Dick Pettys wrote a pretty good analysis of the Governor’s budget vetoes for Insider Advantage. Most of the reported “vetoes” were not vetoes at all, rather statements of his belief that state agencies should not feel bound by language in the state budget directing them to spend funds in certain ways. With a “veto,” an appropriation is disapproved, meaning that the funds cannot be spent and are returned to the unappropriated reserve. But by simply ignoring the language laying out legislative intent, the appropriated funds can still be spent, just differently than contemplated by the General Assembly.

I spoke to the Governor briefly yesterday about a specific appropriation, and he told me that he supported it and would find a way to fund it, but that he would do it his own way and not necessarily as instructed by language in the state budget. Under his theory of how the state budget should work, he will have plenty of money to do so.

It is unclear to me how this issue is resolved. Over the last several years, the General Assembly has been much more assertive in the budget writing process. To his credit, the Governor invited this assertiveness through his introduction of program based budgeting. The General Assembly, particularly the Senate, took advantage of the Governor’s laudable new emphasis on “bringing spending in line with priorities” to give detailed guidance to state agencies on how funds are to be spent.

Some of this guidance is apparently unwelcome.  By disregarding it in this fashion, the Governor seems intent on adjusting the constitutional scales which balance the budgetary powers of the executive and legislative branches. There will be much more to follow as the General Assembly determines its response. In the meantime, here is the Pettys column that I mentioned: Continue Reading »

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A family commitment prevents me from attending the reception for award recipients tonight, but I am nonetheless grateful to Georgia Conservation Voters for selecting me to receive one of its 2007 Environmental Leadership Awards.

I have always believed that respect for the environment is wholly compatible with respect for private property.  Georgia Conservation Voters has honored me with the same award three times before.

Several members of both the Senate and House will be honored tonight. For those of you who might be interested in attending, here is the invitation.

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I attended the bill signing ceremony today for House Bill 227, the Consumer Choice for Television Act.  Immediately after the ceremony, AT&T announced a $500,000 million investment in Georgia.  The money will be spent upgrading the company’s fiber optics network to offer, among other things, “cutting edge television” service.

[UPDATE] The announcement is being discussed at Peach Pundit, which has posted a copy of the news release.

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The Governor signed Senate Bill 115 this morning, a bill I introduced at the request of the newly created State Licensing Board for General and Residential Contractors.

The contractors licensing law passed two years ago, and while I am generally hesitant about expanding government regulation, this law preempted a threatened hodgepodge of local licensing requirements.  It also facilitates our Georgia based contractors doing business in neighboring states by taking advantage of reciprocal provisions of their licensing laws.

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I have been invited to a ceremony tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday, May 30, at which the Governor will sign House Bill 227, the Consumer Choice for Television Act.  Introduced by Representative Jeff Lewis, Chairman of the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee, this bill reforms the video franchise laws to encourage competition to cable television providers.

AT&T plans to offer television service over telephone lines, and this bill should accelerate the offering. 

The Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee worked on this issue for almost a year, and I was pleased to carry the bill for Chairman Lewis in the Senate.  The final product represents a good effort by the House and Senate and the various interest groups.  I am a strong believer in the benefits of competition.  This bill should help bring about better offerings, improved service and lower prices.

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I hope that we will all pause on this special day to remember those who gave their lives in service to our country.   It is the soldier who secured and defends today the inalienable rights granted by God and articulated by our Founding Fathers — life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

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I sponsored or cosponsored over 50 bills during this Legislative Session, a number of which passed and have been signed by the Governor.  On sixteen of those bills, I was the principal or “number one” sponsor.  Senate Bill 148, the Saving the Cure Act, was signed yesterday.  So were three of my other bills, Senate Bill 84, which protects members of the military from unscrupulous insurance sales practices, Senate Bill 114, which updated the the Georgia Real Estate License Law, and Senate Bill 147, which created the Gwinnett Stormwater Authority.

Seante Bill 84 was requested by the Georgia Insurance Department and implements a federal law signed by President Bush last fall.  Senate Bill 114 was requested by the Georgia Real Estate Commission and went through several revisions before it was finally approved on the last day of the session.  Senate Bill 147 was a local bill requested by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners.  I changed the draft submitted by the County Attorney to clarify that the Authority could not increase the stormwater fee.  The House made an additional change, mandating instead of authorizing an annual audit.

Another of my bills, Senate Bill 115, passed both the Senate and House but awaits action by the Governor.  This bill was requested by the State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors and updates the new licensing law. 

Seven of my other bills passed the Senate but not the House.   Those bills all remain alive and can be taken up by the House during the next session in 2008.

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The Governor today signed into law Senate Bill 148, the Saving the Cure Act.  The young man who inspired the bill, Keone Penn of  Gwinnett County, was on hand for the ceremony.  In 1998, Keone was cured of sickle cell anemia by an umbilical cord stem cell treatment — but only after waiting a year for doctors to find a stem cell that was a close enough match.  Keone understands first hand the importance of saving postnatal tissue and fluid for medical research and treatment.

Stem cells are plentiful in umbilcal cord blood, placental tissue and amniotic fluid, and they can be collected for medical research without destruction of human life at any stage of development.

Dick Pettys of Insider Advantage wrote this report of the bill signing:

Gov. Sonny Perdue gave his approval Thursday to legislation designed to promote stem cell research using postnatal tissue and other non-embryonic sources. It is SB 148, also known as the “Saving The Cure Act.” It was sponsored by Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth.

The bill signing ceremony was attended by the young man who inspired the bill, Keone Penn of Gwinnett County, who was cured of sickle cell anemia by an umbilical cord stem cell treatment. Also present were about three dozen of the bill’s supporters, including representatives of the Georgia Christian Alliance, Georgia Family Council, Georgia Catholic Conference, Georgia Right To Life, and Americans United for Life.

The bill authorizes the Georgia Newborn Umbilical Cord Blood Bank to collect and store stem cells from postnatal tissue and fluid. It also creates the Georgia Commission to Save the Cure to oversee the bank and promote “principled and ethical stem cell research.”

“Stem cells from the umbilical cord are being used now to treat disease,” said Shafer. “Postnatal stem cells can be collected without harm to either the newborn baby or mother and without destroying human life at any stage of development.”

He added, “Keone Penn waited for over a year before doctors finally found an umbilical cord stem cell that was a close enough match. It is tragic that umbilical cord blood is treated as medical waste and routinely thrown away.”

Georgia Right To Life said that with the governor’s signature on the bill, “Georgia immediately emerges as a national leader in ethical stem cell research. Governor Perdue’s signature signals that Georgia wants to create an environment where stem cells are widely available from sources other than the human embryo and where collection of these stem cells will not result in the destruction of human life.”

The governor’s spokesman, Bert Brantley, issued this statement: “The Governor was pleased to welcome Keone Penn to the signing ceremony today, someone that has directly benefited from non-destructive stem cell research. He appreciates Sen. Shafer’s hard work, and looks forward to meeting many more Georgians just like Keone who are helped by this bill.”

Shafer said that he would seek start-up state funding for the bank in the 2009 state budget. Because insurance companies pay as much as $30,000 for stem cells used in medical treatment, Shafer said that he believes the bank will be self-supporting and potentially profitable.

The Medical College of Georgia operates an umbilical cord stem cell facility at its campus in Augusta. Lawmakers included a $750,000 appropriation in the 2008 state budget to upgrade the facility in preparation for creation of the Newborn Umbilical Cord Blood Bank.

The final version of the bill includes language which requires state funds to be spent in compliance with existing federal funding guidelines for stem cell research. This language prohibits the use of state funds for research involving the destruction of human embryos. It also prohibits state funding for the cloning of human embryos for research.

[UPDATE] This bill has been mentioned at Southern Fried Dixie.

[UPDATE] The bill is being discussed at Peach Pundit.

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I was honored today to receive a 2007 Family Service Award from the Georgia Family Council.  This conservative group cited my sponsorship of Senate Bill 148, the Saving the Cure Act, and Senate Resolution 5, the Taxpayers Dividend Act.

The Georgia Family Council, headed by Randy Hicks and represented at the State Capitol by Jamie Self, does an excellent job advocating for public policies that strengthen the family.

Speaking of Senate Bill 148, the Governor will sign the bill tomorrow afternoon at the State Capitol.  Keone Penn will be joining us for the bill signing ceremony.

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I have been asked to deliver my first commencement address.

Tonight I will share my wisdom with the 5th grade class of Berkeley Lake Elementary School in Duluth.  The theme of the promotion excercise is “The Future Looks Bright for the Berkeley Lake Bears.”

I do not remember the theme of the Chestnut Elementary School promotion excercises I attended as a 7th grader almost 30 years ago, but our mascot was the Cougar and we sang our very own rendition of “Come Sail Away” from the album Grand Illusion by Styx.

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