2007 LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY

GEORGIA CANINE COALITION, INC.

 The Georgia General Assembly ended the First Session of the 2007-2008 Term at Midnight on April 20,2007.

 Some Bills of Interest:

 Substitute to SB 16: The substitute for this bill was heard in the Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee on February 7, 2007.  The GCC expressed concerns over sections of the bill to the bill sponsor, Senator Chip Rogers.  At that time, Senator Rogers asked the GCC for suggestions to change the language in those sections.  The GCC provided those language suggestions, and waited to see the substitute to the substitute to SB 16. The substitute to this bill was heard in the Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee on February 22, 2007.  Substantial changes were made to this bill including the incorporation of language we provided to the Sponsor.  This bill passed out of the committee and passed the Senate.   Senators Chip Rogers, Chip Pearson, Greg Goggans, Bill Heath, Joseph Carter and Ronnie Chance sponsor this bill.  On April 11, 2007, this bill, which had recently been attached to HB 366, was declared not germane and returned to Committee.  

HB 301 is an anti-dog fighting bill that had been placed in House Judiciary.  This bill came up twice in sub-committee and once in the full non-civil Judiciary committee where it passed as amended.  The GCC attended all the meetings and spoke at both sub-committee meetings in favor of the bill.  The GCC, along with other groups, feel this is a good bill.  It is narrow in focus and deals only with dog fighting.  This bill did not get out of the House Rules Committee this year, but we expect it to do so early next January.

HB 2: This bill deals with the authority of cities to annex land.  It would require binding arbitration between cities and counties to settle disputed annexations.  It passed the Senate and the House with a Senate substitute on April 20.  The GCC monitors this type of bill because our members are affected if they live in an area without restrictions on kennels, or numbers of dogs, and then get annexed into an area that has restrictions.

 HB 123/ SB 110: These bills deal with allowing a property owner to de-annex out of existing city limits if any portion of the property is already outside of the city limits.  Neither bill passed this year. 

 HB 366:  This bill deals with Service Dogs and passed the House at 9:38 pm and the Senate at 11:43 pm on April 20, 2007.  The GCC was involved with this bill.

Gail LaBerge
Legislative Specialist
Georgia Canine Coalition, Inc.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

GEORGIA CANINE COALITION, INC. 

April 21, 2007

The Georgia General Assembly ended the First Session of the 2007-2008 Term at Midnight on April 20, 2007.

No anti-dog fighting legislation passed the General Assembly this Session.

HB 366 which deals with Service Dogs passed the House at 11:30 PM on April 20, 2007. The Georgia Canine Coalition was involved with this bill.

HB 2 passed with a senate substitute. This bill deals with annexation. The GCC monitors this type of bill as it 
affects our members in relation to whether you are in an area without restrictions on kennels, or numbers of dogs, 
etc. and then get annexed into an area that might have restrictions.

A full report on the Georgia General Assembly and Canine related legislation will be give at the semi-annual Georgia 
Canine Coalition meeting on April 30, 2007. The GCC looks forward to seeing it's members and member club's 
representatives at the semi-annual meeting.

Gail LaBerge
Legislative Specialist
Georgia Canine Coalition, Inc.
outland@laberge.org 

February 24, 2007 

The Georgia General Assembly is at the half way point.  Day 21 was Thursday, Feb. 15.  We expect a slowing down of the legislature in the next few weeks.    The Legislature is in recess until Tuesday, Feb.27, 2007.

 Some Bills of Interest:

Substitute to SB 16: As previously reported, the substitute for this bill was heard in the Senate Agriculture Committee on February 7, 2007.  The GCC expressed concerns over sections of the bill to the bill sponsor, Senator Chip Rogers.  At that time, Senator Rogers asked the GCC for suggestions to change the language in those sections.  The GCC provided those language suggestions, and waited to see the substitute to the substitute to SB 16. The substitute to this bill was heard in the Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee on February 22, 2007.  Substantial changes were made to this bill including the incorporation of language we provided to the Sponsor.  This bill passed out of the committee.   Senators Chip Rogers, Chip Pearson, Greg Goggans, Bill Heath, Joseph Carter and Ronnie Chance sponsor this bill.

 HB 301 is an anti-dog fighting bill that has been placed in House Judiciary.  It is scheduled to come up for a hearing in a sub-committee the week of February 26, 2007.  At this point, the GCC, along with other groups, feel this is a good bill.  It is narrow in focus and deals only with dog fighting.  The GCC will be attending the hearing.

 HB 2: This bill deals with the authority of cities to annex land.  It would require binding arbitration between cities and counties to settle disputed annexations.

 HB 123/ SB 110: These bills deal with allowing a property owner to de-annex out of existing city limits if any portion of the property is already outside of the city limits. 

Annexation and De-Annexation bills are of interest to the GCC and its members as to how it affects those with a kennel and the concern of the number limits on animals.  While some counties do not have a limit on animals, a city in that county may have a limit and that would be a concern if you were living in an area that could be annexed into that city.  Also, you may be designated to be Agriculture land, but if annexed into a city, that could change.

Gail LaBerge
Legislative Specialist

FEBRUARY 8, 2007

The Senate Agriculture Committee of the Georgia General Assembly held a hearing only on the substitute to SB 16, Anti-Dog Fighting bill on February 7, 2007. The Legislative Specialist and the Attorney for the Georgia Canine Coalition, Inc. attended the meeting.

The Georgia Canine Coalition, Inc. expressed concern over the wording in parts of the bill and the GCC expects changes to the substitute to be made in the next few days. The GCC will post a notice when the updated version is available for review.

On Friday, February 2, 2007, an Anti-Dog Fighting Bill, HB 301 was filed in the Georgia House of Representatives. This bill is expected to have its first reading on Thursday, February 8, 2007.  This bill can be viewed on line at the Georgia General Assembly website.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Gail LaBerge
Outland@laberge.org

JANUARY, 2007

State:

The Georgia General Assembly convened for the 1^st Session of the 2007-2008 Term on January 8, 2007.

The annual Sportsman’s Day at the Capitol was held on Wednesday, January 10, 2007. The GCC was invited by the hosting groups to have a table with information concerning the GCC and exactly what the GCC does in the state of Georgia. The representatives for the GCC present that day were kept busy meeting and talking with members of the General Assembly along with local government officials that were present at the Capitol on January 10, 2007.

At the present time only one piece of canine related legislation has been introduced for this Session.It is a prefiled bill called Senate Bill 16, the “anti-dog fighting bill”. The GCC, along with many other interested groups has concerns over the terminology used in this bill. All of the concerns of the interested organizations have been conveyed to the author and to the sponsor.The GCC is actively working with other interested groups to have changes made in this bill.Please watch the GCC website for updates on this bill.