GAA Leadership Tackles SB 500
Offers Assistance to Auctioneers Commission

Senate Bill 500

Members of GAA's Board of Directors and PAC Committee found themselves facing an uphill battle last month in the fight of proposed Senate Bill 500.

The bill, sponsored by John Wiles (R-SS 19), would have rewritten the current Georgia Code section regulating the Auctioneer Commission's Research, Education and Recovery Fund, changing the $100,000 minimum balance to the maximum amount required in the fund. The bill would have dictated that any funds above $100,000 be transferred to the State's General Fund by July 1, 2010. According to the Auctioneer's Commission, the fund's balance is currently over $500,000.

The bill was read and referred to the Senate's Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, March 16, and, within hours, GAA's leadership was preparing to wage a fight against the bill. That plan hit a roadblock of its own the following day when Board members were alerted that the bill had been fast-tracked by being added to the agenda of the following day's Appropriations Committee meeting.

With less than 18-hours notice, Board and PAC Committee member, Stan Lawson, agreed to speak at the Committee meeting on behalf of GAA and its stance. That same morning, a number of GAA members began a phone campaign to Senators on the Appropriations Committee to voice their opposition as well. The outcome did not look favorable, however, as some Senators admitted the State needed these funds and they didn't see a reason to stand in the way of their taking. As one source put it, "They're turning over the couch cushions looking for change."

A motion to pass SB 500 was made at the Appropriations meeting, however it was voted down by a margin of 13 - 6. A Senate staffer who attended the meeting gave credit to Lawson's impassioned speech for "single-handedly" defeating the motion. The bill's failure means no similar action could be taken up again until next year's legislative session.

GAA's victory was short-lived, however, as the bill's sponsor and its proponents warned that they would continue to fight to take away what they consider an excess amount in the fund.

In an effort to be better prepared for such a battle in the future, GAA's Board agreed to move forward with a plan to ask the Georgia Auctioneers Commission to develop some ways to spend a portion of the fund as allowed by State law.

Ben Roberts, GAA PAC Committee Chairman, attended the April 5 meeting of the Auctioneers Commission in Macon to make that request in person, offering some suggestions, as well as the commitment of GAA's Directors and general membership in the process. In a letter Roberts presented to Commission members, he specifically recommended a Public Awareness Campaign "aimed at educating the public on the value of Auction services." The letter went on to suggest that such a campaign "should help to protect the public by making them aware of standards of professionalism and ethics that they should expect when dealing with a Georgia-licensed Auctioneer."

After some discussion by the Commission, Mark Manley made a motion that a special committee be formed including representatives of both the Auctioneers Commission and GAA to begin the process of creating a campaign, as well as other possible avenues that would fall under the Fund's allocated uses to support education, research and protect consumers in Georgia. That motion passed unanimously and the committee is expected to begin work immediately.