What's up in the Georgia General Assembly

HB 87 is on the floor and by the time you read this, it may have passed the house. HB 87 is an immigration bill. The bill contains language that allows for example a 21 year old college student in LaGrange to sue Dacula official if that student thinks that a city official, agent, agency or the like is not carrying out the provisions as written in the bill. In other words the bill as written gives anyone in Georgia who is at least 21 years of age standing to sue any municipality, county or school system.

Here is a copy of an email that I sent to each of our member of the Gwinnett delegation about this matter. Several have responded, but I'm unsure if they understand my local concern about litigation costs. How can a local government budget for such contingencies? What amount and where will the money come from?

Mayor Wilbanks,
Thanks for your comments and concerns. This section of the bill was thoroughly debated by the committee and discussed in Rules. If you will do those things that are outlined in the bill to comply with the law the threat of a law suit will be diminished greatly. I believe the bill to be very straightforward.

Tommy Benton
Georgia House of Representatives
District 31

________________________________________
From: Jimmy Wilbanks [mailto:mayordacula@charter.net]
Sent: Thu 3/3/2011 7:51 AM
To: 'District 100 Honorable Brian Thomas'; Brockway, Buzz; Pak, BJ; Casas, David; Clark, Valerie; Sheldon, Donna; Harrell, Brett; 'District 107 Honorable Len Walker'; 'District 108 Honorable Terry England'; Mills, James; Benton, Tommy; 'District 51 Honorable Tom Rice'; Mitchell, Billy; 'District 95 Honorable Toney Collins'; 'District 96 Honorable Pedro Marin'; 'District 97 Honorable Brooks P. Coleman, Jr.'; Clark, Josh; 'District 99 Honorable Hugh Floyd'; 'District 41 Honorable Steve Henson'; 'District 45 Honorable Renee S. Unterman'; 'District 47 Honorable Frank Ginn'; Shafer, David; Miller, Butch; Thompson, Curt (CR); Butler, Gloria; Balfour, Don
Subject: House Bill 87, Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011, Rep. Matt Ramsey
Gwinnett Representatives and Senators,

Good morning, thank you for your service to our varying communities in Gwinnett County and to the State as a whole.

I’m sure that everyone want to see a comprehensive plan to secure our borders and deter illegal immigration. I have some problems with the language in HB 87, in particular the provision that provides that anyone 21 year of age or older can sue any local government for some perceived failure on the part of local agencies and/or officials to adhere to the language and intent of HB 87. Simply complying with the intent of HB 87 will cost local governments, and the unknown costs of litigation makes this bill unworkable at the local level. Unworkable, because local commissions, boards, and councils will not have any idea of what budget figure should be plugged in for potential litigation costs. I guess the best example of these unintended costs might be compared to requests for open records. Members of the General Assembly may know of cases where disgruntled members of the public have made numerous requests for records—just for the sake of disrupting the process. A similar situation might develop if HB 87 is passed as written.

Should HB 87 appear on the floors of your respective houses, I request that you make sure that the language in the bill is straightforward, clear and limits litigation costs and damages at the local level.

Thank you,



Jimmy Wilbanks
Mayor
442 Harbins Road
P. O. Box 400
Dacula, GA 30019

At The Center of Georgia's Innovation Crescent

City Hall:770.963.7451
Mobile: 770.560.0867
Fax: 770.513.2187



Representative Benton, who does not represent Dacula, was kind enough to respond. However, I am not convinced that the unintended consequences of the language in the bill is wise--diminished lawsuits--one unneeded and unnecessary lawsuit is too much.

I know you have read about abusive uses by the public of requests for public records. I'm afraid that HB 87, as written, will encourage such abuse.