Latest news with #HouseBill551
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Used auto sale brokers worry bill awaiting governor's signature could hurt their businesses
A bill waiting on the governor's signature addresses used auto sale brokers, including the requirements for an office. Channel 2 investigative reporter Sophia Choi spoke with auto brokers who say it will put them and others in jeopardy of closing down. Used auto brokers say all the need is a desk, chair, and a filing cabinet to meet current state law. However, House Bill 551 changes that, requiring at least 250 square feet of office space. One broker told Choi that's an unnecessary cost many can't afford. 'It just triples my expenses. Many of my expenses are based on the size of my office, insurance, so forth,' used auto broke Benjamin Franklin Magwood II said. TRENDING STORIES: President Trump pauses tariffs on most nations for 90 days, raises taxes on Chinese imports Convicted killer mistakenly released from Clayton County Jail GA childcare teachers, staff to get $500 bonuses annually Keith Kimbell invested hundreds of thousands in buildings specifically for used auto dealers. Now, the offices are too small to meet the new requirements if the bill is signed into law. 'It's going to cost us millions of dollars because we will no longer replace when a dealer moves. Replace them with a new dealer,' Kimbell said. Georgia State Rep. Todd Jones sponsored the bill, which aims to get rid of bad actors in the industry. 'We needed to come up with some sort of metric in terms of are you a legitimate business,' Jones told Choi. 'I can't run my business out of a broom closet, which is essentially what we saw with some of the bad actors.' But brokers say if the bill becomes law, it's not only the bad actors who will get run out of the business, it'll hurt legitimate used car dealers too. 'The State of Georgia has probably over 4,000 used car brokers, and this bill is being sponsored by big dealerships that want to eliminate their competition,' Kimbell said. The bill is on the Governor's desk awaiting a signature. He still has some time to mull it over. He has until May 14 to make a decision.
Axios
31-03-2025
- Automotive
- Axios
Bill that would regulate Georgia's booting industry passes Senate
A bill that would add guardrails to how parking boot companies can operate in Georgia is another step closer to becoming law. Why it matters: Booting is used by many property owners to limit who can park in their lots to keep that space free for their customers, but the industry has come under increased scrutiny in recent years over its tactics. Driving the news: The State Senate passed House Bill 551 with an amendment offered by Sen. Josh McLaurin (D-Sandy Springs) that would require booting companies to follow the same regulations as towing companies. It would prohibit booters from monitoring parking lots and ban "kickbacks," which are the fees booting companies pay to property owners for the right to boot vehicles from their lots. The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate and now goes back to the House for a final vote. What they're saying:"Right now, booters can basically camp out in a parking lot, wait for somebody to walk into a store, and then three minutes later, throw a boot on their car," McLaurin told Axios. He also said the legislation doesn't prevent property owners from using booting services; it just prohibits companies from camping in lots and waiting for potential violators. State of play: Unlike towing, which is regulated statewide, the booting industry is monitored via a patchwork of local ordinances approved by cities and counties. Atlanta's ordinance, which went into effect in 2018, requires property owners to create clear signs about the parking policy, caps fines at $75, and provides clear identification for representatives of booting companies. Flashback: The business of booting received fresh scrutiny when the Boot Girls in Buckhead began advertising their services to remove boots from vehicles. Yes, but: Removing a boot from a vehicle without paying the booting company for that service can lead to confrontations that can quickly turn dicey. In 2023, the Boot Girls shared a video showing a man placing his foot on a boot and threatening to call the police while one of the women was trying to remove it from a car. Atlanta police previously said it does not get involved with booting unless a criminal issue happens. Owning a boot key isn't illegal, but Atlanta police said a person could be charged with criminal trespass, theft of service, theft by taking or damage to property if they use a boot key to remove an immobilization device. What we're watching: With Sine Die (the end of the legislative session) just a few days away, McLaurin said he's confident there are "a lot of House Republicans" who would support the regulations.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill would fund school meals for families who can't pay
School lunch illustration by Getty Images. Rep. Melissa Romano still remembers a fourth grader who started acting out in her classroom about a decade ago. At the time, Romano, D-Helena, said her school district used to have teachers put slips of paper in students' mailboxes that served as their lunch bills. One day, the little boy showed her a bunch of the slips crumpled at the bottom of his backpack, and he started crying — 'for fourth grade boys to cry, that takes quite a bit,' Romano said. 'He said, 'I want to go home. I can't be here in school because my parents can't pay these bills,'' Romano recalled. The boy had two other siblings, the bill had reached $343, and Romano walked to the school office to pay it before the family got sent to collections — a practice in her district at the time. This week, Romano told the House Education Committee the situation inspired her interest in nutrition for children. She said House Bill 551 would fill an important gap, ensuring children have enough to eat at school. Some children qualify for free meals at school. Others qualify for discounts, so breakfast and lunch cost them around 30 cents or 40 cents each, Romano said. But even with the discount, Romano said families still struggle to pay those bills, and it means children skip meals and go hungry. HB 551 would cover the cost of those meals with an estimated $600,000 a year, Romano said. In Montana, she said, one in six children live in a food insecure household. No one testified against the bill, but Romano said she has presented similar legislation before, and it hasn't been adopted. Proponents of the bill said undernourished children don't learn, and Kim Popham, with the Montana Federation of Public Employees, said the legislation would support another interest of committee members. 'In this committee, many of you often bring up the fact that our test scores are low, but let me remind you that if students don't have enough to eat, they cannot learn,' Popham said. Supporters also said in some districts, school administrators have to double as collections agents, and the phone calls about unpaid bills destroy the trust between schools and families. Tobin Novasio, superintendent of Hardin Public Schools, said he was one of the children Romano talked about, who skipped meals as a child. 'Oftentimes, I would tell my teachers I was going home for lunch but would just walk around the neighborhood, not eat,' Novasio said. With help in part from great teachers and role models — he pointed to a committee member, long-time educator Rep. Lee Deming, R-Laurel, as one — Novasio said he escaped poverty. However, he knows when families get a $40 or $50 bill for meals, it can be 'a huge amount.' Novasio said he doesn't want school administrators to have to call families and blur the line of the school's role — schools should support families, not be the enemy. 'I don't ever want any student under my care to have that type of feeling of anxiety or to go without a meal,' Novasio said. Popham, with the Montana Federation of Public Employees, said she left the classroom just a couple of years ago as a biology teacher, and her students often referred to her as a 'science geek.' Once a month, on payday, she would buy healthy snacks at Costco because she knew students needed them, and she told the committee the science behind her approach. Organs need energy, energy comes from food, the brain is an organ, and it consumes about 20% of the energy humans take in, Popham said — and growing children need a lot more of that energy. Representatives from the Montana Quality Education Coalition, American Heart Association in Montana, the Blackfeet Nation, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy's Reservation, the Helena School District, and the Bigfork Food Bank were among proponents of the bill. In response to a question from Rep. Jamie Isaly, D-Livingston, about whether the unpaid meal accounts push schools into the red, Doug Reisig, with the Montana Quality Education Coalition, said yes. Reisig said some philanthropic people will volunteer to pay outstanding bills, and school districts do 'creative things' to try to collect the money. 'Turning to collections is probably the last straw,' Reisig said. 'I've had to do that as well, and you don't ever want to have to do that, but you try to make sure that when you end the year, that your food service program is not in arrears.' A former superintendent from Culbertson said that his district had ended up $10,000 or $15,000 in the hole because of unpaid meal accounts. Rep. Sherry Essmann, R-Billings, wanted to know the actual cost of a school meal, and Rep. Mark Thane, D-Missoula, a former superintendent, said elementary school lunch cost $3.00 in Missoula in 2025, and it cost $3.25 in middle and high schools. In response to questions from Essmann, Romano said the $600,000 annual price is an estimate, one she said she believes is on the high end, and any leftover dollars would return to the general fund. A handout from the Montana Food Bank Network said 21,000 students currently qualify for a reduced price meal in Montana, and the bill would make those meals free — which Rep. Pete Elverum, D-Helena, calculated meant that for about $28.50 per student, HB 551 would feed 21,000 children breakfast and lunch for an entire year The committee did not take immediate action on the bill. However, Romano said the $300 for that fourth grader she once taught was insurmountable, and removing that burden for the family was life changing. 'I think that this bill is far beyond an act of compassion,' Romano said. 'I think that it's really a commitment to ensuring that every child in Montana has the opportunity to reach their full potential.'
