Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Legislative Days 25 and 26

The biggest news over these past two legislative days had to be the death of HB 200 on the House Floor. HB 200 would have allowed for the failure to wear a seatbelt to be admissible in civil cases. Together, GTLA and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce worked to hammer out a compromise that both parties could support.

The bill was introduced from the well and questions were answered. Representatives began to question why a victim in a car accident would be revictimized in a court of law. Momentum began to build against the bill.

The Speaker of the House called for the vote and the bill failed 15-143.

SB 108, the Victim Pays provision of the Governor's Tort Reform Package passed the Senate Special Judiciary Committee as well. The orgiginal language was replaced with the language found in HB 414. SB 108 no longer contains the Victim Pays provision, but it does allow for a Stay of Discovery.

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