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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2007 > January > 31
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Liquor lobby tries to draft Georgians
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
And now, a Super Bowl Sunday message from your friends in the liquor business: get rid of Georgia’s Blue Laws or face the prospect of more boozeless big games in the future.
The Washington D.C.- Distilled Spirits Council sent out a release Wednesday reminding Georgians that they won’t be able to buy liquor on Sunday because of what it calls “Georgia’s outdated Blue Law” banning alcohol sales.
Lawmakers are considering a bill allowing local voters to decide whether to allow beer and wine sales at stores on Sunday. Liquor industry officials would like the bill to be amended to include distilled spirits as well. Gov. Sonny Perdue has already expressed his opposition to the proposal.
David Wojnar, vice president of the council, said annual Sunday sales of distilled spirits in Georgia could generate $29.1 million to $40.7 million in sales and $3.4 million to $4.8 million in additional tax revenue.
Georgia is one of three states with a complete ban on Sunday beer or wine sales.
“These archaic laws hinder consumers’ ability to purchase spirits for their Super Bowl parties and deprive state coffers of additional tax revenue that would be gained from year-round Sunday sales,” Wojnar said.
Perdue has already explained to Georgians how to solve their Super Bowl party problems. “Think of it this way,” Perdue said in a recent radio interview. “It really helps you plan ahead for the rest of your life - buying on Saturday, rather than Sunday. Time management.”
Permalink | Comments (19) | Categories: Liquor Laws
Senate approves special needs scholarship
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After nearly three hours of debate, the state Senate today approved Senate Bill 10, which would allow state-funded vouchers for disabled children to attend schools outside their resident districts.
The vote was 31-23. The bill now goes to the House.
“People out there understand this,” Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) told his colleagues before the vote. “Your constituents will remember this vote.”
Critics of the bill questioned whether it would help the neediest — low-income students who are severely disabled — and siphon money from public school systems.
“This is the gateway to vouchers and the dismantling of our public school system,” Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) said.
But Johnson said the key point is that his bill gives a parent the means to choose a school for a special-needs child.
He estimated the vouchers would average $9,000 and that 9,300 Georgia students might receive them, based on the popularity of a similar program in Florida.
Permalink | | Categories: Education
House approves Zell Miller statue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The House of Representatives approved a resolution today calling for a statue to former U.S. Sen. Zell Miller on the State Capitol grounds.
Backed by several House Republican leaders, HR16 urges the Capitol Arts Standards Commission to move forward with the project, calling the Democrat “one of Georgia’s most distinguished native sons.”
“The time is right,” state Rep. Ben Bridges Sr. (R-Cleveland), who sponsored the resolution, told the House this morning. “I know of no one who has done more for the people of this state than Zell Miller.”
Bridges joined other representatives in honoring Miller’s service to Georgia as former state senator, lieutenant governor and governor. And they cited Miller’s efforts to establish Georgia’s popular pre-kindergarten and HOPE scholarship programs.
Miller, who also served as Georgia’s lieutenant governor and governor, is a maverick Democrat who endorsed Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue for governor in May over Democratic Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor.
Miller angered Democrats when he spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2004, accusing the Democratic Party of moving too far to the left and blasting presidential nominee John Kerry as incapable of leading the war on terror. Miller also supported many of President Bush’s initiatives and published a book in 2003 that criticized the Democratic Party.
Several top House Republican leaders sponsored the resolution calling for Miller’s statue, including House Majority Whip Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) and Rep. Jay Roberts (R-Ocilla), chairman of the House Republican Caucus.
Yet, the resolution received bipartisan support. House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) rose in support of the measure on the House floor.
“It is appropriate at this time,” Porter told the House, “to give him the recognition that his life work deserves.”
The resolution passed on a 153-3 vote. The follow representatives voted against it: Joe Heckstall (D-East Point), Jimmy Lord (D-Sandersville) and Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell).
Permalink | Comments (98) | Categories: politics
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