The 2021 session of the Georgia General Assembly drew to a close late last Wednesday night.
Jesse Demonbreun-Chapman, Executive Director of the Coosa River Basin Initiative, attests that he is particularly thankful for the passage of House Bill 511, which ensures that trust funds will go specifically towards the purposes for which they are intended. Its a cause for which the CRBI has been fighting over the last several years, It crossed one hurdle when Georgians voted back in November in favor of a constitutional amendment that gave lawmakers the ability to dedicate taxes and fees to their intended purposes. HB 511’s passage during the 2021 legislative session provides for establishment of Solid Waste and Hazardous Waste Trust Funds, along with others, indicates Demonbreun-Chapman.
Not all items on the CRBI’s priority list for this legislative session were met with as much success, such as safe handling of coal ash, adds Demonbreun-Chapman, who indicates that his communication with local lawmakers went virtual in 2021.