The glacial pace of the last several days of the 2013 session of the Georgia General Assembly continued on this day, as the Senate took up only a two-bill calendar, and (once again) the House considered no general bills.  The House did finally break its deadlock over local legislation, so now that that particular logjam has been conquered, perhaps a more robust schedule is in the works.  On the other hand, perhaps we'd better be careful what we ask for.

 

Some committee action continued on this day as various committees acted to "get bills out" so that they could at least be considered by their various rules committees for placement on future chamber calendars.  In the House, Rep. Mike Dudgeon's subcommittee of the House Education Committee met to consider a short list of bills, and action was taken on the following:

 

SB 100, Senator John Wilkinson's (R-Toccoa) bill calling for the re-establishment of the Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee was heard.  This advisory committee had been abolished by the expiration of the legislation which created it, so this is merely an attempt to get it started again.  The bill received a "do pass" recommendation from the committee.

 

SB 68, Senator William Ligon's (R-Brunswick) attempt to mandate curriculum through his now-well-known "Celebrate Freedom Week" legislation was heard.  After some discussion (and, some really "interesting" testimony from various people), the bill was amended (though observers weren't quite sure just how it was amended) and given a "do pass" recommendation to the next level, which is the full House Education Committee.  (Editor's note:  Observers couldn't help but raise the proverbial eyebrow when one witness, in an attempt to demonstrate support for this bill, distributed a document supporting the bill, said document on ALEC letterhead.  If Georgia is going to go down the road of mandating curriculum changes based on the political positions of highly, highly partisan organizations.....)

 

HR 552, calling for the full implementation of a comprehensive school counseling program, was also given a "do pass" vote.

 

In another part of the building, a House Ways and Means subcommittee took up SB 243, the Governor's bill attempting to place some restrictions and shine some light on the state's tax credit voucher program.  The Governor's floor leader in the Senate presented the bill (with even more changes since the bill's passage by the Senate), and though some school-choice advocates asked for the current $51 million cap to be raised, no decision for change was made by the subcommittee.  It will be heard and discussed further in the Ways and Means venue.

 

In the Senate, Senator Lindsey Tippins (R-Marietta) gathered his Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education to review the House action on the FY2014 Budget.  Deputy State Superintendent Scott Austensen presented and explained the changes, after which there was no testimony and few questions from senators.  Action on this critical document will continue over the next few days.

 

Day thirty-four will commence on Thursday, March 14.