A package of tax cuts aimed at spurring job creation also sailed through the House.
The Legislature considered almost 100 pieces of legislation Friday the crossover day deadline by which bills must pass at least one chamber to be eligible to become law this year.
Following more than two hours of heated debate, the Senate voted 33-14 to approve a racially charged bill that would jail doctors who perform abortions on women who have been coerced to have the procedures based on the race or sex of the fetus.
The Senate and the House each OK'd separate measures that would allow out-of-state insurance companies to sell policies to Georgians.
A bill that would ban texting while driving passed the House by a 132-31 vote.
After a marathon 15-hour session Friday, the House fell just short of the 120 votes needed to ban legislative tax scofflaws from holding elected office.
A polarizing measure that would have split Georgia's most populous county in two never made it to the floor for a vote. Supporters said they were a few votes short. The proposed constitutional amendment would slice off the affluent and predominantly white northern part of Fulton County from the poorer and largely black southern section.
But with state revenues in freefall, it was tax-and-spend measures that were in the spotlight Friday.
In the House, a debate over a proposed new 1.45 percent tax on hospital revenues quickly turned bitter as state Rep. Mark Hatfield urged fellow Republicans not to abandon pledges some had made not to hike taxes. He began reading a list of GOP lawmakers who had signed an anti-tax pledge from Americans for Tax Reform before House Speaker David Ralston cut him off. Hatfield argued that he believed patients would bear the brunt of the new fee despite assurances the health care facilities would not pass it along.
``There is only one label you can provide to this rag of a bill, a tax increase,'' the Republican from Waycross said.
House Majority Jerry Keen scolded members critical of the measure, which will return some $169 million to Medicaid and also bring in additional federal matching dollars.
``Are we going to vote on policy here or are we going to use this for politics and campaigns?'' Keen, of St. Simon's Island, said.
First proposed by Gov. Sonny Perdue last year, the hospital tax initially was roundly criticized by GOP legislators. But with the state's tax collections continuing to plunge, most Republicans came on board this year.
Hospitals grudgingly accepted the plan after Perdue countered with threats of deep cuts to their Medicaid reimbursement rates.
``In the end they had to decide which cup they were going to drink the poison from,'' state Rep. Mickey Channell, a Greensboro Republican, said of the hospitals.
The measure passed 141-23 on Friday.
House members also sparred over fees. Budget writers said the new revenue is needed to help fill a $785 million budget hole for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Georgians would pay a new fees $50 in state courts and $100 in superior courts to file a civil lawsuit, and would also pay more to start a corporation, obtain specialty license plates and close on a mortgage.
Democrats, who have argued for a tax on cigarettes to pump up the budget, said the state should act on a straight-up tax increase rather than tinkering with fees
``We're charging the people who can least afford it,'' said state Rep. Randal Mangham, a Decatur Democrat.
But supporters said some of the user fees hadn't been changed in decades.
``By passing this bill we're going to be able to keep teachers in the classroom,'' state Rep. Larry O'Neal, a Bonaire Republican said. ``There's a lot at stake with this.''
But despite the budget problems, a sweeping tax cut plan cleared the House by a 154-8 vote. It would give employers a $2,400 tax credit for hiring someone who has been unemployed for at least four weeks and give companies a quarterly tax credit for each eligible employee hired who had been receiving unemployment benefits.
The tax and fee bills now move to the Senate.
The Senate adopted a contentious proposal designed to address the high number of abortions among black women.
Republican Sen. Chip Pearson of Dawsonville, the bill's sponsor, said it would make it illegal to coerce a black woman into having an abortion. But Democratic Sen. Donzella James, of Atlanta, called the idea that black women are being targeted for abortion unfounded and inflammatory.
The Senate on Friday also voted 45-4 to create a lottery-funded grant for poor students. The bill would give several hundred dollars a year to each student who qualifies for federal assistance for low-income families. It comes even as the state is being forced to dip into the lottery's reserves to pay for the HOPE scholarship and pre-kindergarten programs.
The Senate also approved a measure that would allow for the recall of members of the state Transportation Board. But the Senate stopped short of limiting transportation board members to just one term. The House voted to make the board members subject to stricter ethics guidelines.
Georgia State Capitol
http://accesswdun.com/article/2010/3/228160