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Monday, Apr. 26, 2010

Lawmakers head into session’s final days

ATLANTA — Georgia legislators head into the homestretch of this year’s marathon legislative session in an unusual position: Most major pieces of their agenda are done.

A water conservation bill was approved weeks ago. A transportation deal is finally sealed. Ethics reform legislation has been OK’d. Gov. Sonny Perdue must still sign the bills, which have cleared both the House and the Senate.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean the session’s final two days will be drama-free. Bills that deal with the divisive issue of guns, abortion and forcing adults to wear seat belts in pickup trucks could all come before legislators before they gavel the 40-day session to a close.

Lawmakers must also still hash out their differences on the $17.8 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. With tax collections plunging, the budget was an obstacle that kept legislators at the state Capitol weeks later than usual.

But the central budget disagreement over filling a huge shortfall was resolved when legislators signed off on a separate bill that hikes dozens of fees and slaps a new tax on hospitals while also cutting taxes for senior citizens and property owners.

The House and Senate have each passed a spending plan and are meeting in a conference committee to iron out discrepancies.

Most of Georgia’s 236 lawmakers are anxious to return home and begin campaigning for re-election. And other state officials running for office are happy to finally kick their own campaigns into high gear. Elected officials have been barred from raising money since the Legislature began meeting Jan. 11, so a mad scramble for cash is expected begin as soon as the confetti hits the floor Thursday night.

Unlike past years, where major items remained in gridlock as the clock ticked down on the frantic final days, legislators this year have crossed most of the big stuff off their to-do list.

Some credit new leadership in the House. David Ralston took over as a speaker in January after his predecessor, Glenn Richardson, resigned amid allegations of an affair with a utility lobbyist.

While Richardson was always in the middle of a fight under the Gold Dome, Ralston has struck a more conciliatory tone and worked with Perdue and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. All three men are Republicans.

“This chamber can be proud of a good day’s work,” House Speaker David Ralston told state representatives Wednesday night as the chamber worked through an ethics bill and, after three years of trying, finally broke through a logjam on transportation funding.

Not everyone is pleased with the outcome. Some Democrats said the transportation deal shortchanges transit and won’t deliver any real money to the state’s cash-starved infrastructure projects for at least four years.