The state Senate passed a bill that would prohibit elected officials from issuing themselves licenses or waivers for licenses, as John Oxendine recently did when he was the state's insurance commissioner.
Oxendine gave himself insurance and adjuster licenses the day before he left office, using an insurance agency rule to exempt himself from mandatory education and testing requirements.
Sen. Charlie Bethel, R-Dalton, said Oxendine's action inspired his Senate Bill 147, which was amended on the floor to say that any licenses issued by an official (including Oxendine) to himself shall have printed on it in capital letters and boldface type: "Notice to the Public: This license was self-issued by (Name of public official) without the holder fully meeting the legal, educational, or testing requirements."
Sen. Cecil Staton, R-Macon, the author of the amendment, said, "I think we would be doing a service and justice to the citizens of the state to know these ... were issued for which the individual has not gone through all the requirements to earn that license."
The House passed similar legislation earlier this month. Both houses will work out a compromise, which will have to be approved again by each.
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