Weekly Update

This week, your legislators were hard at work and completed Days 5 through 9 of the 40 day session.  While progress was made on a number of items, the atmosphere was buzzing with all of the movements for the upcoming election for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Kelly Loeffler.  Frustrations amongst legislators was high with internal politics at the Gold Dome relating to elections.      
 
HR 933 was introduced by Representative William Boddie (D), East Point.  This Resolution creates a House Study Committee on Homeowners’ Associations, Condominium Owners’ Associations, and Property Owners in Community Associations.   
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SB 286 was introduced by Senator Tonya Anderson (D), Lithonia.  This bill relates to hairstyles historically associated with race and prohibits discrimination in certain situations including fair housing. The bill was assigned to the Insurance and Labor Committee.  CBA will monitor this bill as it progresses.

SB 309 was introduced by Senator Jesse Stone (R), Waynesboro.  This bill establishes the Georgia Municipal and Local Government Infrastructure Finance Authority Act.  The bill provides a mechanism through which local governments may finance infrastructure at lower prevailing costs to make such mechanism available to the largest number of local governments feasible.  The Georgia Municipal Authority is behind this bill and sees this as a costs savings to governments.  This is a specialized lending area that many community banks do not participate in, but CBA will monitor the progress of this bill.  This bill was assigned to the State and Local Government Operations Committee.

SB 315 was introduced by Senator Lindsey Tippins (R), Marietta.  This bill relates to mechanics and materialmen liens and rights.  The bill was dropped in response to the Georgia Court of Appeals decision affecting GA’s Lien Law (Landmark Electric v ALA Services).  This bill would preserve a contractor’s right to sue under a breach of contract despite having otherwise waived their rights to place a lien on the subject property. This bill also expands the time period for a contractor to file an affidavit of non-payment to preserve their lien rights from sixty to ninety days.  The bill was assigned to the Judiciary Committee.   CBA will continue to monitor this progress of this bill.
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SB 329 was introduced by Senator Randy Robertson (R), Cataula.  This bill establishes the Motor Vehicle Title Loan Act.  The bill would allow the Department of Banking and Finance to license and regulate motor vehicle title lenders through the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System.  CBA wants/ to make sure that the Department receives appropriations sufficient to take on the new responsibilities without adversely impacting the oversight of the Department from a banking perspective.  ​The bill was assigned to the Finance Committee.  

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