By Emily Huigens
Independent-Mail
January 10, 2004

Traditionally in years when state lawmakers face re-election, they prefer to stay away from controversy and tough issues.

This year’s legislative session, which begins Monday, is expected to be an exception, and lawmakers are bracing for a continuation of the budgetary struggles and partisan power struggles that dominated the 2003 session.

While the revenue shortfall in 2003 called for drastic measures, legislators say balancing this year’s budget would require real bloodletting.

"The budget is going to be a big thing this time," Rep. Ben Bridges, R-Cleveland, said. "There’s no spare money. It’s going to take all the money we’ve got or can get to keep state government operating on the present level.

"We tried last year to cut back on the departments and try to keep the departments more efficient with less money, and that works some," he said. "But you’ve got to have the kind of time (the governor used) since he took over last year to find out where we could cut without being drastic."

Rep. Amos Amerson, R-Dahlonega, whose district includes a corner of Habersham County, said that while Gov. Sonny Perdue made across-the-board cuts last year, the next few rounds of cuts he demands could be more targeted and could be painful for lawmakers.

"The governor’s going to tell us we’ve got to cut 2.5 percent out of the budget — out of the budget under which we are living right now, so it will be a balanced budget by the end of the year. And I imagine FY05, the year that starts first of July, those are going to be some real heart-wrenching kinds of cuts."

Decisions over what should be cut will continue to take place in front of a very different backdrop than Republicans and Democrats had been used to before 2003.

The change to a Republican-controlled Senate and governor’s office was good for members of the GOP, but their power in two corners of the Capitol didn’t stop the Democrat-dominated House of Representatives from stalling the governor’s initiatives, lawmakers said.

Rep. Bridges said he literally saw a side of the Capitol that had been hidden to him under Democrat Gov. Roy Barnes.

"For the first time I found the conference room in the governor’s office,’’ he said. "I got invited to meet with the governor in a conference I had never been invited into. It’s a tremendous change when you’ve got a governor that will listen to and work with conservative ideas.’’

Being a Republican was no longer tantamount to a sentence to the periphery of the lawmaking process, he said.
The mixed party control undoubtedly stalled work under the gold dome, however.

Sen. Ralph Hudgens, R-Comer, said he couldn’t think of anything significant that lawmakers accomplished in 2003 given the inter-party power plays.

While some legislators hope this year will bring with it a spirit of compromise, others were skeptical.

"(Democrats) have come to realize that just being obstructionist is not beneficial for anyone," Sen. Hudgens said. "There was kind of a mindset last year, ‘We’re gonna show you new guys — the Republican leaders in Senate — how this game is played, and anything you send us is dead on arrival.’ I think the people of state of Georgia have let their voice be heard and that’s not what they want."

Legislators had only a few specific ideas of what bills might survive debate and make it to the law books.

The entire state, but in particular northeast Georgia residents, should expect and watch for the state’s Comprehensive Water Bill to pass through the statehouse, lawmakers said.

Last year’s efforts stalled over the idea of so-called water permit trading that legislators have for the most part abandoned, and both Republican and Democrat lawmakers said they expect to see the bill pass this year with a prohibition on water permit trading.

"Everyone’s pretty much in agreement it’ll go through pretty quickly," Sen. Ralph Hudgens, R-Comer said.

Republicans and Democrats predicted that tort reform, driven by increasing attention on the high cost of medical malpractice insurance, would make it to debate, but what kind of reform bill might make it to the governor’s desk is hard to call, they said.

Democratic Rep. Alan Powell of Hartwell said he doesn’t buy the argument that lawsuits are to blame for high insurance costs and medical costs.

"Insurance companies take great pleasure in trying to blame the lawyers," he said. "It hasn’t been proved it’s because of lawyers; a lot of it is insurance. The way they operate, one of ways they make money, is through investments, and we all know those investments have not been doing well the last two or three years."

Both Rep. Bridges, whose district includes most of Habersham County, and his colleague Sen. Amerson said they are concerned with illegal and recent immigrants using public services, particularly hospital services that they believe are driving up medical costs.

"We have so many foreigners from Mexico and other places hurting our hospitals by using the Emergency Room without paying," Rep. Bridges said. "We might ought to keep a record to find out how much it is and send Mexico a bill for it."

Sen. Amerson said he would like to make it legal for hospitals and schools to verify whether a student or patient is a U.S. citizen so they could reserve the right to refuse services to illegal residents.

Emily Huigens can be reached at (800) 859-6397, Ext. 326 or by e-mail at huigensee@IndependentMail.com.

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