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Saturday, Mar. 07, 2009

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: General Assembly session to wrap April 3

The Georgia General Assembly is scheduled to wrap up its 2009 session on April 3.

Legislators had planned to meet through March 25, then keep five of the 40 legislative days allotted them each year in their collective pocket for a possible June session.

But with the details of a budget-saving federal stimulus package now in place and with Gov. Sonny Perdue lowering the state’s revenue estimate, most of the big numbers in the state budget are set. With those questions answered, the lengthened session wasn’t as needed.

The new “Crossover Day,” when legislation has to have passed either the House or Senate to be considered this year, is Thursday.

That will be the 30th legislative day, and April 3 will be day 40.

SPEAKER RICHARDSON: HE’S A GIVER

The kinder and gentler speaker of the house continues to be kinder, using some of his political campaign cash to buy every state legislator a formal wax seal for their oaths of office.

Once known for a fiery temper, a running mouth and a penchant for fighting with the General Assembly’s upper chamber — the Senate — Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson has turned over a new leaf. He’s kept things to himself if he’s been angry, and he didn’t just buy state seals for House members.

“I gave the Senate members one as well,” Richardson, R-Hiram, told House members Thursday.

The announcement drew some good-natured hoots of derision against the Senate.

The wax seals are typically affixed to legislators’ commissions by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office. But the Secretary of State didn’t do that this year, going with a less-labor-intensive process of using adhesive seals.

The wax ones took an in-house employee four weeks to make, and there had been about 450 of them made to cover all state legislators and other officials who get seals on their commissions, Secretary of State spokesman Matt Carrothers said.

Richardson bought the seals through one of the political action committees he controls, he said.

GEORGIA COLLEGE PRESIDENT NAMED ‘POWER WOMAN’

Georgia Trend magazine has named Georgia College & State University President Dorothy Leland one of the state’s “power women.”

She is one of four women — and the only one from Middle Georgia — recognized in the magazine for her excellence in community service, business, higher education and economic development.

The magazine calls Leland, who was tapped as Georgia College’s president in 2004, a “maven” of formal education.

The story noted that Georgia College has a total enrollment of more than 6,000 students, most of whom come from places within a three-hour radius, and has a regional economic impact of more than $170 million.

The three other Georgia Trend power women are: Michelle Nunn, president and chief executive officer of the Points of Light Institute in Atlanta; Sylvia Russell, president of AT&T Georgia in Atlanta; and Myrna Ballard, president of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce.

EDWARDS RECEIVES CERTIFICATION

Bibb County Commissioner Lonzy Edwards is now a certified county commissioner. Edwards received notification of his status from the University of Georgia and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia late last month. His certificate will be presented in April at ACCG’s annual meeting in Savannah, according to a letter from UGA.

“I think it’s a good thing,” Edwards said of the certification process, which involved taking 48 hours of classes relating to the duties of a county commissioner. “You have people of all education levels who are elected to county commissioners. ... You learn stuff that you didn’t know.”

ALLEN PROUD TO SUPPORT ETHICS CODE

Bibb County Commissioner Joe Allen wants to make it known that he supports the adoption of a code of ethics.

Before the commission’s regular meeting Tuesday, Allen made a point to tell a reporter that even though he missed a vote on the ethics code earlier in the day, he planned to vote to ratify the new ordinance that night.

In the past, Allen has been accused by former Commission Chairman Charlie Bishop of voting on matters in which he believed Allen had a conflict of interest. Bishop unsuccessfully tried to push ethics legislation before he left office in December.

After the commission ratified the ethics ordinance, Allen had one last thing to say.

“Mr. Chairman,” he said, addressing current Commission Chairman Sam Hart, “can you send a copy of this to ex-Chairman Bishop?”

Telegraph writers Travis Fain and Jennifer Burk contributed to this report.