Contentious debate was the order of the day in the Senate on this fifteenth day of the 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly, as the Republican majority flexed its muscle while the Democrats cried "foul." At issue, to no one's surprise, were two bills dealing with tax cuts on the local level, and tempers flared while the two bills plodded through the legislative process. On the Senate calendar were two bills: SB 83, which would double from $2,000 to $4,000 the homestead exemption allowed homeowners (undoubtedly causing local governments to increase millage rates), and HB143, which would promise payment of the current year's obligation to the Homeowner's Tax Relief Grant (HTRG) but would virtually eliminate it in future years. Both ultimately passed the Senate by the required majority votes (though SB83 will be "reconsidered" by the Senate next week), but not without considerable debate and parliamentary maneuvering, some name-calling, and some senators voting against their party leadership. As in Washington, it appears that promises of bi-partisan cooperation in Atlanta may already be a thing of the past.
The House and the Senate did agree on one thing on this day, and that was to "save" the last five days of their forty-day session until late June. They have agreed to recess in late March after 35 days of their 2009 session (with most weeks between now and then to be 3-day work weeks when the General Assembly will only be in session on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday), and if they have reached final decisions on budget issues by that time and learned what might be coming from Washington in the way of stimulus funds, that could be sine die. However, if either or both of those issues remain "up in the air," they will have saved five days of the session for last-minute action. Of course, for school boards who need state budget figures to complete their own budget work well before the July 1 beginning of a new fiscal year, this could be extremely problematic. The Georgia General Assembly continues to amaze.
Bills of interest to education-watchers continue to fall. Summarized by GSSA today are (Click on the bill number to read GSSA's summary and/or to read the contents of the bill.):
HB 300 -- information on infectious diseases sent home by students
SR 152 -- "Governor's Academies" sought
SR 153 -- seeks the creation of "Education Improvement Districts," something of a school-district version of the public-private partnerships for "Community Improvement Districts" that have been such a prominent part of the Republican agenda in recent years. To the suspicious observer, this bill looks like a way for a group of citizens to draw a circle around a set of schools and create a district that would be somewhat impervious to outside influences (and, students).
The General Assembly will reconvene for the first of several three-day weeks on Tuesday, February 10. |