Legislative Days 39-40

The 2018 Georgia General Assembly has run its course. Many factors including an election year with more offices up for grabs than the state has seen in over a decade, a former and well respected Governor lying in state, and fatigue on legislators of three-months of continual and hard work proved to make this final week one for the ages and the Georgia Retailers have been in the thick of it all working to protect our industry.

Two particular pharmacy issues to note is that our push for a singular state-wide vaccine protocol agreement for pharmacies was stymied by a legislature-wide lockdown on healthcare issues for most of the day on day 40. We expect, and have pressed for, Rep. Sharon Cooper’s Health and Human Services committee to meet in the interim to discuss further opioid measures the state can take going into 2019, with e-prescribing being explicitly part of that conversation.

Bills and resolutions which have either been adopted, signed by Governor Deal or that are awaiting Governor Deal's signature are highlighted in green, bills which did not pass are highlighted in yellow. Action seen on any bills in the final week are in red type.

HB 61 | E-Fairness
Status Update – Passed out of the House during the 2017 Session. This week the bill passed out of the Senate Finance Committee. The bill passed the Senate and now heads to the Governor for his signature.
What This Bill Does –This bill would require sellers without a physical nexus in Georgia to record and send notice to buyers regarding the sales tax they owe in Georgia.

HB 675 | Employer Income Tax Credit
Status Update – Bill has been referred to the Ways & Means Committee but not heard. This bill failed to crossover, therefore this bill is dead.
What This Bill Does – This bill would provide employers with an income tax credit for up to three years for each Medicaid eligible employee who participates in an employer's health benefit plan.

HB 720 | Employment Practices
Status Update – Bill has been referred to the House Industry & Labor Committee but not heard. This bill failed to crossover, therefore this bill is dead.
What This Bill Does –This bill would make it illegal to fire or discriminate against employees for discussing wages, or too make such a provision part of a contract. It increases the penalty for doing so from $100 to $1000 dollars.

HB 731 | Sales and Use Tax
Status Update – Bill has been referred to the Ways & Means Tax Reform Subcommittee, heard but not voted on. This bill failed to crossover, therefore this bill is dead.
What This Bill Does – This legislation would exempt feminine hygiene products from sales and use tax.

HB 782 | PDMP Information Disclosure
Status Update – Bill was referred to and passed the House Health and Human Services Committee, has passed the House as well as the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. The amended bill has passed the Senate and now returns to the House for agree/disagree. The bill failed to pass before Sine Die and therefore died.
What This Bill Does – This bill restrict disclosure of PDMP information to certain persons, and allow for the information disclosure to PDMP programs in other states and certain EMR services and healthcare systems. The bill was amended to also include regulations around "patient brokering".

HB 796 | Sales Tax Holiday for Education
Status Update – Bill has been referred to the Ways & Means Tax Reform subcommittee, the bill has been heard and the Georgia Retailers testified in support, the bill was not voted on. This bill failed to crossover, therefore this bill is dead.
What This Bill Does – This bill renews the sales tax holiday for purchases related to education, one in August and another in September.

HB 811 | Authorizes Dept. of Revenue to Share Tax Info with Third Parties
Status Update – Bill has been referred to the Ways & Means committee, three hearings were held with the bill finally passing Ways & Means. The bill has passed the House. The bill favorably passed the Senate Finance Committee and rests in the Senate Rules Committee prior to any floor action. The Georgia Retailers testified in opposition to the bill. We are worked to eliminate or severely modify the contingency fee aspect of this bill but were ultimately unsuccessful. This bill passed the Senate and now heads to the Governor for his signature.
What This Bill Does – This bill would allow the Dept. of Revenue to contract and share tax information with third party auditors to mine for tax reporting discrepancies on a contingency fee basis. The bill has been modified to ensure the third party auditor never has direct contact with the sales and use tax collector and any audits must be performed on every sales and use tax collector in the same NAICS code at the same time.

HB 842 | Voluntary Pre-Trial Diversion for Shoplifting
Status Update – Bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee but not heard. This bill failed to crossover, therefore this bill is dead.
What This Bill Does – This bill would allow a merchant to offer persons suspected of theft an opportunity to complete a theft education program in lieu of prosecution. Merchants are not compelled or mandated to provide such opportunity.

HB 876 | Preempt Municipalities from Restricting Building Materials
Status Update – Bill has been referred to and passed the House Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee, as well as being passed by the House. The bill favorably passed the Senate Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee, as well as the entire Senate and now rests on the Governor’s desk awaiting his signature.
What This Bill Does – This bill would prohibit a political subdivision from passing any ordinance shall prohibiting the use of wood as a construction material so long as such use conforms to all applicable state minimum standard codes and the Georgia State Fire Code.

HB 886 | GATE Card Program
Status Update – Bill has been referred to and passed out of the House Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee. This bill has passed the House. The bill favorably passed the Senate Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee, as well as the entire Senate and now rests on the Governor’s desk awaiting his signature.
What This Bill Does – This bill modifies the existing GATE Card Program, it requires a participating retailer upon the first use of a new or renewed tax exemption certificate to verify that such certificate is valid by reviewing the producer's certificate and that a seller shall be authorized to continue to honor the tax exemption certificate unless the seller receives actual notice of a suspension or revocation or discovers a suspension or revocation when verifying the validity of the tax exemption certificate upon its first use in any calendar year.

HB 890 | Penalizing Use of Emergency Exit Doors While Shoplifting
Status Update – Bill has passed out of the Reeves Subcommittee of Judiciary Non-Civil, full Judiciary Non-Civil Committee. This bill has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and as well as the Senate and now heads to the Governor for his signature.
What This Bill Does – Makes the utilization of emergency exit doors during the commission of shoplifting a misdemeanor in Georgia.

HB 895 | Requiring Consumer ID for Drug Containing Dextromethorphan
Status Update – Bill has passed out of the House Health & Human Services Committee and rests in the House Rules Committee prior to any floor action. This bill failed to crossover, therefore this bill is dead.
What This Bill Does – This bill requires customers prove to be over the age of 18 to purchase OTC drugs containing dextromethorphan. The Georgia retailers worked to adjust the language to place no onus on the retailer regarding record retention or product placement.

HB 917 | Digital Piracy/Shopping Cart Fine Preemption
Status Update – Bill has been heard and passed out of the House Judiciary Non-Civil and Senate Judiciary Committees. Bill has been heard, amended and passed by the Senate, agreed to and amended by the House. The bill failed to pass before Sine Die and therefore died.
What This Bill Does – This furthers Georgia’s digital piracy criminal statute. The Georgia Retailers had been positioning for weeks, and accomplished, amending this bill to make it illegal for political subdivision to fine retailers for having their shopping carts stolen.

HB 918 | Alignment with Federal Tax Changes
Status Update – Bill has been heard and passed out of the Ways & Means Committee, as well as the House. The bill has been heard and passed out of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate as well as being concurred with by the House. The bill was signed into law by Governor Deal.
What This Bill Does – This bill incorporates recent changes to the Federal tax code into Georgia law. By substitute is now Governor Deal’s tax package including a reduction of the corporate tax rate which has seen no change since 1969.

HB 919 | Sales Tax Holiday for Energy Star Items
Status Update – Bill has been introduced and heard in the Ways & Means Tax Reform Sub-Committee. The Georgia Retailers testified in support of this measure. This bill failed to crossover, therefore this bill is dead.
What This Bill Does – Creates a sales tax holiday for energy star appliances between 5-7 October 2018.

HB 948 | USDA, FDA, and Dept. of Agriculture Preemption
Status Update – Bill was introduced and referred to the House Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee where it was passed favorably, the bill now rests in the House Rules Committee prior to any floor action. This bill failed to crossover, therefore this bill is dead.
What This Bill Does –This bill would prohibit any political subdivision in Georgia from regulating any good for sale in a retail establishment that is already regulated by the USDA, FDA, or Georgia Department of Agriculture.

HR 993 | Business Court
Status Update – Bills have been referred to the House Judiciary Committee but has not been heard. The constitutional amendment resolution has been heard, amended and passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee and now rests in the Senate Rules Committee. The constitutional amendment bill has passed the Senate and now heads to the Governor for his signature. New enabling legislation will be crafted during the 2019 session.
What This Bill Does –Constitutional amendment and enabling legislation that establishes a state-wide business court.

HR 1089 | Urging Congress to Pass the Marketplace Fairness Act
Status Update – Bill has been referred to and passed the Ways & Means Committee. The resolution has been adopted by the House.
What This Bill Does – This resolution urges the United States Congress to pass the federal "Marketplace Fairness Act" in support of equity and sales tax fairness.

SB 17 | Extending Sunday Alcohol Hours “Brunch Bill”
Status Update – Bill was passed out of the Senate Regulated Industries, was then re-committed for further consideration, passed out again as a committee substitute. The bill has passed out of the Senate. The bill has favorably passed the House Regulated Industries Committee and has successfully passed the House. The bill now rests on the Governor's desk awaiting his signature.
What This Bill Does –This bill would allow restaurants, upon successful passage of a local referendum, to begin serving alcohol at 11:00 am instead of 12:30 pm. The ability for retailers to sell alcohol under the same circumstances was removed from the bill.

SB 328 | Repeal Certain Income Tax Credits/GILTI Change
Status Update – Bill was referred to and passed the Senate Finance Committee, it was voted out of the Senate. The bill has been heard, amended, and passed by the Income Tax Subcommittee of Ways and Means. The bill was passed by the House, agreed to by the Senate and rests on the Governor’s desk awaiting his signature.
What This Bill Does –This bill eliminates three non-retail specific income tax credits, as well as being amended to exclude global subsidiaries of Georgia companies from paying state tax on earning of those subsidiaries.

SB 352 | Senate Opioid Bill
Status Update – Bill was referred to and passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, it was voted out of the Senate and now heads to the House Health & Human Services Committee. Portions of this bill were amended to HB 782 above. The bill failed to pass before Sine Die and therefore died.
What This Bill Does –This bill prohibits patient brokering and establishes the Commission on Substance Abuse and Recovery.

SB 407 | Governor Deal's Criminal Justice Reform
Status Update – Bill was referred to and passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. It now rests in the Senate Rules Committee Prior to any floor action. This bill has passed out of the Senate and as well as the House Judiciary (non-civil) Committee where the bill was amended. The bill now rests in the House Rules Committee prior to any floor action. The bill was passed by the House and now heads to the Governor for his signature.
What This Bill Does –This bill is Governor Deal's criminal justice reform package for 2018, of note is creating the ability to "arrest by citation" for certain non-violent misdemeanors.

SB 418 | USDA, FDA, and Dept. of Agriculture Preemption
Status Update – Bill was introduced and referred to the Senate Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee where it was passed favorably. This bill failed on the Senate floor, therefore the bill is dead.
What This Bill Does –This bill would prohibit any political subdivision in Georgia from regulating any good for sale in a retail establishment that is already regulated by the USDA, FDA, or Georgia Department of Agriculture.

SB 422 | Exempting Pharmacists from Clinical Laboratory Standards
Status Update – Bill was referred to and passed by the Senate Health & Human Services Committee, has passed the Senate and has been reported favorably by the House Health & Human Services Committee. The bill now rests in the House Rules Committee prior to any floor action. The bill has passed the House and now rests on the Governor's desk awaiting his signature.
What This Bill Does –This bill allow pharmacists in their scope of practice to be exempt from clinical laboratory standards when performing tests and interpreting the results as a means to screen for or monitor disease risk factors or drug use, so long as such tests are available to and for use by the public without licensure.

SB 432 | Georgia Tax Credit Business Case Act
Status Update – Bill was referred to and passed the Senate Finance Committee. This bill has passed the Senate. The bill was stripped of original language and replaced with language providing tax credits for certain health care educators, the bill then passed the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill now rests in the House Rules Committee prior to any floor action. The bill failed to pass before Sine Die and therefor died.
What This Bill Does –This bill was introduced incorrectly to provide for the expiration of certain income tax credits, and repeal certain state sales and use tax exemptions. The corrected amended version provides merely for the examination of and recommendations on future action on many such credits and exemptions including but not limited to: non-prescription insulin syringes and glucose test strips, food donated after a natural disaster, sales involving food stamps or WIC, food for off-premise consumption, prescription drugs, prescription oxygen, hearing aids, and durable medical equipment.

SB 471 | Mandatory E-Prescribing for Controlled Substances
Status Update – Bill was introduced and will be referred to the Senate Health & Human Services Committee. This bill failed to crossover, therefore the bill is dead.
What This Bill Does –This bill requires the mandatory use of e-prescribing for all schedule II & III controlled substances.

Amazon began collecting sales tax on items it sells in Georgia four years ago after a push from state lawmakers. Now, state leaders in Georgia and throughout the country are setting their sights on the mega-retailer again — this time, to collect taxes from the third-party merchants that sell through its site.

The extra tax dollars would be a boon to state governments, but would end up costing online shoppers more.

The third-party retailers, called marketplace sellers, use Amazon to sell, hold and ship their products. But Amazon doesn’t collect sales tax on behalf of those companies, and many of them don’t collect taxes themselves.

Arguing they are losing millions of dollars in tax revenue, states are starting to take action — even as some of them are also trying to lure Amazon’s second headquarters, HQ2, with tax incentives and other inducements.

Washington will start receiving more sales tax money in January after passing a law earlier this year requiring Amazon to collect those taxes itself on the sellers’ behalf. Massachusetts successfully sued for access to a list of sellers that have items warehoused in the state. And South Carolina sued Amazon this summer, saying the company was required to collect taxes for marketplace sellers and owed more than $12 million in taxes for just the first three months of 2016.

James Thomson — the former business head of Amazon Services, which recruits marketplace sellers — said Georgia “almost certainly” already has the legal authority to demand sellers that have at any point had items warehoused in the state pay taxes here.

“There’s this massive sales tax liability that most sellers are ignoring,” he said.

Most sellers that aren’t charging sales tax rely on Georgia consumers to report their tax-free purchases, as the law has long required, and to pay the taxes they still owe by filling out state forms. It’s called a “use” tax, but shoppers rarely fill out the forms or pay. Online retailers push back against collecting sales tax themselves partly in an effort to keep their prices competitive.

Legislation has already passed the Georgia House that would increase sales tax collections on online sales in the state if it becomes law, but it still must be passed by the Senate and approved by the governor. And Rep. Jay Powell, R-Camilla, said he is working on additional legislation that could force Amazon to collect taxes on behalf of its third-party sellers, instead of leaving it to those sellers to collect themselves.

“If we can pass legislation requiring (Amazon) to pay, we want to do that,” said Powell, chair of the House Ways and Means committee. “They claim it’s a bookkeeping nightmare, but that’s not true.”

Who is required to charge sales tax for online sales comes down to one concept: physical presence. A 1992 Supreme Court ruling said if a company had a physical presence in a state, like a store or a warehouse, it had to charge consumers the sales taxes levied by that state. If not, there was no requirement.

But for businesses that send their goods to Amazon to ship, having their inventory stored in a state — even for a day — could be enough to require them to collect and pay sales tax there.

Powell’s proposed legislation, which passed the House this year, calls for a new taxing requirement. Instead of requiring a physical presence, he wants to create an economic presence. The bill would require tax collections for businesses that have more than 200 transactions in Georgia, or those that made more than $250,000 in sales in the state the previous year, regardless of where they are physically located.

Sellers would be required to collect the tax, or to send Georgia buyers a notice saying that they owe it and must pay.

“The market is changing,” Powell said. “The way we tax things is not.”

In order to collect any back taxes that the state argues are owed under existing law, the Georgia Department of Revenue would have to track down Amazon’s marketplace sellers that have stored inventory in the state. Thomson warned it would have to happen quickly: Sellers that haven’t paid taxes in multiple states are likely to run out of money before they’re able to pay all that they owe, he said.

That’s one reason, he said, Washington decided to forgo past sales tax collections in favor of simply requiring Amazon to collect in the future. But he said states that do go after back taxes have the opportunity to collect quite a bit.

The hit from unpaid taxes is “big enough that it warrants the Department of Revenue sending auditors,” Thomson said. “It doesn’t take long for it to be a couple hundred million dollars.”

A Georgia State University report said the state had lost an estimated $204 million in tax revenue in 2016 from all out-of-state online sellers. That number was expected to grow by 8 percent a year until 2022.

Jill Kerr, an Amazon spokeswoman, declined to comment on the issue of tax collection on the record.

Georgia retailers are in favor of changes that require all online sales to be taxed, Powell said. James Miller, a spokesman for Georgia Retailers, said his organization just wants “equity” among all sellers.

Two dozen states, in the hopes of getting sellers to voluntarily start paying sales tax, offered amnesty programs that would free them from having to pay some or all of the back taxes owed. Georgia wasn’t one of the participating states, but the number of sellers that signed up for the program, organized by the Multistate Tax Commission, was paltry — only 852 of more than 40,000 sellers that use Amazon for fulfillment of their orders.

Richard Cram, the director of that program, said he suspects more legislation will be written nationwide to force the issue.

He also said the company “probably wouldn’t be afraid” to use its headquarters search “as a way to discourage states from pressing them.” Thomson, though, doesn’t think the two are related. He said long-term growth and access to talent is more important to Amazon than the tax issue.

Stefanie Harper, at the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said the department doesn’t comment on active projects and “we’re not commenting on anything related to Amazon.”

As many of you are aware, Georgia held special elections Tuesday to fill seven House and two Senate seats left vacant by retirements, but mostly left vacant by those pursuing higher office in 2018.

On the House side, the Democrats gained two seats in the Athens area where Republicans ran unopposed in recent cycles, districts 117 and 119. While on the Senate side, Senate District 6, formerly held by current gubernatorial candidate Hunter Hill, will change hands to whichever Democrat wins the upcoming run-off on December 5.

Though not many races were run on Tuesday, the results are significant in that with Senate District 6 changing from red to blue the Republicans now only hold 36 seats, one shy of a super-majority and will now have to work in a more bi-partisan manner than in recent years.

We wanted to ensure you were aware of the changes that these special elections will make to the General Assembly for the upcoming session, but if you have any further questions please feel free to give me a call.

For Immediate Release: October 18, 2017
CONTACT: James Miller, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (850)701-3015

Average person expected to spend $86 this year on Halloween candy, costumes, decorations and greeting cards; total spending nationally to set record of $9.1 billion

TALLAHASSEE, FL – The Florida Retail Federation (FRF), the state’s premier trade association representing retailers for over 75 years, announced today that consumer spending on Halloween is expected to once again set an all-time high with the average person spending more than $86, up from $83 in 2016. Total spending nationally on Halloween is expected to reach $9.1 billion up from $8.4 billion last year.

“Another year of expected record spending on Halloween festivities is great news for Florida’s retailers,” said FRF President and CEO R. Scott Shalley. “The crafty retailers in our state will be able to scare up more sales by offering special discounts and other incentives to get more people in their stores to purchase costumes, decorations and candy.”

According to a recent survey done by FRF’s national partners at the National Retail Federation, consumers are expected to spend an average of $86.13, up from last year’s $82.93, with 179 million Americans planning to partake in Halloween festivities, up from 171 million in 2016.

According to the survey, consumers plan to spend $3.4 billion on costumes (purchased by 69 percent of Halloween shoppers), $2.7 billion on candy (95 percent), another $2.7 billion on decorations (72 percent) and $410 million on greeting cards (37 percent).

According to Candystore.com, the most popular Halloween candy in the Sunshine State, based on sales data from 2007-2016, are Skittles (630,938 pounds sold), followed by Snickers (587,385) and Reese’s Cups (224,637). The top three most popular Halloween candies across the country are Skittles, Reese’s Cups and M&M’s.

Among Halloween celebrants, 71 percent plan to hand out candy, 49 percent will decorate their home or yard, 48 percent will wear costumes, 46 percent will carve a pumpkin, 35 percent will throw or attend a party, 31 percent will take their children trick-or-treating, 23 percent will visit a haunted house and 16 percent will dress pets in costumes.

Thirty-five percent of consumers will find their inspiration for the perfect costume online, while 30 percent will look in stores, 20 percent will ask friends and family, 18 percent will look to Facebook or Pinterest, 17 percent will be influenced by pop culture and 14 percent by print media.

When it comes to buying costumes and other Halloween supplies, 47 percent of shoppers will visit discount stores and 38 percent will go to a specialty Halloween store or costume store. In addition, 25 percent will visit supermarkets, 24 percent will buy at department stores and 22 percent will shop online.

Top Costumes

More than 3.7 million children plan to dress as their favorite action character or superhero, 2.9 million as Batman characters and another 2.9 million as their favorite princess while 2.2 million will dress as a cat, dog, monkey or other animal.

Proving that Halloween isn’t just for kids, a record number of adults (48 percent) plan to dress in costume this year. More than 5.8 million adults plan to dress like a witch, 3.2 million as their favorite Batman character, 3 million as an animal (cat, dog, cow, etc.), and 2.8 million as a pirate.

ABOUT THE FLORIDA RETAIL FEDERATION
The Florida Retail Federation is the statewide trade association representing retailers -- the businesses that sell directly to consumers. Florida retailers provide one out of every five jobs in the state, pay more than $49 billion in wages annually, and collect and remit more than $20 billion in sales taxes for Florida’s government each year. For more information, visit the FRF website, and follow FRF on Facebook and Twitter.                            

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This afternoon, as Georgia begins to recover from the effects of Hurricane Irma, Governor Nathan Deal has issued an executive order lifting the mandatory evacuation order for coastal Georgia issued on 7 SEPT 2017. While this removes the mandatory evacuation order, it will now be up to local political subdivision emergency officials to determine when best to allow re-entry of their general populations.

A copy of the executive order can be found here: https://gov.georgia.gov/sites/gov.georgia.gov/files/related_files/document/0 9.12.17.01.pdf

In anticipation of the effects of Hurricane Irma being felt throughout the state, early this afternoon Governor Deal issued a new executive order declaring a further State of Emergency that includes all Georgia counties.

The State of Emergency will remain in effect for seven days at expire at 11:59 pm on 17 SEP 2017.

A copy of the executive order can be found here: https://gov.georgia.gov/sites/gov.georgia.gov/files/related_files/document/09.10.17.01.pdf

Acting on a recommendation from the state's Emergency Operations Command and in agreement with the Chatham County Emergency Management Agency and following Hurricane Irma’s further shift westward, Gov. Nathan Deal today issued an executive order altering the emergency declaration for Chatham County. As indicated in the attached maps, Zone B and C in Chatham County will be moving to a voluntary evacuation order. The mandatory evacuation order issued by Gov. Deal remains in effect for all of Zone A throughout the coastal region. Due to the lack of traffic using contraflow, the Georgia Department of Transportation is removing contraflow operations on Interstate 16 by 4 p.m. today, returning normal traffic configurations for both east and westbound travel lanes. This allows the state to relocate our resources being used for contraflow and transition them westward. To read the executive order, see attached or click here.

For more information on hurricane preparedness, visit the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency website here.

Attached files:

• Chatham_Evacuation_Zones.jpg
• Coastal Hurricane Evacuation Zones 2.pdf

Following a recommendation from Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) officials ahead of Hurricane Irma’s imminent landfall, Gov. Nathan Deal today expanded the state of emergency to include a total of 94 counties. In light of the storm’s forecasted track shifting west, which will bring hurricane force winds, rain and potential flooding, 64 additional counties are now under the emergency declaration. Mandatory evacuations for coastal areas east of I-95 and all of Chatham County remain in place and contraflow on I-16 will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday.

The additional counties include: Baker, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Brooks, Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Colquitt, Cook, Crawford, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Dooly, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Harris, Houston, Irwin, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Lamar, Lanier, Laurens, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marion, Meriwether, Miller, Mitchell, Monroe, Montgomery, Muscogee, Peach, Pike, Pulaski, Quitman, Randolph, Schley, Seminole, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor, Telfair, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Troup, Turner, Twiggs, Upson, Washington, Webster, Wheeler, Wilcox, Wilkinson and Worth Counties.

A state of emergency now exists in the following 94 counties: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Calhoun, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Chattahoochee, Clay, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crawford, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Dooly, Dougherty, Early, Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glynn, Grady, Harris, Houston, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Jones, Lamar, Lanier, Laurens, Lee, Liberty, Long, Lowndes, Macon, Marion, McIntosh, Meriwether, Miller, Mitchell, Monroe, Montgomery, Muscogee, Peach, Pierce, Pike, Pulaski, Quitman, Randolph, Schley, Screven, Seminole, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Tattnall, Taylor, Telfair, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Troup, Turner, Twiggs, Upson, Ware, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wheeler, Wilcox, Wilkinson and Worth Counties.

Read the executive order here. For more
information and resources on evacuation routes, shelters and hurricane
preparedness, visit www.gema.ga.gov or 1-800-TRY-GEMA.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the Federal Government and the State of Georgia waived certain motor carrier regulations to facilitate essential goods, services and relief into and from the disaster areas within Texas and Louisiana.

However this afternoon in preparation for Hurricane Irma's potential impact on the coastal and southern Georgia, Governor Deal has issued an updated executive order and declared a state of emergency in Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty, and McIntosh Counties. Georgia Executive Order

In an effort to avoid fuel shortages as a result of pipeline disruptions, as well as to avoid shortages in emergency or disaster related materials, supplies, goods and services (to include agricultural and food products) due to Hurricane Irma, Governor Deal suspended the federal rules and regulations limiting hours operators of commercial fuel vehicles may drive within Georgia. This waiver also expires on September 20, 2017.

Please note that no fuel carrier operating under the terms of Georgia's executive order suspending hourly limits will require or allow an ill or fatigued driver to operate a motor vehicle. A driver who notifies a motor vehicle carrier that he or she needs immediate rest will be given at least ten (10) consecutive hours off-duty before being required to return to service.

Further, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration declared a regional emergency related to fuel transportation for Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia, which suspends regulations found within Parts 390 through 399 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Limitations of hours operators of commercial fuel vehicles may drive within the above mentioned states are among the regulations suspended. This federal declaration expires on September 30, 2017.

We encourage our members to apply for re-entry permits through their local emergency management agency. This should be done prior to any potential impacts to Georgia. Those contacts can be found at the bottom of Georgia Emergency Management home page - www.gema.ga.gov.

Following a recommendation from Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) officials and local Emergency Management Agencies, Gov. Nathan Deal is expanding his emergency declaration to include 24 additional counties, with a total of 30 counties now included in a state of emergency. Deal also issued a mandatory evacuation order for all areas east of I-95, all of Chatham County and some areas west of I-95 that could be impacted by potential storm surge from Hurricane Irma. The executive order also authorized up to 5,000 Georgia National Guard members to be on state active duty to support Hurricane Irma response and recovery. The state of emergency prohibits price gouging for all goods and services related to the storm. Read the executive order here.

“The state is mobilizing all available resources to ensure public safety ahead of Hurricane Irma,” said Deal. “I encourage all Georgians in our coastal areas that could be impacted by this storm to evacuate the area as soon as possible. Beginning Saturday, a mandatory evacuation order will take effect for Chatham County, all areas east of I-95 and some areas west of I-95 that could be impacted by this catastrophic hurricane and storm surge. GEMA/HS continues leading our preparedness efforts as we coordinate with federal, state and local officials to safely evacuate the coastal areas, provide public shelter and minimize the disruption of traffic. Finally, I ask all Georgians to join me in praying for the safety of our people and all those in Hurricane Irma’s path.”

The 30 counties under a state of emergency are: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glynn, Jenkins, Jeff Davis, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Pierce, Screven, Tattnall, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne and Ware Counties. Click here for a map of mandatory evacuation zones. Click here for emergency county contact list.

Gov. Deal and the State Operation Command Team will hold a news conference Friday morning at 10 a.m. to provide updates on storm preparations. A livestream of the conference will be available here.

GEMA/HS is coordinating disaster preparedness efforts along with the Georgia Department of Defense (GA DoD), the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Georgia Department of Public Safety. Please see below for resources and updates from each of the agencies.

State Agency Information
GEMA/HS
Sheltering and state park information are available on the GEMA/HS website or by calling 1-800-TRY-GEMA.

GDOT
Contraflow on I-16 will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9. See the attached graphic for more information. For more information on GDOT preparations, see the graphic or contact Natalie Dale, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..