Neither the House nor the Senate took action on specific legislation on this second day of the 2012 session of the Georgia General Assembly, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a long, long day for legislators and Capitol-watchers.
Governor Deal, Lieutenant Governor Cagle, and House Speaker Ralston headlined the annual Eggs and Issues breakfast at the World Congress Center, a gathering during which Governor Deal outlined some economic development issues he intended to tackle at the beginning of this, his second year as Governor. Interestingly, during the Q & A, both Ralston and Cagle indicated their support for a proposed constitutional amendment that will be designed to "solve" the funding "crisis" for charter schools that were formerly approved by the now-defunct Charter Schools Commission, a piece of legislation that will be watched closely by education groups. Stay tuned for details when it emerges.
Once back in the Capitol building, the tension that has gripped the Senate for over a year now continued (all over who has the power to make committee appointments, etc.), and attempts to broker a compromise apparently fell flat. While it makes for interesting political theater, it makes for messy lawmaking. To read the details of the impasse, which will undoubtedly be of the most interest to political junkies, click here.
The long day dragged into the evening as a joint session of the Legislature convened at 7:00 p.m. to hear Governor Deal deliver his second State of the State address (this one not given in the midst of an ice storm!). In his lengthy speech, he touched on all the expected topics: infrastructure improvements, water supply, jobs, transportation, criminal justice reform, tax reform, and (of most interest to readers of this site), education.
Actually, he led with remarks on education, and while he spent a good bit of time on the topic, nothing was mentioned that could be considered "major reform" in nature. For example, Governor Deal reiterated the oft-repeated mantra about the importance of students being able to read by the third grade and even announced the inclusion in his budget of $1.6 million for a "reading mentors program" (details yet to come). And, he touted the importance of school nurses as a key component in school operations and announced an additional $3.7 million for that purpose.
As he discussed the more basic elements of school funding, the Governor stated that his budget included $146.6 million for enrollment growth and $55.8 million to fund increased T & E; neither of these was unexpected. He stated that there would be "no reductions in QBE or equalization," and this author (and others) interpret that to mean no additional cuts in those programs, but no restoration of the $1.1 billion in austerity cuts and no chance of full funding of the equalization grant program earnings. And, to no one's surprise, the Governor announced that both his supplemental and his FY13 budgets contained $8.7 million in grants for the state charters affected by the Supreme Court decision abolishing the Charter Schools Commission.
GSSA will do a full analysis of the Governor's FY12 Supplemental Budget and FY13 Budget over the next couple of days. Even as those analyses are completed, one only hopes that the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives heard (and, agree with) this direct quote from Governor Deal: "More than anyone under this Gold Dome, I believe local school leaders know best how to spend their funds for the greatest outcomes for their students." That's a positive thought with which to close out this long, long day.
Day three of the 2012 session commences on Wednesday, January 11. |