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Constitutional amendment would protect Georgians’ hunting, fishing rights
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Senate voted 44-4 Wednesday in favor of a proposed constitutional amendment to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing in the state.
The amendment would ensure Georgia’s laws protecting hunting and fishing could not be overturned, said Senate President Pro Tempore Eric Johnson (R-Savannah).
“There are activists judges and future Legislatures … that could restrict further our heritage and our historic right to hunting and fishing,” said Johnson, the resolution’s sponsor.
The measure now moves to the House. If it is approved there, voters will have the final say at the polls.
Johnson said there are about 400,000 hunters in Georgia. He said that eight other states have similar constitutional amendments, and that 10 states are considering the change.
Earlier in the day, the first public spat between rural and urban lawmakers in the Senate erupted over a bill that would change the federal funding balance for public road projects.
The Senate voted 42 to 9 in favor of Senate Bill 4, a measure that would allow the state to allocate money to interstate road projects by need rather than dividing the pot equally among Georgia’s 13 congressional districts.
Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg), the bill’s sponsor, said that under the current funding formula, there are fewer dollars for local road projects. He said the bill would not favor metro Atlanta and its suburbs.
But some rural legislators disagreed.
“This Senate Bill 4 will have a direct impact on rural Georgia roads,” said Sen. J.B. Powell (D-Blythe). “If you take all this interstate money off the top, rural Georgia roads will suffer.”
Democrat Doug Stoner of Smyrna, a metro Atlanta suburb, said that interstate roads were critical to the rest of the state to move trucks and products.
“In the end this will help all Georgians by maintaining our interstates and moving traffic around the state,” Stoner said.
The Senate unanimously approved a bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Dan Moody (R-Alpharetta) and Sen. Gloria Butler (D-Stone Mountain), to allow for the MARTA board to remove a member who has violated its code of ethics. The bill passed 52-0.
Moody said that the bill would give an appointing authority - such as the City of Atlanta or the Gwinnett County Commission - a maximum of 120 days to remove a MARTA board member who has been censured.
If the appointing authority did not make a decision, the MARTA board could take action on its own. “The intent of this legislation is to reinforce that there is a code of ethics that needs to be followed,” Moody said.
Senate Minority Leader David Adelman (D-Atlanta) offered an amendment changing the maximum time limit to 60 days. The amendment passed unanimously.
Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford) asked Moody whether he drafted the bill to target a MARTA board member from Gwinnett.
Last April, Gwinnett County’s MARTA representative Mychal Walker made headlines when a MARTA ethics panel found he had committed ethical breaches by accepting $20,000 in consulting fees from a lobbyist for a company bidding on a $100 million contract.
Gwinnett County commissioners will hold a hearing March 22 to decide whether to remove him from the board. State law currently requires such a hearing before a MARTA board member can be removed. Walker has denied any wrongdoing.
The Senate adjourned shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday. The Senate meets at 10 a.m. Thursday.
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