The Georgia General Assembly met for their 33rd day of this 2010 session (and, their last until Monday, April 12) on this day.  The House of Representatives were in and out of their early-afternoon session in short order, having dealt with a brief calendar.  They did pass a bill that has drawn the interest of Capitol-watchers (not analyzed by GSSA), SB206, which mandates a regular and public review of the fiscal impact of the tax breaks that have been handed out over the years by elected officials.  That bill now heads to the Governor for his consideration.

The Senate's session was anything but brief, and it dragged on into the evening as the members of the upper chamber argued vehemently over what has become known as the "hospital bed tax" as outlined in HB307.  This tax/fee has been touted by its supporters as one that would fill a gaping hole in the state budget while allowing the state to "draw down" extra federal dollars to help Medicaid-eligible patients.  Opponents call it a "sick tax."  But, without the money from this source or another, yet-unidentified one, the budget for FY2011 remains a mess. Shortly after seven o'clock, the Senate passed their version of this bill by the slim margin of 31-15 (29 "yes" votes needed for passage).

Of just as much interest to the education community was the passage by the Senate of a much-revised version of HB 908, the "flexibility" bill.  It has been amended considerably since its movement from the House to the Senate, and the latest version (as it passed the Senate) was not available at the time of the writing of this report.  It will be summarized and reported on as soon as that copy is available.  Under any circumstances, since the bill has been changed by the Senate, it will have to return to the House for agreement or for further work.

As noted earlier, the General Assembly is now in recess until April 12, and it is unlikely that they will reach the end of the session before April 21 at the earliest.