The Georgia House of Representatives reconvened on Tuesday, February 21 for the seventh week of the 2023 legislative session. Each day spent on the House floor this week grew longer than the last, and we were able to pass and send more than 30 House bills to the Senate for its consideration by the end of the week.
We passed legislation this week that would allow the state to return up to $1 billion in undesignated income tax revenue back into the pockets of Georgia taxpayers. House Bill 162 would provide a one-time tax refund through the Amended Fiscal Year 2023 budget to every eligible taxpayer for the 2022 tax year. The one-time tax refunds would range from $250 for single filers, $375 for head-of-household filers and $500 for married couples filing jointly.
We unanimously passed House Bill 167 to help parents with child support orders make good on their outstanding payments. In Georgia, parents who fail to pay their child support will have their driver’s license suspended until they pay the full outstanding amount. Due to these license suspensions, there are currently thousands of Georgia parents who cannot drive themselves to work to earn money to make their child support payments. To resolve this issue, HB 167 would amend the list of individuals with a suspended, revoked, or canceled license who are eligible to apply for a limited driving permit by adding individuals not in compliance with a child support order, which would enable these individuals to drive only for certain purposes like going to and from work.
House Bill 121, which would add definitions for “wakeboarding” and “wake surfing” to Georgia law, require life vests and place restrictions on these recreational sports at night and in smaller bodies of water to ensure safety and protect personal property.
Finally, the House passed House Bill 207 to close a loophole in Georgia’s boating accident laws, including laws that address accidents that result in criminal charges. Under this bill, if a boating accident occurs, the operator of each boat involved would be required to immediately stop, remain at the scene and provide their name, address, registration, as well as their government-issued ID upon request, to the operator of the vessel struck. The involved vessel operators would also be responsible for rendering assistance to any injured person and notifying emergency medical services and law enforcement if necessary. To keep Georgians safe on the water, the other portion of this bill would require boats to carry the necessary U.S. Coast Guard approved nighttime and daytime visual distress signals when operating in state coastal waters. Our lakes and waterways have become much more congested in recent years, and this congestion has resulted in a growing number of serious and even deadly boating accidents. Current law allows boating accidents to be reported within 48 hours of the accident, but HB 207 would close this loophole to ensure that our boating accident laws mirror our motor vehicle accident laws.
We will return on Monday, February 27, but the clock is ticking for House bills to pass for the first time and still remain eligible to become law this year. To make the most of our time next week, we will convene for four legislative days and designate an entire day to working in our House committees.
As always, thank you for allowing me to serve as your state representative.
I remain dedicated to serving your interests as your state representative, and I hope that you will contact me with any questions or concerns you may have regarding the legislative session or with any proposals or recommendations for future legislation.
You can also stay in touch by visiting our website at www.house.ga.gov to watch a live stream of the House in action, as well as archived committee meetings, and review legislation that we are considering.
Follow me on facebook for updates throughout the year.
Thank you for allowing me to be your representative.
Sincerely,
Representative Butch Parrish
Capitol Address
245 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
404.463.2247 - Office
