Today is Crossover Day in the Georgia legislature. Any bill that does not pass at least one chamber by close of business today is dead for the year. Traditionally it is a brutal day, with chamber leaders stopping the official clock at 11:59 PM so work can continue well into the wee hours. To put it politely, a lot of “horse trading” is going on right now under the Gold Dome. It’s time for YOU to let your congresscritter know where YOU stand.
The information on how to identify and contact your state Senator and Representative comes later in this blog entry. But first, here is the Libertarian Party of Georgia’s stand on certain bills.
The Libertarian Party of Georgia officially OPPOSES the following bills. We believe they would be bad for the cause of individual liberty and property rights, and we urge you to tell your Senator and Representative to vote “NO” on all three.
WE OPPOSE SB-91
. It has no pretty name, but describes itself as “relating to victim compensation, [and] to provide for an adult entertainment surcharge.” The portion of the bill we oppose is the creation of a $5.00 per person tax to be charged every time an individual enters an “adult entertainment establishment.” We object to both the creation of a new tax, and the moralistic motive of the tax. We feel this section of the bill outweighs any benefits from the unrelated redefinition of victim compensation categories. The Libertarian Party of Georgia urges you to tell your state Senator to vote “NO” on SB-91.
(You can review this bill online athttp://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/sb91.htm)
WE OPPOSE SB-161, Ava’s Law. The bill mandates health insurance plans cover “autism spectrum disorders,” and forbids companies from dropping or excluding clients on the basis of an insured (or prospective insured) person suffering from “autism spectrum disorders.” We believe individuals must have the fair opportunity to purchase autism coverage if they want it, but SB-161 is a mandate that would require everyone in Georgia to pay for autism coverage — including childless adults who will never suffer from the condition. This mandate is a stupid fee paid by all Georgians to line the pockets of the legislators’ friends, the health insurance companies. The Libertarian Party of Georgia urges you to tell your state Senator to vote “NO” on SB-161.
(You can review this bill online athttp://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/sb161.htm)
WE OPPOSE HB-614, The Georgia Prescription Monitoring Program Act. This is a particularly nasty surveillance plan that would violate State and Federal Constitutional protections of privacy and due process; it is an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment, and provides no recourse for the state of Georgia’s inevitable privacy violations. Under HB-614, your name, address, and date of birth will go into an electronic database every time you purchase certain over-the-counter nostrums like Claritan-D or Sudafed, as well as each time you fill a prescription for most pain relievers, anti-anxiety drugs, or sleep aids. HB-614 allows the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency to go on fishing expeditions through the database when it is updated on a weekly basis. It is expected HB-614 would have a chilling effect on physicians’ willingness to prescribe the covered drugs, leaving thousands of Georgians without adequate relief of chronic pain, anxiety, or insomnia. There are dozens of other smaller reasons why this is a bad bill, and absolutely nothing to recommend it.The Libertarian Party of Georgia urges you to tell your state Representative to vote “NO” on HB-614.
(You can review this bill online athttp://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/hb614.htm)
The Libertarian Party is NOT the party of NO. Our state Representatives have come up with two bills that deserve support on Crossover Day.
WE ARE IN FAVOR OF HB-44, The Budget Act. We support HB-44 because it is not an appropriations bill. It is a procedural bill that would revolutionize state financing by mandating zero-based budgeting. Traditional budgets assume funding at the same level as last year and only justify increases; in zero-based budgeting, agencies must justify every dollar of their budget request. HB-44 would require zero-based methods for between 25% and 33% of all appropriations, which is a great start. The Libertarian Party of Georgia urges you to tell your state Representative to vote “YES” on HB-44.
(You can review this bill online athttp://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/hb44.htm)
WE ARE IN FAVOR OF HB-321, The Insurance Delivery Enhancement Act of 2009. As long as health insurance in America is primarily provided by employers, we support HB-321 because it makes it easier for smaller businesses and associations to self-insure employees and members for health care. The Libertarian Party of Georgia urges you to tell your state Representative to vote “YES” on HB-321.
(You can review this bill online athttp://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/hb321.htm)
I said I’d tell you how to identify and contact your legislators. If you are like most people, you’re not sure who your state Senator or Representative is. You can find out at http://www.votesmart.org/official_state.php?state_name=Georgia&state_code=GA&go2.x=11&go2.y=8 — just enter your zip code in the search box and click “GO”.
Once you know WHO your state legislators are, you can find the contact information for Representatives athttp://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/house/alpha.html; If your Rep has an email address it is listed there. To get their phone number, click on the “Fact Sheet” link. Email addresses for Senators are athttp://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/senate/senatelist.php, and you can find their phone numbers by clicking on their names.
Crossover Day is TODAY, March 12, 2009. That means today is the last chance to advance the bills the Libertarian Party of Georgia supports, as well as a great opportunity to deep-six the bills we oppose. Legislators typically work late into the night on Crossover Day, so you should make that phone call or send that email even if it’s after 5 o’clock.
The Libertarian Party of Georgia urges you to PLEASE CALL YOUR STATE SENATOR AND REPRESENTATIVE NOW!
