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Local bill to increase Fulton County sheriff pay fails on supplemental local calendar
Summary
A local bill (HB 862) that prompted objections from Fulton County members failed on the supplemental local calendar and a subsequent motion to reconsider also failed after debate over delegation notice and the sheriff’s salary.
A local bill affecting Fulton County — House Bill 862 — failed to pass the House on the supplemental local calendar on Thursday after members raised procedural and substantive objections.
The clerk read HB 862 as the lone bill on the supplemental local calendar. When the House voted on the bill the recorded tally was 63 yeas and 88 nays, which the clerk announced after the machine was locked.
Representative Hughley moved reconsideration of the vote, but the motion to reconsider failed after a second recorded vote on the motion to reconsider produced 67 ayes and 96 nays. Members of the Fulton County delegation questioned whether they had been provided copies of the bill in accordance with delegation rules; Representative Jan Jones said, "Although I can only speak for myself, I never did receive a copy, and that is why I will explain my no vote." Representative Jackson said he had provided copies to the delegation chair and the intergovernmental chair per delegation rules.
During floor colloquy, Representative Jackson raised a parliamentary inquiry about why members had voted differently on this local bill than on other local bills during the session. Other members expressed concern that HB 862 would create a single sheriff with pay that is "disproportionate to other office holders across our state," a point raised in a parliamentary inquiry noted on the floor.
The House recorded its failure to reconsider and moved on to other legislative business. The transcript does not record further detail on the precise salary change contained in the bill; members on the floor said questions about notice and courtesy to the Fulton County delegation influenced votes.
Because HB 862 was a local bill on the supplemental calendar, members said the delegates ordinarily work to resolve local items at the local-delegation level; the failure to pass and the unsuccessful reconsideration mean the bill did not advance from the House on Thursday.
