Citizens' Task Force is open to any resident and business owner.

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This school gives students in Coweta County a chance to earn a high school diploma, Associates Degree from West Georgia Technical College, and Certification in Industrial Maintenance. They would have earned $25,000 while enrolled in high school. This is a wonderful opportunity to see how to expand it to Clayton County.
       

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Your generous contributions will help
Rep. Stovall's 3 BIG TOP PROJECTS for 2019.
Looking forward to seeing you at the Celebration.

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SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE SESSION 

On Tuesday, November 13, 2018, the Georgia General Assembly convened for a special legislative session. The governor is granted the power to convene a special session of the General Assembly according to Article V, Section II, Paragraph VII of the Constitution of the State of Georgia. Southwest Georgia communities were damaged by Hurricane Michael and Governor Deal called for this special session to ask that the House and Senate take immediate action to amend the Fiscal Year 2019 state budget to aid them. The special session convened for five days and amended the Fiscal Year 2019 budget to provide approximately $270 million in emergency funding to the to help.

There were unprecedented losses for Georgia’s number one industry – agriculture, as well as the timber industry. $550 million in cotton crop loss and $13 million loss to the landscape and green industry. Georgia’s high-yielding vegetables, sweet corn, cucumbers, squash, peppers, tomatoes and peas are estimated to have received a $480 million loss, and Georgia pecan farmers in the affected areas took an estimated $560 million loss.  Georgia's poultry industry had a loss of 129 commercial houses and more than 2 million chickens, an estimated cost of $25 million. Estimations of peanut losses are nearly $25 million. The Georgia Forestry Commission reports more than 37 million tons of timber were damaged or destroyed, resulting in nearly $763 million total losses.

On Thursday, November 15, 2018 the House overwhelmingly passed the amended budget to provide approximately $270 million for state agencies and local governments in areas most heavily impacted by Hurricane Michael. While the federal government has provided a great amount of assistance, our state government is required to match a certain percentage in order to continue to receive federal aid. The money will cover expenses related to damages and operating costs, clearing debris, grant opportunities to families that are in need of housing assistance, farmers needing to access funding opportunities through the Ga Development Authority’s Landowner Assistance programs, to provide financial assistance to local communities and statewide economic development efforts, grants for projects that could have immediate statewide economic impact, and to ensure that other state transportation projects are not slowed while the department provides resources for Southwest Georgia.

There was also the successful passage of HB 4EX, also known as the “Timber Tax Bill,” which will also help the recovery efforts because Georgia lost nearly 2.4 million acres of timberland valued at over $762 million during Hurricane Michael. The effects from this devastation continue to grow. The Timber Tax Bill would allow timberland owners to apply for an income tax credit worth 100 percent of the timberland losses occurring between October 8 and December 31, 2018.

The final measure supported by the General Assembly and the Governor was the suspension of the collection of jet fuel taxes through June 30. It is a tax all the airlines were paying, but are now able to pass it on to their consumers. Georgia was competing with states that charged lower or no jet-fuel taxes. There is also a Federal Aviation Authority ruling which prohibits the collection of jet fuel tax unless it can be spent at the airport where it is collected. This ruling affected many airports across the state mostly Clayton County. To offset the loss of the jet fuel tax, those affected areas were awarded one-time grants until the end of their current SPLOST. The amount allocated for Clayton County was $45 million. All other legislative matters will take place during 2019 session to begin January 14th.

Sine Die during the Special Legislative Session. Rep. Stovall made the motion to adjourn the session. This was her first special session since being sworn in officially in 2013.

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HIGH SCHOOL SKILLS CHALLENGE IN MOULTRIE, GA

Rep. Stovall visited the High School Skills Challenge Event sponsored by the industry in Moultrie, Ga. It was one of several challenges across the state. Ambitious X Learning Center students attended as well to expose them to the skills trade industry. There were over 200 high school CTAE students competing from South and Southwest Georgia. It was exciting to see them in action demonstrating the great jobs of their instructors. Rep. Stovall spoke with the students and the instructors to see what additional support is needed to standardized these programs across the state. The minimum salaries these students will earn upon completion of high school certification:
MASON $54,860      ELECTRICIAN $58,537      PLUMBER $51,804
CARPENTER $54,157            WELDER $70,535

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SAVE THE DATE
2019 GEORGIA SINGLE PARENTS 2 DAY CELEBRATION
GEORGIA STATE CAPITOL - MARCH 21
MORROW EVENT CENTER - MARCH 22

Contact my office for more information

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Rep. Stovall is a member of the House School Security Study Committee which will provide recommendations to the Speaker of the House on ways the state of Georgia can continue to ensure safety for our schools and the surrounding communities. Click to view past recordings



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BUDGET FY 2019 HB 684 (amended Nov 2018)
July 1, 2018 -  June 30, 2019
If you would like to learn more about the state budget for revenue and allocations go to http://www.house.ga.gov/budget/en-US/default.aspx

Total Fund Budget $51 billion which includes federal and other funding. The state budget is set by revenue estimates of $26.2 billion, increase of $1.22 billion over FY 2018 budget. Nearly 90% of new revenue is consumed by education as well as health and human services expenses.  
Specifically, $742.4 million (60%) is budgeted to fully fund K-12 and higher education; $359.7 million (29.2%) is budgeted for health and human services; and $127.4 million (10.4%) in the remaining new funds is appropriated to public safety, economic development and general government agencies as well as debt service.

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WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT A PARTICULAR PIECE OF LEGISLATION?
            If you would like to learn more about any legislation go to http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/Search.aspx, and with using the bill number (comes after the letters “HB, HR, SB, SR”) search for legislation that you want to know about, because Knowledge is Power!
 
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*Click to view the report: The State of Literacy in Georgia: Action Needed For Georgia's Thriving Workforce and Economy

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Rep. Stovall bills not passed this session. She will consider reintroducing during 2019 legislative session.

*HB 493- amends the open meeting act to require public comments be included in any video recording of public meetings held by commissioners, city councils, and school boards (passed House, Senate amended bill and removed original language- could be reintroduced in 2019) Click to view

*HB 788- a parent or guardian may enroll a student in a school using the address of an individual residing in the school's attendance zone who has authorized such us. (in House Education, a hearing was held no decision- could be reintroduced 2019) Click to view

Click to read article in AJC on HB788
Click to view 11Alive coverage on HB 788

*HB 423- requires local school district to offer unused facilities to state charters at no cost and if sold it must be sold for no more than $1 (tabled in House Education Committee- could be reintroduced 2019) Click to view
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Read more information on featured articles & resources

Did you know high school students can attend high school & college simultaneously at no cost to parents? 
www.mowrga.org

Adult Protective Services for Senior Adults & other resources
https://aging.georgia.gov/adult-protective-services-aps

Job Search
http://dhsjobs.dhs.ga.gov/Public

Special Housing Credit with Downpayment Assistance in Georgia
for Teachers, Nurses, Firefighters, Police, Veterans, Seniors, and others
https://www.dca.ga.gov/newsroom/news-releases/housing-tax-credits-awarded-30-development-projects-across-georgia

HB 614 Landon Dunson Act
http://www.news-daily.com/news/gov-deal-signs-rep-stovall-s-landon-dunson-act-into/article_5bac50f0-799c-5a84-8461-610c8fbe1489.html

Women In Politics Award
http://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislators/womens-legislative-network/women-in-politics-making-a-difference-awards.aspx

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The new CCRPI scores have been published. For more info click http://gosa.georgia.gov/ Did your school show improvement?

For current updates on Bills Signed into Law by Governor Deal click here