In the Georgia Legislature, the witching hour cometh

By Jim Tharpe

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The witching hour – it’s actually a whole day – approaches at the state Legislature.

Thursday is scheduled to be the magical 30th day of the 40-day session, and it can spell success or doom  for major legislation. Bills have to pass one chamber by midnight on “cross-over day” or they generally are dead for the year.

This year, there’s a lot hanging in the balance. Most of lawmakers’ time so far has been consumed by the loud sucking sound coming from the state’s $17.8 billion  budget for 2011, which could have a billion-dollar hole that only seems to get bigger with every month’s revenue report.

Two things to look for in the week ahead:

• A controversial bill to improve the way the state funds highway projects (HB1218) comes before the House. It’s a mess right now, full of amendments and a provision known as a regional opt-out that the governor doesn’t like. A House-Senate conference committee will eventually have to work out the details before Gov. Sonny Perdue will sign it.

Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) made a surprise appearance before the House Transportation Committee last week to urge lawmakers to put local interests aside and get the legislation to the House floor.

“We need a transportation policy that looks at the needs of the whole state,” Ralston said. The committee eventually moved the bill forward.

• HB 1055 will also generate a lot of discussion. The bill proposes to raise an additional $93 million by increasing fees and adding fees on a long list of state services including specialty license plates and civil court filings.

• A divisive proposal that would permit the re-creation of Milton County out of north Fulton County will also probably hit the floor.

And it will have a very tough time once it gets there.

The bill, backed by Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones (R-Milton), will need a two-thirds vote because it calls for the state Constitution to be amended. Democrats, who are a House minority, say they have the votes to stop it.

You could feel the legislative pace accelerating last week as the House and Senate began moving bills.

On Thursday, the Georgia Senate passed a bill that would make texting while driving illegal and impose a $150 fine.

The bill would bar teens from getting their Class C License on a second offense.

“I think the teenagers are starting to get it more than the adults,” said Sen. Jack Murphy (R-Cumming), who sponsored the bill. “Under this bill, it will now be against the law to text in Georgia while you are driving. The point of this bill is not punitive, it sends a message.”

Murphy’s bill is one of several that have been floating around the Legislature this session. With this traction — the bill passed unanimously amid loud applause — it now goes to the House.

The House last week overwhelmingly approved the Water Stewardship Act of 2010 to curtail outdoor watering and require builders and apartment building owners to more efficiently manage water.

While the legislation mandates a so-called "culture of conservation"-- by allowing outdoor watering only between the hours of 4 p.m. and 10 a.m., and requiring builders to use more efficient plumbing -- its not-so-hidden purpose is to influence Alabama, Florida and a federal judge.

The new water rules, which include exceptions for farmers and nurseries, would mostly go into effect in July 2012.

The Georgia House also passed legislation allowing juvenile offenders to receive credit for time served.

Only adult prisoners are currently given credit for the time they serve waiting for their case to go through court, said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver(D-Decatur).

HB 1144 should help the juvenile justice system save on bed space at a time when all state agencies are looking to cut costs, Oliver said.

The bill now heads to the state Senate for consideration.

Law enforcement would be barred by state law from releasing grisly crime-scene photos under legislation unanimously passed by the House.

A Hustler magazine writer recently requested photos of Meredith Emerson, the Buford hiker who was stripped naked and decapitated in the North Georgia woods.

The request, made under the Georgia Open Records Act, was called "sickening, disgusting and vile" by House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge).

Coming Next Week: House convenes at 10 a.m. Monday; the Senate at 1 p.m.