When the Georgia legislature starts its session on Monday, Jan. 13, state Rep. Jason Ridley, R-Chatsworth, said he expects school traffic cameras to be a hot topic.
“That’s something we’ve been hearing a lot of complaints about,” he said. “They are administered by these third-party companies, not local governments. And they aren’t subject to the 35% limit on revenues from speeding tickets.”
Georgia law allows the state Department of Transportation to revoke a local law enforcement agency’s ability to use speed detection devices if fines from tickets issued using those devices exceed 35% of the agency’s budget.
“But speed cameras aren’t included in that,” Ridley said.
He said rather than banning them, lawmakers will likely pass reforms such as mandating that revenues generated by these cameras count toward the 35% limit.
“We want them to be used to reduce speeding, not to create a profit for cities,” he said.
In addition, Ridley said he and other lawmakers will be looking to deter what he terms “frivolous” lawsuits.
“Car insurance here in Georgia is going through the roof,” he said. “We are hearing from businesses who are seeing their liability insurance rates doubling or tripling. I’m not sure what we will do about them. But it’s definitely something we are going to work on.”
Gov. Brian Kemp has indicated that tort reform will be a priority for him, and local lawmakers have said legislators will wait to see what Kemp proposes on that and on some other issues before moving forward.
Kemp has also said relief for farmers and others who suffered property damage from Hurricane Helene will be a big priority for him.
State Rep. Kasey Carpenter, R-Dalton, noted that all bills died at the end of last year’s session, so none of them will carry over to the upcoming session, making it more difficult to predict what may come up this year.
“We’ll just have to wait and see what (bills) everyone files,” he said.
State Sen. Chuck Payne, R-Dalton, chairs the Senate Veterans, Military and Homeland Security Committee, and he said that committee has been looking at a number of proposals to reduce homelessness among the state’s veteran population and to increase veterans’ access to mental healthcare, as well as to ease the transition of those leaving the military into the civilian workforce.
“We’ve got a lot of military bases in Georgia, and a lot of veterans stay here when they leave the military,” he said.
Payne said he is particularly interested in finding ways to help veterans into jobs as first responders, such as with law enforcement and firefighting.
“I don’t know exactly what it will look like,” he said. “But these men and women have the hearts of servants, and we need to find a way to help them keep serving others.”
The Dalton City Council and Whitfield County Board of Commissioners will be asking local lawmakers to introduce a bill to allow the city and county to create community improvement districts (CIDs).
CIDs allow local businesses to vote on whether to create a special tax district to fund improvements to infrastructure such as roads, sewers, street signs and stormwater control.