On this thirty-sixth day of the 2010 session of the Georgia General Assembly, two items of significance took place:  (1) The two chambers agreed on the schedule for the end of the 2010 session, including Tuesday and Wednesday of the week of April 19 and Tuesday and Wednesday of the week of April 26.  Sine die is set to occur late on the night of April 29.  (2)  The House gave formal approval to its version of the FY2011 Budget and, after transmitting it "immediately" to the Senate, set the stage for the always-tense negotiations over this all-important piece of legislation.  While many individuals and groups have stakes in this process, it is virtually impossible to predict what the ultimate outcome of the negotiations will be.  And, the Governor still wields the veto pen.....

The Senate addressed a sixteen-bill calendar on this day, and only one bill was of interest to the education community.  HB 910, which changes some of the requirements dealing with the annual gender equity reports required of both local school systems and the state, was approved by the upper chamber.  No House bills (other than the budget) addressed the interests of the education community.

On the Senate side of the House, two bills continue to be watched to see if they eventually emerge from the Senate Finance Committee.  Both have to do with the financing of public services, including education, and both affect those finances on the local level.  HB480 is the much-amended bill seeking to end the so-called "birthday tax" on vehicles in favor of some type of "title fee;" it wouldn't be surprising to see if pop up with no warning (which is not unexpected during these last days of any session).  And, the proposed constitutional amendment that would allow local school systems to use part of their SPLOST revenues for operations (HR 1230/HB 1020) sits "at the ready" and could emerge with no advance notice.

Capitol watchers will watch carefully for these and other issues, as the end-of-session scramble now truly begins.