To the surprise of no one, the pace of activity during the early days of the 2010 session of the Georgia General Assembly remains slow.  Committees are beginning to meet, and "do pass" recommendations on bills will soon result in those bills finding their way to Senate and House calendars.  For now, though, and on this day, House and Senate sessions typically last less than an hour.

Behind the scenes, there is still considerable gnashing of teeth over the budget recommendations released by the Governor just over a week ago.  While many in the General Assembly would like to be able to "do something" to alleviate the budget pain being felt by K-12 education (and, every other governmental entity), the awful truth is that nothing can be done without increasing the revenue stream.  And, in the current political and fiscal climate in Georgia, and with an election year looming, that option is just off the table.  [Editor's note:  It is interesting to hear some politicians claim that the cut to K-12 education is only 3% and that K-12 has, in some way, been "spared" from the larger cuts that other agencies have suffered.  According to the figures calculated by this office, and verified by the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, the K-12 cut is considerably higher than just 3% of QBE.  The austerity cuts plus salary cuts needed to effect six furlough days in FY2010 total more than $1 billion dollars (offset in part by $413 million in ARRA funds), and the same level of austerity cuts exist in the FY2011 Budget.  Those figures do not even include major cuts to the equalization grant program or other such expensive programs as pupil transportation.  And finally, the funds deducted from each system's allotment as Local Five Mill Share is in excess of what should be deducted according to law, adding still another cost to local systems.  The budget misery has not missed K-12 education.]

The Senate Education and Youth Committee plans its first meeting of the year on Tuesday afternoon, January 26, at 3:00 p.m.  Their announced plan is to conduct hearings only (no votes to be taken) on four bills.  They are:

SB 298 -- would require first aid courses in GA schools

SB 307 -- a bill calling itself a "Teacher's Bill of Rights"

SB 60 and SB 132 -- two bills dealing with increasing the mandatory attendance age for Georgia's public school students

As is common early in each session, bills related to education continue to be introduced at a fairly rapid pace.  Recently analyzed/summarized by GSSA are:

HB 927 and HB 940 -- bills dealing with bullying

HB 936 -- would permit the use of bus replacement funds as a source of money to refurbish buses

HB 937 -- an alternative to the school board nepotism law passed in 2009

HB 943 -- would provide for mandatory recycling programs in Georgia's public schools

HR 1105 -- seeks to change the constitution so as to provide that the only method by which city and county school systems could divide SPLOST proceeds would be on an FTE basis

HR 1109, HR 1110, HR 1111, and HR 1112 -- a series of proposed constitutional amendments, each seeking to tax the sale of lottery tickets with the funds generated being designated for the support of K-12 education.

The General Assembly's sixth day of the 2010 session will be held on Tuesday, January 26.