2017 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

ADVANCING THE TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY IN GEORGIA

About the Technology Association of Georgia

The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) is the leading technology industry association in the state, serving more than 35,000 members and hosting over 200 events each year. TAG serves as an umbrella organization for 33 industry societies, each of which provides rich content for TAG constituents. TAG’s mission is to educate, promote, influence and unite Georgia’s technology community to foster an innovative and connected marketplace that stimulates and enhances a tech-based economy. The association provides members with access to networking and educational programs; recognizes and promotes Georgia’s technology leaders and companies; and advocates for legislative action that enhances the state’s economic climate for technology.

Larry WilliamsTAG President & CEO LWilliams@tagonline.org

John TrainorTAG Board of Directors, Chair

Heather MaxfieldVice President, Government Relations & Statewide Heather@tagonline.org

Joseph SantoroDirector of External AffairsJoseph@tagonline.org

Contact Information: 75 Fifth Street NW Suite 625 Atlanta, GA 30308 direct: 404.920.2022

• Michael Wall, Comcast (Chair)• Elizabeth Wharton,

City of Atlanta (Vice-Chair)• Casey Aultman, Georgia Tech• Brandi Bazemore,

Metro Atlanta Chamber• Jon Burton, LexisNexis• Chris Carpenter, Public

Strategies 360• Justin Clay, NCR• Kevin Curtin, AT&T• Bob Davis, Verizon• Megan Douglas, Morehouse

School of Medicine• Jim Flowers, Clayton State

University

• Slade Gulledge, Cobb Chamber ofCommerce

• Elizabeth Harwood, GeorgiaChamber of Commerce

• Brandon Hembree, Massey,Bowers & Hembree

• Robert Hendricks, McKesson• Deron Hicks, TSYS• Sam Hill, Troutman Sanders• Jessica Hooper,

Project Lead the Way• Megan Howell, First Data• Brian Hudson, Hudson Group• Nathan Humphrey, NFIB• Mitch Hunter, Public Strategies

360

• Cosby Johnson, GeorgiaChamber of Commerce

• Bryson Koehler, The WeatherCompany

• Tyler J. Kaplan, J.L. MorganCompany

• Loretta Lepore,Lepore Associates

• Michele Madison,Morris, Manning & Martin LLP

• Chris Massey, Zenefits• Sarah Matz, CompTIA• Jeff McCord, Georgia Technology

Authority• Kelly McCutchen, Georgia Public

Policy Foundation

• Amol Naik, Google• Jason Newman,

HP Enterprise Company• Matthew Ralston, Troutman

Sanders• Kapil Sharma, Wipro LLC• Nicolas Stowell, Equifax• Sam Taussig, Kabbage Inc.• Graham Thompson, Thompson

Victory Group• Chris Vaughan, McKesson• Ben Vinson, Dentons• Pat Williams, McKenzie Daniels &

Assoc.• Robb Willis, Troutman Sanders• Maria Zach, Strollo Group

2017 TAG Government Relations Task Force

A Message from Larry Williams, TAG President and CEOGreetings,

On behalf of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and our more than 35,000 members across the state, I would like to extend warm wishes for a productive and successful legislative session.

As the leading voice of the state's technology industry, TAG's mission is to foster an innovative and connected marketplace that stimulates a tech-based economy. Each year TAG works to identify and influence the legislative initiatives that are important to the state's industry.

TAG has successfully influenced policies that have increased access to venture capital funds through the Invest Georgia program. TAG also helped to create Georgia's Science & Technology Strategic Plan, and worked with the Georgia Department of Education to amend state policy to allow computer programming courses to satisfy core high school graduation requirements.

Building upon the success of these past efforts, TAG's agenda for the 2017 Legislative Session will focus on policies relating to talent, capital and innovation. To assist in these efforts, the TAG-Education Collaborative (TAG-Ed), was formed. As TAG's charitable arm, TAG Education Collaborative drives STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) initiatives for more than 600,000 students in 90 school districts across Georgia and places high school students in STEM internships around the state.

TAG & TAG-Ed are committed to work with our elected officials to promote sound public policies that enhance the advancement of Georgia's technology industry and Georgia's overall economic growth. Our 2017 legislative agenda focuses on five major areas - business & industry, education & workforce development, innovation & entrepreneurship, economic development & taxation, and procurement.

Thank you in advance for your consideration of our 2017 legislative priorities. We look forward to working with you this session and we hope we can count on your continued support.

Sincerely,

Larry Williams President & CEO TAG

Where Georgia Leads

Georgia is a global center for logistics technology, information security technology, financial technology, health IT, and communication services. Georgia ranks 5th in the nation for logistics employment with nearly 11,000 provides and 300 companies. Georgia is home to more than 115 information security companies generating more than $4.7 billion in annual revenue. Georgia FinTech company revenues are more than $36 billion annually, placing us third in the nation behind New York and California. Georgia has more than 200 health IT companies and is rapidly growing. Finally, Georgia is among the top 5 states for communication services employment.

Business & Industry

Principle

The success and growth of the technology sector in Georgia is critical to our state’s long term growth. Through targeted policies, the state can enable both entrepreneurial startups and established tech companies to prosper in urban and rural areas. It is important that Georgia supports private sector, market driven solutions that are free of burdensome regulation and foster a globally competitive business environment. With the state’s advanced workforce, technology research centers and ideal access to broadband, Georgia must be a leader not just in the southeast but in the country.

• TAG supports policies that promote a well-balanced, equitable andcompetitive environment for the development of all technologycompanies.

• TAG supports policies that encourage business and partnershipsbetween Georgia public and private sectors.

• TAG supports market-based solutions free from unnecessarygovernment regulation or rule.

• TAG supports incentives to drive ideation, patent protection andprocessing of Intellectual Property to become a more competitive statefor technology and innovation.

• TAG supports any initiatives that attract the most talented workforce tofill talent gaps in Georgia.

• TAG supports the growth and expansion of the sharing economy, andencourages the economic opportunities and technological advances thesharing economy promotes.

• TAG supports incentives to promote and grow the tech infrastructure inGeorgia.

• TAG supports modernization of tech-related laws.

• TAG opposes efforts to roll back modernization of laws.

Actions

Data Information Security

Issue:The need for a strong public-private partnership in cybersecurity becomes more obvious with every cyber-attack. Enhanced voluntary information sharing between industry and government would go a long way in helping to mitigate attacks. At every level of government, there are a variety of challenges being faced in ensuring a strong cybersecurity workforce including: ability to recruit and retain talent; funding for workforce needs; and a lack of career pathways. With the 48 different state data breach laws, often conflicting, nearly impossible for companies to determine which state laws apply when a breach occurs. The current regulatory landscape not only places an immense financial compliance burden on businesses, but also delays the process of getting information into the hands of those who need it most: the customers whose data was compromised.

What TAG Supports: • TAG supports a national standard for data breach notification that would

provide consumers and businesses with consistency and predictability on how consumer notice must be provided.

• TAG supports fostering the public-private partnership that already exists between the government and industry by creating a trusted environment that makes the sharing of information easier for both contingents.

• TAG supports laws that encourage the growth and expansion of the Internet of Things. TAG also encourages companies to use data security and privacy best practices when collecting and using IoT data.

• TAG supports the responsible use and stewardship of student data by schools, districts, and service providers, including analyzing student data to deliver personalized learning experiences to improve products for use.

• TAG supports initiatives to enhance the overall cybersecurity posture of the United States by accelerating the availability of educational and training resources designed to improve the cyber behavior, skills, and knowledge of every segment of the population, enabling a safer cyberspace for all.

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Business & Industry

Broadband Access

Issue:Broadband has become a key priority of the 21st Century, a transformative power as an enabler for economic and social growth makes it an essential tool for empowering people, creating an environment that nurtures the technological and service innovation, and triggering positive change in business processes as well as in society as a whole.

In large part, the remarkable growth and quality of high-speed Internet access in the U.S. today can be attributed to private sector investment and innovation. Even given this level of private investment, gaps in Internet access remain and are primarily found in rural and hard-to-reach areas. These gaps in deployment of high-speed networks are due to the difficult economics presented by high-costs and low population densities.

Access to a high-speed network throughout the state of Georgia provides the necessary broadband infrastructure to foster economic growth, improve health care, education and municipal government, and strengthen public safety.

What TAG Supports: TAG supports eliminating barriers that make it difficult or prevent broadband deployment in the state and to eliminate the taxation (state & local) on investments in broadband networks. TAG supports educating the communities about the potential benefits of broadband services and programs that help communities gain access to high-speed Internet at home and work. This is key to strengthen and create a robust economy in industries where Georgia leads.

Business & Industry

Decedent Accounts

Issue:What happens to your digital accounts when you die?

Because the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, originally passed in 1986 and only updated a handful of times since then, is clear on communication between providers and users, closing digital accounts post-death has become a question. Providers feel that they are strictly held to the letter of the law and will not allow individuals who are not the registered users of the account to gain access to contents of the account in question without direct communication from the original user.

What TAG Supports: TAG supports access to transactional data of digital accounts.

Transactional data would allow estate executors to determine what, if any, accounts the user owned and could point the direction to close out the deceased’s estate. For example, directional information such as the “to” and “from” of an email could potentially be released, but anything in the subject or body may not. Any contents within an account such as emails, images, documents, etc. may not be released without permission from the user. Until the federal law is changed, which we support, we cannot allow more than transactional data to be released at this time.

Economic Development & Taxation

Principle

The technology industry had a $113 billion economic impact on the state of Georgia, which accounts for nearly 17% of the state’s economy. It is vital that we sustain and cultivate this maturing industry to ensure Georgia’s economic success in the years ahead. Georgia should pursue tax and business policies that: promote statewide access to technology resources throughout the state, are both equitable and stimulating to the unique challenges of the industry, and encourage job growth and new business creation. As the digital economy continues to play a major role in our economic growth, congress should make sure there is a clear framework in place that prevents the potential for confusion or duplicative taxation.

• TAG supports utilizing technology to bolster statewide economicdevelopment.

• TAG supports the study of emerging technologies and the impact thetechnology industry can have on Georgia's economic development.

• TAG supports business-friendly policies and tax incentives thatpromote the growth and development of technology companies andinfrastructure throughout Georgia.

• TAG supports legislation that will encourage the development,growth, recruitment and retention of technology companies.

• TAG supports a tax system that is fair and equitable across allfunctions of business and services.

• TAG supports the continuation of R&D tax credits.

• TAG opposes legislation that would create discriminatory businesspractices against any organization or individual which couldnegatively impact the state.

Actions

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)

Issue:Emerging innovations in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and their related technologies offer a wide range of research, economic, and safety benefits. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International estimates that by 2025 the commercial UAS industry could generate over $82 billion for the U.S. economy and over $2.7 billion directly for Georgia’s economy. During 2016 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) finalized and implemented new ground rules governing the non-recreational commercial use of UAS in the national airspace and established additional research and ongoing regulatory policy development initiatives. According to FAA guidelines, states have control to enact laws about issues which usually fall within state power, such as requiring warrants for drone surveillance, prohibiting the attachment of firearms to drones, and prohibiting the use of drones for voyeurism.

Georgia is a leading hub for technology research and development of UAS operations and applications. Two of Georgia’s leading economic industries, agriculture and film, have already begun to reap the cost savings and efficiency benefits of UAS technologies. Several of Georgia’s higher education institutions such as Georgia Tech, Middle Georgia State University, and the University of Georgia, are major players in UAS development and application research. CNN, in partnership with the Georgia Tech Research Institute, is the sole stakeholder authorized by the FAA to research the safe media and commercial use of UAS in urban areas.

What TAG Supports: TAG supports the continued study and development of federal regulations that encourage innovation in UAS technology while protecting public safety and data privacy. TAG encourages state and local leaders to collaborate with the FAA and the newly formed Georgia unmanned systems commission in order to prevent a patchwork of conflicting ordinances and regulations, unnecessarily burdening UAS operators, the science and technology research community, and stymying economic development.

Economic Development & Taxation

Data Center Tax Incentives

Issue:The data center industry is one of the fastest growing property types in the United States. As the world’s economy continues its affinity for, and its reliance upon, information and data through traditional, as well as “cloud” computing, the need for facilities to store and transmit the ever expanding universe of data will continue to grow.

It is vital for Georgia’s economy to revisit the incentives for data center companies to expand or locate to Georgia, as they provide highly skilled individuals and infrastructure needed for other companies to build upon. Nearly all Fortune 1000 companies utilize data centers for their operations. In addition, all levels of government are increasingly reliant upon speeding data, information, and communications to meet their mission.

Since 2005, 23 states have passed legislation to provide customized tax incentive programs for data centers. These states provide full or partial exemption of sales tax for various investment types. The exemptions include construction, mechanical and electrical equipment, cooling systems, power infrastructure, electricity, and backup fuel and are covered to varying degrees.

Key Points to Know:

• Data centers can be a significant source of new revenue.• Data center development represents the most robust and economically

resilient sector of the Information Age economy. They invest huge sumsof money in initial investment and then, due to the fail-safe nature oftheir operations, they invest millions in “refreshing” their systems andservers on a 3-5 year cycle.

• Data centers tend to group together in clusters, and it is likely that once acertain geography attracts big name users, others will follow.

What TAG Supports: TAG supports expanding the data center exemption by making the following adjustments to the tax code to provide the following benefits for data centers and its tenants:

• Alleviate Georgia state sales tax on equipment purchased for data centeroperations.

• Alleviate Georgia state sales tax electricity which is necessary andintegral to data center operations, except local taxes paid for educationalpurposes.

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Principle

A critical component to economic success and job creation in Georgia is through the support and growth of early to growth stage, Georgia-based, technology companies. In order to ensure this success, the state of Georgia should pursue policies that stimulate innovation, encourage entrepreneurial activities, retain intellectual capital and grow knowledge-based jobs. This can be accomplished by assuring access to capital, implementing creative and effective tax reforms, and encouraging support programs that advance the competitiveness of Georgia technology companies.

• TAG encourages the support of early and growth stage Georgiacompanies that have the ability to impact the technology industry andsupport Georgia's economic development.

• TAG supports policies to increase access to capital for technologycompanies.

• TAG supports creative and effective tax reform legislation that will helpfoster innovation and support for statewide entrepreneurship activities.

• TAG supports legislation that stimulates innovative business concepts,fosters competition, reduces barriers to entry and provides retention andgrowth for high-tech entrepreneurs and technology businesses.

• TAG supports legislation that will result in greater innovation and supportfor R&D activities.

• TAG supports efforts to increase opportunities for technology transfer tocreate new technology companies.

• TAG supports policies that create an environment that increasestechnology-enabled entrepreneurism.

Actions

Invest Georgia

Issue:The lack of access to venture capital funding is causing Georgia start-up companies to relocate to other states such as California, Colorado, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. Other states such as North Carolina and Florida have seen an outstanding rate of return from state venture capital funding. In fact, the North Carolina Innovation Funds first round of $232 million has already shown a 20% internal rate of return. Florida’s Growth Fund which has nearly $400 million experienced an internal rate of return of 14.96%.

In 2013, the state established Invest Georgia, a state-based venture capital fund designed to provide up to $100 million in funding for Georgia Startup companies. However, the Invest Georgia fund lags behind other southeastern states’ venture capital investment programs. As of 2015, the state has appropriated $10 million into Invest Georgia; whereas, North Carolina has nearly a $500 million VC fund and Florida invested nearly $400 million to its VC fund. If Georgia does not keep up with the national trend of state venture capital funding, Georgia will continue to lose tech startups inevitably jeopardizing the growth of Georgia’s technology sector.

What TAG Supports: TAG supports funding the Invest Georgia fund which will increase access to capital for investments into early and growth stage, job producing companies within Georgia. The Invest Georgia program has a significant amount of accountability, high level of governance structure and state oversight throughout the life of the program and TAG will continue to support the bill. The funds return to the state quantified by creating jobs, funding businesses, business revenue generated, state taxes generated and positive returns on capital invested.

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Financial Technologies & Payment Processing

Issue:Atlanta, along with the surrounding areas of Georgia, has evolved to become the epicenter of a growing segment of the financial services industry – a sector often known as Financial Technologies or FinTech. This sector encompasses the product and service companies that support the technology needs of the financial services industry and, ultimately, the payment-processing infrastructure of the economy. Financial technology companies with employees, contractors and/or partners in Georgia recognize the wealth of talent, innovation and extensive financial industry network in the state. The favorable business climate and lifestyle for employees are major reasons for doing business in the state.

The Georgia FinTech sector encompasses about 100 companies ranging from Fortune 500 bellwethers to early stage startups. There are firms whose time in the state dates to the 1800s (Equifax), several that moved to Georgia at varying stages of their evolution (NCR, CheckFree, Groundfloor), one that left Georgia only to return (First Data), and one that recently undertook a national search for a headquarters location before determining it already had the ideal locale (Worldpay).

The roots of Georgia’s critical mass in payments can be traced to 1987 state legislation that lifted caps on credit card interest rates and annual fees of 18% and $12, respectively. Georgia bankers argued that allowing market forces to prevail would spur job creation- and the results in this case certainly bear them out. The increasing regulatory burden facing the financial services industry since the Great Recession is a well-documented and continued source of frustration for firms at all stages of the ecosystem. The need to build awareness for the impact of such laws served as one of the catalysts for Georgia’s largest FinTech companies choosing to adopt a more visible profile. The American Transaction Processing Coalition, based in Atlanta, was created to promote FinTech companies’ interests in the legislative arena.

What TAG Supports: TAG supports the implementation of an innovation district that cultivates crowdfunding systems, financial data analysis and security, which certainly complement the other FinTech initiatives in the state. Such a move could attract more talent, capital and startups from around the nation and strengthen Georgia. The creation of a state tax incentive program could deliver a significant benefit to state.

Autonomous Vehicles

Issue:Autonomous vehicle development has rapidly grown in the United States, and legislative decisions are required on federal and state levels as development continues. States have been proposing and voting on autonomous vehicle legislation for several years. To date, five states and the District of Columbia have passed bills related to autonomous vehicles. Autonomous vehicles have posed a new and unique set of challenges for lawmakers, from questions about their research, development, and testing to uncertainty about the legal implications of a car with no driver. The Georgia House of Representatives created the House Autonomous Vehicle Technology Study Committee in 2014 through the passage of House Resolution 1265. While some states are rushing to implement new regulations and requirements on autonomous vehicle technology, committee testimony overwhelmingly cautioned against this hurried action. To best promote the development of autonomous vehicle technology states should allow the market to further mature and grow without government intervention.

What TAG Supports: TAG supports the development of Autonomous vehicle technology and discourages the implementation of any legislation which would impose limits on research and innovation.

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Small Business Innovation Research Program

Issue:The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is a national program which offers support for domestic small businesses engaging in research and development with commercial applications. SBIR benefits companies, the government, and the economy, by stimulating and encouraging American innovation. Eleven federal agencies currently participate in the SBIR program, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Though each agency follows Congressional guidelines, they administer their own programs independently. The SBIR program consists of three phases of funding, which each have their own criteria for qualification. The three phases offer funding and support in increasing amounts when these criteria, which build upon each other, are met. As the government has a limited amount of funding reserved for this program, SBIR funding is extremely competitive.

A complement to the SBIR program is the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program, which expands research and development funding for small businesses with a focus on technology. STTR is unique from other funding programs in that it requires small businesses to collaborate with a research institution. Only five agencies, including NASA and NSF, currently participate in the STTR program.

What TAG Supports: TAG supports the expansion of funding for SBIR and STTR. TAG also supports expanding agency eligibility so that more federal agencies can participate in SBIR and STTR.

Education & Workforce

Actions

Agricultural-Machinery Systems Technology Degree Program for TCSG

Issue:The Agriculture Technology (AT) degree will emphasis on basic science and technology with courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, machinery, conservation, safety, and business. The AT degree would provide a solid technological and management focus on the application of basic agricultural engineering technology, including new emerging technologies. The degree program will primarily focus on Machinery Systems, Environmental Systems, and Agribusiness.

The Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) oversees the state's technical colleges, adult literacy programs, and a host of economic and workforce development programs. With over 20 Technical College in Georgia, only a few tech colleges such as the South Georgia Technical College offer a degree in Agricultural Technology.

What TAG Supports: TAG supports a growth in Agricultural-Machinery Systems Technology Degree programs in the TCSG. This area offers career opportunities in agricultural production systems, machinery, farm structures and precision agriculture. Positions are with agricultural production and machinery companies as well as with government agencies. These positions require knowledge of technology and the ability to implement and operate agricultural machinery and tools proficiently and efficiently. The employer needs in this area are changing with developments in emerging technologies like the integration of sensors and electronic controls.

Principle

Education is the foundation for a competitive workforce that is required to drive innovation in our 21st century economy. Technology advancement has contributed heavily to U.S. economic growth over the past several decades and moving forward, the nation’s fastest-growing occupations will necessitate workers with skill sets in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In order to remain globally competitive, TAG supports public policy that fosters STEM education at all levels of learning; inspires a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs; and incorporates appropriate technology tools and expertise in student instruction.

• TAG supports the alignment and efforts to advance quality STEM curriculum with identified needs of the business workforce.

• TAG supports the continual development of professionals’ technical skills.

• TAG supports incentives to encourage and enable companies to pro-actively engage in workforce development.

• TAG supports benchmarking to assess current capabilities and set future goals.

• TAG supports policy and funding efforts to encourage on-line interactive and digital learning initiatives.

• TAG supports efforts to include technology needs for students as part of the state's QBE funding formula.

Education & Workforce

Automotive Technician TCSG Grants

Issue:The Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) currently offers free tuition for students in twelve fields of study through its Strategic Industries Workforce Development Grant (SIWDG) program. These grants are offered in conjunction with the HOPE Grant, and serve students in industries such as Certified Engineering Assistance, Computer Programming, Computer Technology, Diesel Equipment Technology, Industrial Maintenance, and Precision Manufacturing. These grants are intended to create a pipeline of skilled workers who can support Georgia industries, and close the gap between available work and qualified workers in these fields. Though the Automotive Technician industry does not face as significant of a shortage of workers as current SIWDG fields do, the U.S. Department of Labor predicts a 5% increase in demand for auto technicians in the next 8 years.

As the automotive industry expands to include more high-tech vehicles, including autonomous vehicles, the need for high-tech automotive technicians will only grow. Though many aspects of the technology industry are digital, the physical aspects of the industry require skilled work. Several other states have broader skilled worker grants which are not limited to certain industries, and allow potential skilled workers more flexibility in deciding which specialization to pursue. Though some skilled workforce industries have more demand for workers than others, the number of skilled workers across all fields is shrinking. Expansion in any sector of the skilled workforce would benefit the workforce as a whole.

What TAG Supports: TAG supports expanding Georgia’s SIWDG program to include more fields, such as the Automotive Technician industry. Expansion of the SWIDG program would lead to an increase in skilled workers as a whole, and an increase in awareness of skilled work as a viable career. This could be the incentive needed to strengthen Georgia’s Automotive Technician industry, and skilled workforce as a whole.

Procurement

Principle

Georgia government, at both the state and local level, relies on technology solutions and services provided by private sector companies. Whether through the provision of single or comprehensive technology solution or service, technology companies have the ability to contribute towards a more efficient and effective government. The state should encourage purchasing policies that enhance the state enterprise and promote the use of private sector solutions where feasible. The state should ensure an assessable, competitive environment where all vendors are treated equally based on technically sound and cost effective solutions.

What TAG Supports: • TAG supports efforts to increase the use of technology and open data to

improve government efficiency.

• TAG supports policies that encourage Georgia companies to do business with technology companies based in or with operations in Georgia.

• TAG supports process simplification with respect to government departments and agencies.