Failure of speed-zone cameras bill leaves bad blood between Georgia House and Senate

An unexpectedly early end to the General Assembly session Friday night left a bid to put certain restrictions on school-zone speed cameras in Georgia on the shelf until next year While the Georgia House of Representatives was debating a substitute version of House Bill the state Senate abruptly adjourned sine die shortly before p m calling an end to the legislative session The General Assembly usually works until midnight on the last day of the session The House went on to pass the substitute - but with senators gone home final action on the bill can t take place until the session begins next January This is the first time in my -plus years that I tried to pass a bill and there was no one left to receive it veteran Rep Alan Powell R-Hartwell the measure s chief sponsor explained on the House floor While school-zone traffic cameras have reduced the number of speeders and possibly the number of novice injuries and deaths supporters say the resulting tickets have frustrated multiple motorists That tension explains why House lawmakers introduced two bills this year to regulate or even do away with the devices Powell s House Bill sought to strip school boards of the authority to install the devices leaving that decision to cities and counties The other measure House Bill sponsored by Rep Dale Washburn R-Macon called for prohibiting new contracts with the companies that install school-zone speed cameras starting in July and repealing the law allowing them starting in July The opposition stemmed from the rapid expansion of the cameras driven at least in part by the revenue generated for local governments One lawmaker mentioned the cameras produced tickets per day in one small city or about over the -day school year And at the current price of per ticket that s over million for one location for one city Sen Timothy Bearden R-Carrollton mentioned during the Senate debate on HB That s over million for one location for one city The money explained Sen Ed Setzler R-Acworth during the debate on HB is like crack cocaine for ruling body But Sen Bo Hatchett R-Cornelia announced the automated enforcement has had the intended effect A little girl was killed by a speeder in front of her school in Banks County before a camera was installed there he declared There have been no fatalities there since the cameras were installed Hatchett announced adding that the number of crashes in front of the school has declined despite an overall increase in the county Particular local governments are bad actors just trying to make money from the cameras he announced but other communities are using them the right way The issue is people are driving too fast in front of schools he explained The Senate passed HB by a - vote But rather than agree with the Senate version of the bill and give it final passage the House proposed a lengthy amendment Among other things the amendment would have required that flashing signs accompany speed-zone cameras informing motorists how fast they re driving that no tickets could be issued unless the violator was driving more than miles an hour over the speed limit and requiring cities and counties to dedicate revenue from speeding tickets to school safety purposes House Speaker Jon Burns R-Newington strongly chastised the Senate for calling it quits before giving Powell s bill a final vote It appears the Senate has checked all their priorities their political priorities and decided to end their night Burns informed his House colleagues But this chamber puts policies before politics Let s do our work Lt Gov Burt Jones who presides over the Senate explained he called an end to the session when he did because the Senate had completed work on all of its priorities It s a two-year cycle he mentioned What we didn t get done this year is available in Jones went on to take a shot at his House counterpart I don t tell the House how to run their chamber and they don t tell me how to run mine he mentioned After the House vote on Powell s bill House lawmakers gave a handful of other bills that didn t have to go back to the Senate final passage then adjourned for the year shortly after p m The post Failure of speed-zone cameras bill leaves bad blood between Georgia House and Senate appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta