop eliminated three decades of court decisions on the law of kidnapping, making it much more difficult to establish the elements of the crime in many circumstances.

House Bill 76. HB 76 includes joggers within the class of pedestrians who must use sidewalks when they are available to reduce the potential for fatal pedestrian-involved accidents.

I will continue to keep you updated on the activities of the General Assembly during the session. As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please contact me.

As a result of a generous donation by Trees Atlanta, a planting in our community has been scheduled for Saturday, January 31, from 8:00 a.m. until noon, on the east side of the Lavista Road / I-285 interchange. A similar planting on the west side of the interchange a few years ago has really helped to improve the aesthetics of the area.

School Meetings

Emory Lavista Parent Council Monthly Meeting.
The Emory Lavista Parent Council (ELPC) will hold its regular monthly meeting this Wednesday, January 21, at Briarlake Elementary School (3590 Lavista Road, Decatur, GA 30033). Refreshments will be served beginning at 8:45 a.m., and the meeting will start at 9:15.

This month's topic is "AYP and Your School" with guest speaker Ms. Alain Davis, Coordinator, Department of School Improvement for the DeKalb County School System. (The next ELPC meeting will be February 18 at Sagamore Elementary.)

Tucker Parent Council Legislative Forum. The Tucker Parent Council annual Legislative Update Forum will be held Thursday, January 29, beginning at 7 p.m., at Tucker Middle School (2160 Idlewood Road, Tucker, GA 30084). Come join us to hear from and to ask questions of your elected officials.

If you are interested in more detail about what happens at the General Assembly this session, then please feel free to call or write me or visit the General Assembly website: www.legis.ga.gov. The website provides direct access to the text of legislation and vote tallies as well as schedules and live coverage of committee meetings.

(Another resource is offered when the General Assembly is in session by Georgia Public Broadcasting through a television program called "Lawmakers," which airs daily at 7 p.m. and rebroadcasts at 5:30 a.m. the following morning. The program covers each day's events at the Capitol.)

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