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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February > 03
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Senators ask Congress for reservoir in national forest
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Senate Natural Resources & the Environment Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution to ask Congress for help in building a water supply reservoir upstream of Lake Lanier in the Chattahoochee National Forest.
Sen. Chip Pearson (R-Dawsonville), who sponsored Senate Resolution 107, said a reservoir at the top of the Chattahoochee River watershed could be used to refill Lanier.
The lake is currently more than 13 feet below full.
The Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club opposed the resolution. According to the club, the watershed above Lanier is too small to support another reservoir and conservation is a cheaper option.
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Senate passes more options for murder punishment
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Life without parole could be an option for prosecutors, when it comes to aggravated murder cases.
Senate Bill 13, sponsored by Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome), passed the Senate by a vote of 54 to 0 today.
The bill allows district attorneys to seek life-without parole sentences in aggravated murder cases. Now, DAs can seek life without parole only when they pursue the death penalty or when a defendant had a prior violent felony conviction.
Supporters of S.B. 13 say it will spare DAs from mounting a costly death-penalty prosecution when they would otherwise agree to let the defendant spend the rest of his or her life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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Senate passes regional transportation sales tax proposal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation today that could let voters decide to pay a penny sales tax in metro Atlanta for new roads, rail and other transportation projects.
The measure would allow other counties in the rest of the state to band together to tax themselves, or go it alone, if they chose.
First, voters would have to vote on the concept of approving such a regional tax, via a constitutional amendment. Then if local governments wanted to do it, voters would have to vote to approve a tax for a list of specific projects in their region.
The measures, Senate Bill 39 and Senate Resolution 44, now must go before the House for approval.
That is anything but certain.
The House has a competing proposal to allow voters to adopt a statewide sales tax that would not let counties opt out.
Last year the Legislature could not come up with an agreement on transportation policy.
A similar measure to pay for transportation on a regional basis failed in last year’s session, by a slim margin, at the 11th hour.
Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga), sponsored the Senate legislation today and hailed its passage as “the first step out of the gate” towards solving metro Atlanta’s and Georgia’s transportation mess.
“I am honored to have bi-partisan support _ metro and rural support_ for this measure,” Mullis said.
“The key is to come together very soon,” he said. “We are 17 days ahead of where we were last year,” he said.
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Herding cats, er, lawmakers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How do you get 180 state lawmakers to sit still?
Carefully, slowly and patiently.
The Georgia House had its annual official photograph taken today, a panoramic affair, that was going to take, Speaker Glenn Richardson said, “as long as you allow it.”
Richardson (R-Hiram) threatened to fine any House member $1,000 if they left the chamber before the ordeal was over.
Everyone stayed. And everyone, as best we could tell, smiled real nice.
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Richardson climbing the charts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Georgia House Speaker Tom Murphy was often recognized as the longest-serving House Speaker in the country, holding the post for nearly three decades before losing re-election in 2002.
Current House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), hasn’t taken quite so long to move up the seniority rankings.
Richardson, who became speaker in 2005, said he jumped to the top half of seniority among speakers nationally this year because there are 29 new House Speakers in 2009.
One of the major reasons for the turnover, he said, is term limits. Many states limit the amount of terms you can serve, so it’s impossible to build up seniority. Georgia has no such limits, and Richardson could be in for a long tenure after surviving a challenge for the top job from Rep. David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) last fall.
Republicans have a solid majority in the chamber and Richardson made friends among the new GOP members of the House last fall by campaigning hard for their election.
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