Ga. House to Debate, Vote Today on Tort Reform Bill

Georgia tort reform will be one step closer to reality today after a vote in the House Rules Committee which will send Senate Bill 3 to the House floor for debate and a vote.

The committee approved four amendments to the legislation, including a provision that would increase the caps on non-economic damages to $750,000, up from $250,000 in the bill approved by the Senate last week.

Other amendments approved by the committee dealt with liability in emergency rooms and the definitions of expert witnesses.
Seven other amendments were brought before the committee yesterday, most sponsored by Rep. Wendell Willard (R-Atlanta) — all failed.

According to the Atlanta Constitution, the debate became heated after Committee Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) offered House Minority Leader Dubose Porter (D-Dublin) the opportunity to defend the Democrats’ amendment.

“I won’t move on these amendments because I think this process is flawed,” Porter told Ehrhart.

Porter was upset because the committee was operating under modified structure rules, which allows the committee to decide which amendments will have an opportunity for a vote on the floor.
Ehrhart responded, insinuating that Porter was being hypocritical.

“I believe you engrossed 66 bills,” he said.

Engrossment, a procedure under which no amendments are allowed to a bill, was the strategy used by the Senate last week. But Porter, who has often derided the Republicans’ rules as “undemocratic,” said in an interview that even the Senate’s process was better.

“They voted on the floor of the Senate to engross. We’re not getting that in the House,” he said.

The House voted individually on each of the four amendments approved by the committee. But even if the legislation passes the House today, the process will not be finished. The bill will likely go to a conference committee, where legislators will work out the differences between the House and Senate versions before sending the legislation to Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Topics Legislation Georgia