The Senate passed the Supplemental 2013 Budget today 49-0.  As the Senate debated the budget, the House adjournment motion included a motion to suspend the rules to disagree with the Senate budget, and appoint a conference committee if the Senate insists on its position.  Speaker David Ralston obliged.  Not a bad way to save some time since they tend not to agree with each other's changes to the budget.

 

For those unfamiliar with the process:  if a bill passes both the House and Senate but in different forms, it has to go back to the chamber of origin.  For example, the budget originated in the House.  The Senate made some changes, so now it goes back to the House for them to agree or disagree with those changes.  If the House disagrees, it goes back to the Senate.  The Senate can recede from its position and agree with the House or insist on its position (its version of the budget).  If the Senate insists, a conference committee is appointed.  Each chamber gets 3 appointees, and four of the six have to sign the conference committee report for it to go back to each chamber for a vote.  There are a few variations on that sequence, but that's already more than anybody probably wanted to know on a Friday afternoon.

 

SB 181 would move Georgia History Month from February to September. 

 

SB 184 would require that all congressional, state, and county offices be partisan as of January 1, 2015.  If a local act in effect by June 30, 2014, provides for nonpartisan elections, a referendum would have to be held in November 2014 to affirm the voters preference for nonpartisan races. 

 

SB 189 would permit private proprietary postsecondary institutions to participate in establishing career academies.  It would be so much esier if they would just name names, not good policy but easier to understand.

 

SB 195 is the same bill on stockpiling epipens that was heard in the House Subcommittee yesterday.  They occasionally introduce the same bill in both chambers to double the chance of it getting through.

 

HB 405 would require members of governing boards of charter schools to attend training.  Petitioners would have to have three hours of governance training prior to submitting a charter petition to a local board.  Existing charters would have to have six hours of individual or whole board training annually.  The State Board would approve trainers with some groups being ineligible:  "Due to the inherent conflict of interest, authorizing entities and education or charter management organizations in contract with a charter petitioner or existing charter school are prohibited from acquiring, recommending, or delivering governance training for charter schools under their supervision."

 

HB 445 would exclude freeport property from the calculation for the local five mill share.  Freeport exemptions are local property tax exemptions of 20% - 100%.  The exemption is decided in a referendum called by the city or county.  Agreement of the local board is not required.  This would be similar to excluding the property located in a tax allocation district from the calculation.

 

 

 

Monday, February 25th