The glacial pace of the 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly continued on this day, with little action taking place in either the House or the Senate chamber.  There was a good bit of "behind the scenes" stirring on this day, though, as rumors swirled throughout the Capitol that the revenue numbers for January were extremely bad.  As budget writers continued to grapple with the problems created by having to cut $2.2 billion from the budget, the very real possibility arose that the cuts might have to go even deeper.  Talk of more furloughs and of deeper cuts in services was on the lips of several legislative leaders, and worried looks and furrowed brows were the order of the day.  Stay tuned.....

As legislators struggled to find enough taxpayer dollars to fund the state's basic services, Senator Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) chose this day to announce that he had found another way to spend those funds:  on private school vouchers.  Touting his latest initiative as "Universal School Choice," his 2009 version of voucher legislation seeks to make available with taxpayer's money vouchers to private schools.  Though the bill itself has not appeared, it is apparent that there will be no requirement in the bill that the private schools that take taxpayer's money hire certified teachers.  Nor will those taxpayer money-receiving institutions be required to test their students and report the results.  Nor will those taxpayer money-receiving institutions be required to report publicly how they spent those taxpayer dollars.  At least in this author's opinion, a strange proposal for the use of public funds in the face of massive state budget cuts.

The only action on the committee front was a meeting of the Senate Education and Youth Committee.  This committee gave a "do pass" recommendation to SB 14 (prohibits registered sex offenders from serving on local boards of education).  They did not take action on SB 60 (would allow local boards to set their own dropout ages), and they did not hear testimony on SB 36 (requires each board to have a code of ethics) when the bill's author was unable to attend.

Legislation continues to be introduced.  Summarized today by GSSA are (Click on the bill number to read GSSA's summary and/or the full text of the bill.):

HB 157 -- uses for the lottery shortfall reserve (potential impact on HOPE scholarships)

HB 161 -- restrictions on travel by GHSA member schools

HB 165 -- TRS credit for service in a private school outside the state of Georgia

HB 201 -- seat belts on buses

HB 208 -- bilingual certification on diplomas

HB 215 -- three high school diplomas to replace the current one

HB 229 -- the SHAPE bill, this year's version of the testing of students in physical education classes

SB 36 -- required code of ethics for local boards

SB 60 -- each local board set dropout ages for students in their systems

The General Assembly will meet for their twelfth day on Tuesday, February 3.