2016 Legislative Session
March 25, 2016
General Assembly Adjourns
The legislature adjourned early Friday morning, concluding the 2016 session in their usual fashion. Bills flew back and forth throughout the evening and legislative mischief, which is common during the final days, was pervasive. House and Senate members now return home, many to kick off reelection campaigns. Over fifty incumbents have a challenger in the May 24 Primary Election and will spend the next two months fundraising and campaigning. Governor Nathan Deal, on the other hand, will spend the coming weeks reviewing and acting on legislation sent to him by the General Assembly. He has until May 3 to sign or veto legislation. Legislation not eligible for action by the Governor is lost and will have to be refiled to be considered again. All eyes are watching his decisions related to controversial religious freedom and gun bills.
Funding Preserved for Items of Interest
On Tuesday, the House and Senate agreed to a final version of the FY2017 budget. This final version was the result of a conference committee of legislators working to resolve differences between what the House and Senate adopted separately. The Governor will sign the budget into law before May 3. Preserved in the final version is $100,000 for service cancellable loans to fund five large animal veterinary slots. Retired Representative Gene Maddox, DVM introduced the veterinary loan repayment program in 2011 to create incentives for recent graduates to specialize in large animal and food animal medicine and locate in systemically underserved areas. The program allows selected veterinarians to receive $20,000 for four years to help repay student loans. GVMA joined with the larger agribusiness community to advocate for funding. Funding will have to be sustained in future state budgets for the program to continue. Also included in the final budget is $75,000 added by the Senate to supplement the Department of Agriculture’s existing dog and cat sterilization program. This funding was included at the request of Senator David Shafer, who also authored legislation to create a new license plate to support the Georgia Pet Foundation.
Continued...
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