We have maybe two days left in this legislative session. Some bills that have struggled to survive are begining to find new life.
SB 596 – A bill that started out banning cloning, now currently names an already existent blood bank. A definition change was made in committee and the bill may be available for floor action in the House on Monday. The bill will then need to go back to the Senate to accept or reject the definitional change. If they reject — I would expect a conference committee to take the bill and then — all bets are off as to what the final product will be.
SB 541 – Will be heard by the Judiciary Committee upon adjournment today. The author is pressing on despite being told by businesses that the law is pre-empted by federal law. The bill will make sending materials to minors, which the minors by law cannot possess, a felony.
SB 425 – E-mail tax — The Author, Sen. Greg Goggans, a dentist, claims this bill protects family, children and schools from internet predators. But, the hearings failed to call upon experts to testify as to the validity of that claim. What the bill does is require you, as a business person, to pay a “vendor” to check your list against a “do not mail” list once every month, and to charge you $10 per thousand names to do so. Now, there is no provision to advertise the existence of the list, no provision to tell business owners that should they send a minor, or anyone else, mail they do not wish to recieve, you would be guilty of a felony.
Just a few minutes ago, the bill was moved from Judiciary to the House Public Utilities Committee. That committee is chaired by Jeff Lewis, who co-chaired the committee that wrote SB 120, which “deregulated” the Internet. I guess now he wants a chance to “regulate” the Internet.
Of course, if you pass SB 541, there is no need for SB 425.
So, why would you want to use technology in Georgia — if all you do is increase your risk of law suits or jail time?
Lifelong learning will be a core fundamental to anybody in business in the future. Continuing education will be part of this, but learning new skills and adapting to a global marketplace in a knowledge-based economy will be critical to survive and thrive.
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