With the 2007 General Assembly session past midpoint, the senators representing Jones County already have success in hand with time remaining for more to come.

Senator Cecil Staton co-chaired a study committee working toward a trauma network in Georgia last year, and this year sponsored SB 60 establishing a Georgia Trauma Commission to make it happen.

Staton said Georgia has more than nine million people residing in the state but only four level-one trauma centers or hospitals that can treat any emergency. Level-one trauma centers provide 24-hour, seven-day-a-week teams of trauma surgeons and other specialists capable of handling the most severe injuries within the ‘golden hour’, which is that first hour after a traumatic injury occurs.

According to the senator, the golden hour is the critical hour after a trauma occurs, and it often means the difference between life and death or lifelong disability.

Staton said the cost to add 15 centers, the number to sufficiently care for those injured in this state, is close to $85 million.

He said the committee has several ideas to fund the trauma centers, and Governor Perdue has suggested increased speed limit and DUI fines. Other funding options include a surcharge on motor vehicle registrations, an increase of $1.16 in the monthly cell phone surcharge and a percentage of the Georgia Insurance Premium Tax that will be diverted into the Georgia Trauma Care Fund.

Staton said the Georgia Trauma Care Fund will be reserved for the operation of Georgia’s trauma system, and Georgia’s Office of Emergency Medical Services/Trauma will administer the funds accordingly.

Staton said additional trauma centers can save as many as 700 lives each year.

Once the funding decisions are made by the Commission, a constitutional amendment will be placed on the ballot, probably in 2008, to earmark the funds for the trauma centers. The money will then be appropriated in the FY 2010 budget.

SB 60 passed the senate February 21 and was sent to the House February 22 for a first reading.

Staton also sponsored SB 59, placing restrictions on websites with the purpose of protecting young people from predators.

Staton said the bill will prohibit websites such as MySpace and Facebook from allowing minors to create and maintain profiles without parental permission and access to the site.

The first infraction of this law would result in a conviction of a misdemeanor, while the second and subsequent infractions would result in a felony conviction and three to five years in prison, and/or a fine of $50,000.

The bill was read in the senate January 26 and referred to the Senate Science and Technology Committee, which is chaired by Staton. He said the committee is currently conducting hearings on the bill and is listening to experts from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Senator Johnny Grant is sponsoring SB 200, the Georgia Smart Infrastructure Growth Act for creation of infrastructure development districts and SR 309, which proposes an amendment to the constitution to allow the creation and regulation of infrastructure development districts.

Grant said Staton introduced a similar bill last year. That piece of legislation died in committee reportedly due to concerns connected to eminent domain.

“We made some changes and brought it back,” Grant explained. “We want to create a financing tool particularly for rural communities. Cities and counties should be able to work with developers to build infrastructure.”

Grant said the funding districts could be used for items such as water service, schools, police and fire departments.

“This allows the developers to have the pieces in place early,” he added.

The bill and resolution were read in the senate February 21 and referred to committee.

Grant said as a member of the Health and Human Services Committee, he is working to address mental health service inadequacies.

“We receive allegations of abuse and neglect problems in the system, and we are trying to create a commission. We are working with the Department of Human Resources, the Department of Corrections and other agencies,” Grant said.

The senator said the commission will be tasked with redesigning the system.

“We don’t want to have citizens falling through the cracks,” he said. “I don’t know that anyone has looked at the problem holistically to see how agencies interact with each other.”