ATLANTA (AP) - The Latest on the Georgia General Assembly (all times local):
5:30 p.m.
Doctors will be required to register with and use a statewide database anytime they prescribe an opioid under a bill approved by the Georgia Senate.
The expansion of the prescription drug-monitoring program aims to prevent doctor hopping and weed out physicians who are over prescribing opioids. Under current law, participation is voluntary.
Under the proposal, any doctor prescribing a controlled substance will be required to register with the database by July 2018. Once enrolled, they are required to check the system before prescribing opioids to a patient to make sure that same patient hasn’t recently received a similar prescription from another doctor.
If doctors fail to register or don’t use the system properly, they can lose their license.
The bill now goes to the House.
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5:10 p.m.
The next governor of Georgia would get a 25 percent salary increase under a bill approved by the Georgia House.
The bill sponsored by Rep. Jay Powell of Camilla increases the annual salary to $175,000. Powell says a governor overseeing the sixth largest state in the country deserves more than the current salary of $139,339.
The change would take effect in 2019. Gov. Nathan Deal, who is constitutionally limited to two terms, leaves office in 2018.
The bill passed the House, 141 votes to 22, and goes to the Senate for consideration.
The Council of State Governments tracks governors’ salaries nationally. The group reported New Jersey and Virginia paid governors $175,000 in 2016.
Five states pay governors more than that, topping out at about $190,000 in Pennsylvania.
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4:17 p.m.
Georgia representatives are allowing more people to get access to medical marijuana.
The full chamber voted Wednesday 156-6 to approve a bill that greatly expands the list of qualifying conditions that allow patients to legally use medical cannabis. The bill adds eight conditions to the list, including autism spectrum disorder, HIV, AIDS, and Tourette’s syndrome.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was included in the original version, but was removed during committee deliberations.
The proposal removes restrictions of “end-stage” or “severe” on several of the diseases already included in the list of qualifying conditions.
Under the proposed legislation, Georgia will recognize medical marijuana cards from out of state.
The bill will next head to the Senate, which recently passed a bill also adding autism but reducing the level of allowable THC in cannabis oil.
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1:04 p.m.
The Georgia Senate voted to expand the definition of domestic terrorism and to create a stand-alone Department of Homeland Security. Additionally, the bill will give attorneys general more power to work in multiple jurisdictions when prosecuting alleged terrorism.
The full chamber Wednesday approved the bill 42-12 despite concerns from most of the Democrat senators. It will move to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
As part of the rewrite attacks against critical infrastructure will qualify as domestic terrorism. The category includes similar language to what the federal government uses but includes religious and educational institutions. Critical infrastructure includes both physical and virtual assets, so certain types of hacking attacks would be considered terrorism.
Previously, domestic terrorism only included attacks that killed 10 or more people, a definition that the bill’s sponsor called insufficient and antiquated.
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11:50 a.m.
The Georgia House has approved a bill changing the state’s varied income tax levels to a flat 5.4 percent.
The chamber voted, 126 to 40, in favor of the bill sponsored by Rep. Jay Powell, R-Camilla. Current law sets income tax rates between 1 and 6 percent, based on taxable state income.
The bill also creates a new “earned income tax credit,” matching a federal credit.
State officials estimate that the change means the state will get $18 million less from income taxes in the financial year beginning June 2018.
The bill goes to the Senate for consideration.
The left-leaning Georgia Budget and Policy Institute has warned that a flat income tax will mean higher income taxes on low and middle-income people, particularly those who do not have children.
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11:37 a.m.
Georgia senators plan to vote a bill that will greatly expand the definition of domestic terrorism. Critics say the bill is designed to target protesters.
The bill is scheduled for a vote by the full chamber on Wednesday. A 33-page version replaced the original four-page bill ahead of the vote.
The new bill essentially writes portions of federal law into state law and adds some provisions unique to Georgia. The proposal will expand the definition of critical infrastructure to include religious and educational institutions, allowing prosecutors to charge a greater variety of crimes as domestic terrorism.
The proposal will also create a new 17-person Board of Homeland Security that will assume the associated responsibilities previously designated to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
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