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By Clint Thompson
An important piece of Georgia legislation that would protect business owners and ease insurance rates passed the House of Representatives this week.
SB 68, a bill dealing with tort reform, passed the House and now heads to the Senate. If passed, it is expected to be signed into law by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.
Georgia Agribusiness Council (GAC) President Will Bentley discussed the important piece of legislation.
“That’s a big deal for anybody that operates a business or farm in the state of Georgia, just because of the high costs of insurance and the risk associated with these frivolous lawsuits,” Bentley said. “Tort reform is looking at Georgia’s judicial system. While we’ve been deemed the No. 1 state in the country to do business, as everybody has heard for several years, it’s also been deemed a judicial hell hole because the verdicts and judicial system in Georgia has been tilted to these plaintiff attorneys that pick up these lawsuits, sue somebody and get a nuclear verdict for $100 million.
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“This looks to basically level the scales of justice so there are rules in place for things like phantom damages, premises liability; other things that seem pretty common sense in the judicial system haven’t been so, and this bill will put those commonsense things into place. It will be a little bit fairer for people that are getting sued, especially if it’s something they should not have as much liability exposure as they had. We’re hoping that lowers some of the insurance premiums.
“Anybody that’s in business has had to buy any type of vehicle insurance for a fleet or their individual car, insurance rates have skyrocketed, and a lot of that is just because of the judicial system in Georgia. We’re hoping to level that playing field and reduce costs on businesses in the state of Georgia.”