Emotions ran high in the House of Representatives on this eighteenth day of the 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly, as the much-discussed and latest version of HR 1 was debated at length before a vote.  Legislators from both sides of the aisle argued passionately over this controversial "tax cap" measure, one that has been firmly resisted by local governmental agencies who protested this latest attempt by the state to limit their abilities to raise local revenue.  In the end, the measure failed to receive the requisite constitutional majority (120 votes needed to pass) by a final vote of 105 in favor and 67 against.  To see how members of the House of Representatives voted on this bill, click here.

No sooner had the vote on HR 1 lost than, in the very next moment, HB233 was brought to the floor.  This bill is an attempt by the same legislator to accomplish, on at least a temporary basis and through statute, immediate caps on the assessed value of property.  There were numerous questions as to the constitutionality of this measure (most questions between knowledgeable attorneys who argued the legal aspects of the bill), and as in the debate on HR 1, emotions were strong.  After lengthy debate, this bill passed the House by a 110-63 vote, and Representative David Lucas (D-Macon) served notice that he would ask the House to reconsider its action on this bill on the next legislative day.

Finally, late in the afternoon and after the House had finally adjourned for the day, Rep. Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth) gathered the House Education Committee to consider recommendations from subcommittees and take action on bills that had gone through the subcommittee process.  After discussion by committee members (no further public input permitted at this stage), "do pass" recommendations were given to three bills:  HB 229 (Chairman Coleman's PE bill), HB 149 (Representative Jan Jones' "Move on When Ready" Act), and HB 251 (Representative Alisha Thomas-Morgan's bill mandating that local systems allow students to move from one attendance zone to another if they wish).  These three will now be placed on the House general calendar for possible action by the full House at a future date.

No mention was made of any planned changes to the General Assembly's recently-announced "let's work three days each week" schedule.  However, now that the Congress has apparently reached agreement on their much-ballyhooed "stimulus package," it is possible that the General Assembly may find that they have enough information about the flow of federal dollars to reach decisions in a more timely fashion and find it unnecessary to delay the possible end of the 2009 session until the end of June.  In any case, they will not reconvene for their nineteenth day of this session until Tuesday, February 17.