Lawmakers Have Packed Schedule With Two Days to Go

Wednesday marks Day 39 in this year’s legislative session. And both chambers have a packed schedule.

The big issue for House lawmakers is the transportation governance bill. The measure no longer includes the creation of a new state agency – a plan backed by Governor Sonny Perdue. Instead, legislators would have more power when it comes to managing Department of Transportation dollars.

And there’s also a measure to curb property taxes. The legislation would put a 3% cap on property assessment increases.

In the Senate, next year’s budget is the hot topic. And there's a plan to do away with both the sales tax and the so-called birthday tax on car purchases. Instead, every sale would be subject to a title fee of up to $1500. Some of that money would be set aside for trauma care.

Below is a list of the bills that are on tap for the second-to-last day of the 2009 session.

House:
SB 27 - Confederate Heritage/History Month; create; encourages observances/celebrations; provide statutory construction
SB 49 - Georgia Registered Professional Nurse Practice Act; nursing education program
requirements; revise certain provisions
SB 85 - Georgia Aviation Authority Act; create; provide for membership, governance,
operation, power, duties
SB 114 - Education; provide for transfer of students who are military dependents into a local school system
SB 128 - Motor Vehicles; option of owner; permanent license plates for boat, utility,
noncommercial cattle/livestock trailers; provide for fees
SB 133 - Health Share Volunteers in Medicine Act; provide certain compensation; health care provider; sovereign immunity protection
SB 144 - Insurance Agent License; applicant shall be appointed by an authorized insurer prior to issuance of the license; repeal requirement
SB 163 - Human Resources Commissioner; authorize to appoint a diabetes coordinator
SB 164 - State Highway System; signs and signals; height limitations; allow owners to obtain permits to remove vegetation from the viewing zones
SB 172 - Victim Compensation; provide for recovery for serious mental and emotional
trauma; change definitions; provisions
SB 178 - Education; advance funding, exceptional growth, low-wealth capital outlay grants; embed/extend a sunset date
SB 194 - State Purchasing; benefits based funding projects; revise provisions; change
membership of an oversight committee
SB 195 - Professions/Businesses; clarify applications submitted in prescribed form not necessarily written document; provisions
SB 200 - Transforming Transportation Investment Act; create State Transportation Agency; definitions; purposes; abolish State Road/Tollway Authority
SB 201 - Health; provide voluntary contributions through individual income tax returns for cancer research
SB 207 - Proceedings; admit general public to hearings in juvenile court with certain
exceptions
SB 246 - Courts; provide notice of the release of child from detention under certain
circumstances; definitions
SB 253 - Sparklers; provide a definition for the term "indoors"
SR 1 - Appropriations; provide for prioritized funding requirements regarding certain
supplementary appropriations Acts - CA
SR 153 - Education Improvement Districts; provide creation and comprehensive regulation - CA
SR 176 - James H. Chandler, Jr. Memorial Intersection; dedicate


Senate:
HB 2 updates and clarifies many existing provisions in Georgia law related to illegal immigration.
HB 16 prohibits the use of an electronic tracking device to determine the location or movement of another person without that person’s consent, with several exceptions.
HB 56 revises provisions relating to distribution of proceeds and renegotiation of distribution certifications.
HB 63 deletes the chapter governing the Redevelopment Powers Law and replaces with some existing and new language. It also adds new language regarding the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) Restriction Act.
HB 64 specifies that a funeral director must file a death certificate within 72 hours.
HB 69 allows a physician to issue a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order without the concurrence of another physician so long as there is oral or written consent from an authorized health care agent operating under a durable power of attorney or pursuant to an advance directive.
HB 86 allows that absentee ballots must be counted by precinct, and separate returns must be made showing the results by each precinct.
HB 101 allows that a transit agency may authorize the placement, erection, and maintenance of commercial advertisements on or in transit vehicles or facilities owned or operated by that transit agency.
HB 119 makes and provides appropriations for the State Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2009, and ending June 30, 2010.
HB 120 authorizes the annual sales tax holiday for school supplies and energy efficient appliances.
HB 141 is the annual housekeeping bill for the Department of Banking and Finance (the Department), which addresses the regulation of financial institutions and commercial paper in Georgia.
HB 147 relates to proceedings for forfeiture of bonds or recognizances, so as to relieve a surety from liability under certain circumstances.
HB 169 provides a notice of new or revised flood elevations to Georgia property owners affected.
HB 173 permits non-compete and non-solicitation clauses in employment and business contracts.
HB 184 directs the Department of Human Resources to prepare information for public dissemination on the department’s website describing the importance of obtaining a blood test for sickle cell disease.
HB 186 extends the income tax credit for teleworking through FY2012. It also increases the available credit to $2.5 million for Fiscal Years 2011 and 2012.
HB 189 revises the applicability of the Georgia Arbitration Code because the General Assembly finds that entities need to cooperate with each other to ensure parents with better options on child support obligations.
HB 217 sets forth the requirements for influenza vaccine protocol agreements between physicians and pharmacists or nurses.
HB 221 amends two statutes to require that writs of mandamus and writs of prohibition to compel the removal of a judge cannot be issued if a motion to recuse has not been filed first, nor where a motion to recuse has been denied after assignment to a different judge.
HB 243 provides conditions of employment of certificated personnel in elementary and secondary education for salary increase for persons receiving certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
HB 258: Driver's license; minor of disabled guardian; restricted learner's permit; provisions
HB 278 allows local school system to waive the expenditure control requirements under the Quality Basic Education Act
HB 304 revises the rights of county appraisers and tax assessors and authorized agents of the county to go onto property to conduct official business.
HB 310 provides that the statewide recycling program for state agencies.
HB 318 defines several terms relating to the place of return for tax purposes of motor vehicles and mobile homes.
HB 321 relates to "group accident and sickness insurance" defined and "true association" defined, so as to provide for changes in the definitions of the terms.
HB 344 Probation; Department of Corrections; collections of additional fees; authorize
HB 349 Sales and use tax exemption; new construction of civil rights museum; provide
HB 371 Public Retirement Systems Investment Authority Law; increase in allowable fund investment; provisions
HB 379 Income tax; certain real estate investment trusts; disallow expenses paid
HB 388 The Option of Adoption Act
HB 395 Sales and use tax; personal property; construction of certain symphony halls; extend exemption
HB 406 Service delivery strategies; certain drinking water projects; funding limitation; provide exemption
HB 438 Income tax; tax credits for qualified jobs and projects; comprehensive revision
HB 439 Income tax; credits; business enterprises
HB 453 Superior courts; sunset dates for property filing fees; change
HB 455 Elementary and secondary education; annual contracts for certified personnel; extend certain deadlines
HB 473 Community Affairs, Department of; grants for clean energy property
HB 477 Retirement and pensions; creditable service; application requirement
HB 480 Taxation of motor vehicles; comprehensive revision
HB 483 Ad valorem tax; modernization and revisions of certain provisions
HB 485 Income tax; alternative credits for base year port traffic
HB 487 Superior Court Clerks' Retirement Fund of Georgia; employee contribution
HB 488 Superior Court Clerks' Retirement Fund of Georgia; eligibility criteria for creditable service
HB 492 Time-share projects and programs; private residence clubs
HB 493 Georgia Youth Conservation Corps; creation and purposes of the corps;
HB 509 Professions and businesses; regulation; change provisions.
HB 514 Judicial system; assignment of senior judges;
HB 528 Specialized land transactions; developers provide audits to homeowners
HB 549 Driver Services, Department of; information for purposes of creating juror lists
HB 568 Public Service Commission; members shall represent entire state
HB 575 Kidnapping; change certain provisions
HB 608 Time-share projects; estate shall include certain interests
HB 639 Special license plates; protect wild dolphins in Georgia
HR 161 White, Mr. John Jerome; compensate
HR 336 CPL Jonathan Ryan Ayers Memorial Interchange; dedicate

Bank Closing: Freedom Bank of Georgia

Click on the image for a mash-up map of bank failure locations in Georgia and nationwide.

Federal regulators shut down Freedom Bank of Georgia. It’s the 17th federally insured bank in the nation to fail this year.

It had about $173 million in assets and $161 million in deposits as of March 4.

Freedom Bank, in Commerce, Georgia, with $173 million in assets and $161 million in deposits, was shut by the state’s Department of Banking and Finance and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named receiver. Northeast Georgia Bank of Lavonia, Georgia, will assume deposits, the FDIC said.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says Northeast Georgia Bank will assume the bank’s deposits. It’s four branches will reopen Monday as offices of Northeast Georgia Bank.

“Customers of both banks should continue to use their existing branches until Northeast Georgia Bank can fully integrate the deposit records of Freedom Bank of Georgia,” the FDIC said.

(Associated Press)

BB&T Closing Check Processing Center in Macon

Branch Banking and Trust is closing its check processing center in Macon. Company officials say new technology will now allow them to do the work at branch offices. BB&T says it will do everything possible to find jobs within the company for the 40 people who work at the processing center. Those who cannot be placed with the bank will be offered severance packages. The closing takes place on May 1, 2009.

Governor Reduces 2010 Budget

Today Governor Sonny Perdue reduced the 2010 state budget by $1.6 billion . Earlier, the Governor projected 3% growth over this year in state revenue, but with the economy continuing to decline next year's budget will be flat. Perdue is asking state employees to pay 5% more of their health insurance costs. He is also banking on %1.1 billion in stimulus money and the Governor has agreed to take all the available federal stimulus funds for state unemployment benefits. He says it would add $150 million to Georgia's unemployment trust fund. Regarding state employee furloughs, he says he will leave that up to state agency heads.

Data Shows Bank Crisis Unprecedented

The banking crisis in Georgia appears to be headed for a historic level. Loan problems are rivaling the peak of the late 1980’s Savings and Loan Crisis. The percentage of delinquent loans at Atlanta banks is actually worse than in the S and L downturn. Twelve percent of loan portfolios in Atlanta have problems. Statewide it’s 8.69 percent. That’s according to the data compiled by FIG Partners LLP. The data is setting a new standard for industry woes in the region, leading to what some are calling the worst bank market in the state’s history.

(Atlanta Business Chronicle)

Feds Shutter McDonough Bank

Regulators on Friday closed FirstBank Financial Services in Georgia and two California banks, marking nine failures this year of federally insured institutions.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the three banks. FirstBank Financial, based in McDonough, Ga., had $337 million in assets and $279 million in deposits as of Dec. 31. Alliance Bank, based in Culver City, Calif., had about $1.14 billion in assets and $951 million in deposits as of year's end. Merced, Calif.-based County Bank had around $1.7 billion in assets and $1.3 billion in deposits as of Feb. 2.

Twenty-five U.S. banks failed last year, far more than in the previous five years combined. The six failures announced in the last two weeks are double the total for all of 2007.

The FDIC said FirstBank Financial's deposits will be assumed by Regions Bank in Birmingham, Ala. Its four branches will reopen Monday as offices of Regions Bank. Regions Bank also agreed to buy around $17 million of FirstBank's assets; the FDIC will retain the rest for eventual sale.

The parent company, Regions Financial Corp., is a large regional bank company that received $3.5 billion from the Treasury Department under the government's financial rescue program. In August, Regions Bank took over deposits and some assets of another failed institution, Integrity Bank of Alpharetta, Ga.

"As a strong national institution, we believe it is our responsibility to work with and support the FDIC in finding solutions for depositors in these challenging times," Dowd Ritter, the chairman, president and chief executive of Regions Financial Corp., said in a statement.

It's expected that many more banks won't survive this year amid the pressures of tumbling home prices, rising mortgage foreclosures and tighter credit. Some may have to merge with other institutions.

The FDIC estimated that the resolution of FirstBank Financial will cost the federal deposit insurance fund $111 million while that of Alliance Bank will cost $206 million and County Bank, $135 million.

Regular deposit accounts are insured up to $250,000.

Since October, the Treasury Department has been using most of the first half of the $700 billion federal bailout fund to buy stock in banks and other financial institutions, with the idea that cash injections will spur banks to get lending again.

More information for FirstBank customers is here.

(AP)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the banking crisis, and related reports.

Homestead, Furloughs and a Budget Crunch

Lt. Governor Casey Cagle says state employees may have to take work furloughs to make up a budget shortfall of 2 billion dollars. That is one option being considered as lawmakers consider cutting a property tax grant.

Cutting that grant would save the state about half a billion dollars. But Lt. Governor Cagle, who controls the state Senate, says he doesn’t like the idea of passing off the budget short fall to homeowners. He says all options, including agency cuts and furloughed workers, are possibilities.

"Quite candidly, it’s going to be very difficult to cut an additional 428 billion dollars out of the supplemental budget is not going to be easy…It’s going to be very difficult, but it’s something that we’re committed to doing. "

Some lawmakers are banking on the federal stimulus package to help the state through the shortfall. But other say until the money is in, they 're working with budget cuts.

Tight Budget Pushes Other Issues Aside

State Senator Bill Hamrick in the Senate plenum, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

The $2.2 billion dollar budget shortfall is pushing a lot of controversial issues to the sidelines.

Lawmakers say things are different this year than any other year. The Republican controlled legislature has never faced such drastic cuts to balance a state budget.

Almost nonexistent are controversial bills on immigration and gun control. State Senator Bill Hamrick sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee. He says the energy to tackle less urgent issues just isn't there:

"It really is mentally draining when you work on this in the legislature all day and then you go home and talk to people in the grocery store who have been laid off," Hamrick says.

Some lawmakers are banking on money from Washington to help them through this budget year and take the pressure off. Other are working on Governor Perdue's recommended budget, which so far includes no new federal funds.

Governor Not Counting on Federal Money

During budget hearings at the capitol today Governor Perdue said he went through his budget like a surgeon cutting out everything that's not needed. He says he is not banking on extra federal help to balance the budget.

"There's a lot of rumors out there now," he said, "but nobody is cutting any check."

Pedue says he doesn't have the money to fund the Homeowners tax relief grant which costs the state over $420 million each year. That means local governments may be forced to raise property taxes and homeowners could see their bills go up by $200 to $300 in some places. Perdue says he turned over every stone but couldn't find the money.

"If you can find a rock we haven't looked under," he told lawmakers, "then let's open it up together and I will rejoice with you."

Georgia faces a $2.2 billion budget shortfall this year and state economist Kenneth Heaghney warned lawmakers that things may not look up until later this year. He used words like skyrocketing unemployment, deteriorating labor market and sharply falling corporate growth, to describe Georgia's economy. Heaghney says Georgia, like the nation is in a deep recession.

"The average recession in the post World War II era is 10 months. We're already in it for 13," Heaghney testified before the joint house and senate appropriations committee.

Heaghney says the federal stimulus package and monetary policy on the federal level could help Georgia's economy later in the year. But he warned that any recovery would be weak.

South GA power station backer weighing pullout

One of the backers of a controversial plan to build a coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia says a tight credit market is forcing his company to reassess their investment.

The Houston-based Dynegy Corporation says an uncertain economy is behind their decision to reconsider their backing of LS Power. It wants to build a 1,200 megawatt power station along the Chattahoochee River in Blakely.

Dynegy spokesman David Byford:

“Last week we announced a reevaluation of our participation in future activities or projects that are outside of Dynegy’s operational footprint.”

That footprint includes six energy projects, including the Longleaf plant that Dynegy is reconsidering, nationwide.

Blakeley Mayor Ric Hall says if Dynegy drop’s their support, it would hit the rural town hard:

“…well, if they pull out, certainly it would have a devastating impact on job potential… it’s been quite a number of years now in which we have held out hope that possibly they would be able to build a plant here because of the impact that it could have economically on our community.”

Local officials say the plant would create about a thousand construction jobs, more than 100 full-time positions, and add millions of tax-revenue dollars to Early County. The county is one of the poorest in the state and is banking on the jobs.

The power plant has been talked about for the past seven years.

But plans came to a crawl earlier this year, when an Atlanta judge accepted an appeal by environmentalists against the facility. They claim high carbon dioxide, sulfur and particulate pollution levels aren’t worth the economic benefits.

Billy Fleming is the publisher of the Blakeley-based Early County News. Fleming’s a staunch supporter of the power plant, and says he wasn’t surprised by Dynegy’s reevaluation:

“With what’s going on the financial world today, we got a landscape out there today nobody ever dreamed they’d see, and everybody’s having to back up and rethink and reevaluate their positions on a lot of things. And I have no doubt that the difficulty of permitting and constructing a coal-fired plant with all the global-warming alarmists’ stuff going on is in the back of their heads as well.”

Mayor Hall agrees, and says that the environmental lawsuit hurt the plant:

“..and then of course the tremendous expense that has been associated with the legal battle that they’ve had to go through – particularly in the last three years.”

LS Power says they’re going ahead with the project, despite Dynegy’s pending decision. Officials with the New-Jersey-based firm say they’ve filed another appeal against the court ruling – one that they hope to see adjucated by the summer of 2009.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of this story.

5th Georigia bank fails; 2 dozen fail nationally

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance has closed Haven Trust Bank, the fifth bank in the state to close this year and the 24th nationally. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named receiver Friday and entered into an agreement with Branch Banking and Trust of Winston-Salem, N.C., to assume Haven Trust's $515 million indeposits for $112,000. Haven Trust's four branches reopen on Monday as branches of Branch Banking and Trust, and its depositors will automatically become depositors of Branch Banking and Trust. The FDIC says depositers can access all their money over the weekend by writing checks or using ATMs or debit cards. As of December 8th, Haven Trust had assets of $572 million, and about $55 million will be purchased by Branch Banking and Trust.

(Associated Press)

Atlanta bank fails; 16th in US this year

The state has shut down a failed suburban Atlanta bank. The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance closed the two branches of Alpha Bank and Trust in Alpharetta on Friday. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has transferred all accounts to Stearns Bank based in St. Cloud, Minnesota. It will be business as usual for most of the bank's customers because they are covered by FDIC insurance. But 59 of Alpha's bank accounts whose assets total $3.1 million exceed the federal limit of $250,000. It's the 16th FDIC-insured bank closure this year in the U.S. and the most recent in Georgia since August. Customers with accounts exceeding the FDIC limit can call (800) 591-2912 for assistance.

(Associated Press)

Magazine says Medical College of Georgia's bio-business incubator in Augusta ranks among top in country

The Medical College of Georgia's business incubator in Augusta has been named as one of the top five organizations in the U.S. helping biotechnology businesses.

Expansion Solutions magazine ranked the incubator on its recruiting, retaining and assisting of these businesses.

The incubator provides space, equipment and mentoring services for its tenants.

MCG's incubator currently houses four entrepreneurial businesses, including one working on a new anthrax vaccine and another specializing in cord blood banking and the cryopreservation of reproductive tissue.

Bill Heard to close all dealerships

With a struggling economy and an inventory heavy with trucks and SUV’s, the largest Chevrolet dealership chain in the country has announced closure of all its locations.

Bill Heard Enterprises will close its remaining 13 nationwide dealerships--five locations in Georgia, along with those in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas and Nevada. Another dealership in Arizona closed September 12th.

The Columbus, Georgia based company says the mix of rising gas prices, a slowdown in car sales and the banking crisis created an atmosphere where its resources could not keep pace. Last month, GMAC Financial Services pulled credit for new inventory at some of the Bill Heard dealers.

The company has also been beset by legal troubles. The Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs has a lawsuit against Bill Heard, charging it with a 16-year pattern of deceptive sales practices. It’s not known how the closures will affect the state lawsuit.

The closing of Bill Heard dealers will affect about 27-hundred employees.

Synovus, Capital One cutting Columbus jobs

Columbus-based Synovus Financial Corporation said Wednesday they were cutting back 230 positions.

Company officials say that’s out of 650 posts in total among their five-state operation, and that over half the losses were due to attrition. The cutback will be spread over the next two years.

Synovus is Georgia’s second-largest banking institution.

In addition, The Associated Press reports that Capital One it will close its GreenPoint Mortgage
servicing center in Columbus, eliminating 220 jobs by the end of the year, including customer service, production support, collections and investor reporting.

Atlanta-based Simmons Bedding also plans to close its Mableton plant and lay off 103 employees this month.

Simmons Chairman and CEO Charlie Eitel says the Sept. 18 layoffs come amid "excess capacity" after the company expanded operations, and "difficult times" in the bedding and home furnishings industries.

Local manufacturing will move to plants in Waycross and Charlotte, N.C. The plant had reduced shifts from two to one this spring, cut about 50 jobs and transferred operations to a plant in Dallas.

The cutbacks come as 59,090 Georgians filed first-time unemployment claims in August, according to Department of Labor officials - a 72-percent rise since last year.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the latest job cuts.

(The AP contributed to this report)

Chambliss says he's ready to fight

The battle is on for the Georgia U.S. Senate seat held by Saxby Chambliss. Incumbent Republican Chambliss Wednesday held a news conference to express his readiness for the battle heading to November against Democratic challenger Jim Martin. Martin on Tuesday beat Vernon Jones in the Democratic runoff. Chambliss says Martin’s liberal voting record is out-of-step with mainstream Georgians. Martin fired back yesterday with accusations that Chambliss took-in at least $350,000 from various lobbyists representing oil, insurance and banking interests.

Builders still banking on SW Georgia power plant

LS Power, the company seeking to build a coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia, says it will appeal a recent court ruling that halted construction.

Mike Vogt, project director with LS Power told the Dothan Eagle newspaper,

“We’re 100 percent committed to staying the course to begin construction.”

In a landmark ruling on June 30, the Fulton County Superior Court reversed an earlier administrative court decision on an Environmental Protection Division (EPD) permit that had okayed the $1.2 billion project in Early County.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore reversed a previous decision by Atlanta Administrative Law Judge Judge Stephanie Howells, giving the go-ahead for the project.

LS Power will appeal the decision to the Georgia Court of Appeals in August.

Proponents say the project will provide hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue for the poor rural area.

A group of area residents and environmentalists fighting the project say the plant will emit unchecked amounts of carbon dioxide, harmful amounts of dust, and other pollutants.

The Longleaf Power Plant would be the first such facility to be built in Georgia in the last two decades.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the issues at stake in the case.

Two new scams arise

The state Department of Revenue is warning Georgians of two new scams. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports the scams involve fake checks. In one scam, people get a letter with a phony check worth $50,000 allegedly issued by the DOR. The second scam involves people getting checks from a company called AIRSERV with inaccurate banking information.

Electronic Health Records Comes to GA

Federal health officials were in Atlanta today, to announce that Georgia was chosen for a pilot program for electronic health records. It's a system that keeps patient records in a computerized data base. The program will work with one hundred physicians throughout the state. Governor Sonny Perdue says electronic health records are the wave of the future.

"This is sort of what the ATM card was to banking just a few years ago. No longer do we have to wait for the office to be open Monday through Friday for business hours. No longer will we have to fill out forms in triplicates just to obtain your medical records."

The idea is that by turning from paper to electronic records, mistakes can be avoided and costs can be cut.

Feds: $200M lawsuit against GA credit card firm

Federal officials have filed a $200 million dollar lawsuit against an Atlanta credit card marketing firm, accusing it of deceptive practices.

The Federal Trade Commission and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on Tuesday filed lawsuits against Atlanta-based CompuCredit, and two out-of-state banks.

The feds say the companies, "misled" borrowers several times over a two-year period.

They allege that, in some cases, two thirds of a $300 dollar credit limit on the unsecured cards was eaten up by hidden fees.

Columbus Banking and Trust markets the cards, and were also named in the lawsuit. But rather than go to court, they agreed to pay ten million dollars in fines and restitution.

CB&T CEO Steve Melton says borrowers who took out the cards knew what they were getting into:

“...Well, they haven't been bamboozled by the small print, and the people who take these cards have been denied – and we wouldn't have issued these customers a card in the normal course of our business.”

Melton says borrowers knew what they were getting into:

“I don't want anyone to think that this market segment is a bunch of ignorant people that don't know what they're doing when they get a credit card. That's not the case.”

The feds are seeking $217 million dollars in fines and restitution from CompuCredit, and the other two banks, Wilmington-based First Bank of Delaware and First Bank & Trust of Brookings, South Dakota.

The firms deny the charges and say they'll fight the lawsuit.

FTC officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

If you have a credit card that bears the name of any of the following companies, or your are a CompuCredit customer, you may be eligible to receive damages: Aspen, Aspire, Aspire A Mas, Emerge, Fingerhut Credit Advantage, FreedomCard, Imagine, Majestic and Tribute.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of banking issues in Georgia, and here for more on credit card issues.