The "action" on this ninth day of the 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly was mostly limited to the committee fronts (unless you count the Senate's quick passage of SB1, calling for "zero-based budgeting" for all state agencies every four years).  The committee meetings of interest to educators were of the House Education Committee and the K-12 Education Subcommittee of House Appropriations.

Vice-chair Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) convened the House Education Committee at 1:00 p.m. on this day, and after assigning a few bills to subcommittees for discussion and debate, introduced a representative from the Southern Regional Education Board.  The remainder of this less-than-one-hour meeting was spent hearing a report on activities of and support provided by SREB, followed by a brief question-and-answer session.

Representative Ed Lindsey (R-Atlanta), vice-chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and, thus, chair of the K-12 Education Subcommittee of House Appropriations, gathered his committee for a 2:00 p.m. start, and their session was devoted to hearing from Deputy State School Superintendent Scott Austensen as he walked them through the FY09 Amended Budget recommendations for education.  Several questions popped up about some of the "hot button" topics that have arisen (e.g., RESA funds, salary supplements for NBCT teachers, etc.), but since most of those items are in the FY2010 budget, answers to those burning questions were delayed.

More education bills are beginning to surface, and GSSA staff is at work studying and summarizing them for readers of this site.  Summarized today are (Click on the bill number to read GSSA's summary and/or the bill itself.):

HB 100 -- proposes significant changes to last year's "neo-vouchers" legislation

HB 103 -- seeks to establish a Confederate Heritage and History Month in Georgia

HB 120 -- sets the dates for the annual sales tax holiday

Friday, January 30, the tenth day of the 2009 session, promises to be a very interesting one.  House Republican leaders are counting votes and urging members to be present, as a floor vote on HR 1 is anticipated.  Stay tuned.