Student test scores won't be pivotal to how schools are rated now that Georgia has been allowed to opt out of federal No Child Left Behind requirements. A waiver granted Thursday by the Obama administration also means Georgia won't be bound by the law's mandate that all students be proficient in math and reading by 2014.

In a process that revealed racial and geographic tensions, DeKalb County’s House delegation was unable Thursday to choose new boundaries for seats on the county school board. Working on a deadline imposed by the state House, the delegation was supposed to select a map Thursday.

A Senate committee approved legislation Thursday that would make it harder to sell stolen metal. Senate Bill 321, sponsored by Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, would establish stiffer requirements for metal recyclers and sellers. The bill would prohibit cash payments for metal purchases and require metal recyclers to collect a digital image of the metal items, plus a thumbprint and copy of a valid identification card from the seller.

The popular HOPE college scholarship was again the subject of proposed changes Thursday at the state Capitol, this time by members of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus. Led by the caucus chairman, Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, members would make the wealthiest Georgia families ineligible for the lottery-funded state scholarships as well as scale back requirements they said too often exclude poor, urban families.

A bill to limit abortions has been filed in the state House. House Bill 954, sponsored by Rep. Doug McKillip, R-Athens, is what is commonly referred to as a "fetal pain" bill. It says that a fetus can react to pain at 20 weeks, and it seeks to outlaw abortions at or past 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The state House of Representatives will let a proposed charter school constitutional amendment rest until at least next week. It voted 114-49 Thursday to reconsider the amendment, which did not gain a necessary two-thirds majority vote Wednesday. That means it will be up to the House Rules Committee to send it back to the floor, where Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, can call for another debate.

Congress was urged Thursday to expand the nation's federal guest-worker program under a resolution passed unanimously by the state Senate. Senate Resolution 715 follows passage last year of Georgia’s immigration law -- House Bill 87. The law seeks to deter illegal immigrants from coming here and encourages those already here to leave by preventing them from getting jobs and public benefits in Georgia.

Homeowners would have to be notified of foreclosure sales of their property under a bill passed Thursday by the Senate. Senate Bill 333 closes a loophole in the law, said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Jesse Stone, R-Waynesboro. While homeowners assume it is customary to be notified, the law does not require it.

Georgia is expected today to be released from requirements of a landmark federal education law that some say put too much pressure on students and teachers and contributed to test cheating in Atlanta and other places. The first 10 states to receive the waivers are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

State bureaucrats would not be permitted to divert bond funds from one project to another without first getting approval from the General Assembly under legislation filed Wednesday. Rep. Ben Harbin, R-Evans, former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, is championing the bill after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday that more than $4 million in bond money originally approved for a reservoir was “redirected” to two of Gov.

Parents, educators and advocates are expected to pack the room today, when DeKalb County’s House delegation approves the county’s school board map for the next decade. The delegation also will vote on new political lines for the County Commission at its meeting, but there is little controversy over small changes to those districts.

Gov. Nathan Deal wants to spend about $28 million to help bring new life to Fort McPherson, but there are few details on how the money will be used and what future investments the state will make. The recently vacated, 488-acre Army post is about four miles south of downtown Atlanta and has been hailed as a strong candidate for redevelopment, although few concrete plans have been advanced so far.

State bureaucrats would not be permitted to divert bond funds from one project to another without first getting approval from the General Assembly, under legislation filed Wednesday. Rep. Ben Harbin, R-Evans, former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, is championing the legislation after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday that more than $4 million in bond money originally approved for a reservoir was "redirected" to two of Gov.

Sunken logs could be raised from Georgia's rivers and sold to the highest bidder under a bill that cleared a Senate committee Wednesday. Environmentalists oppose "deadhead" logging, saying it chokes waterways with sediment and contaminants and eliminates habitats for fish and aquatic species.

After intense lobbying and lively floor debate, state House members on Wednesday narrowly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would restore the state's power to approve charter schools. The amendment's sponsors immediately announced plans to ask the House on Thursday to reconsider the 110-62 vote, which was 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority required.

Mitt Romney brought his bid for the Republican presidential nomination to Atlanta on Wednesday, but a trio of defeats a day earlier reshuffled the race as the campaign rumbles its way toward the March 6 primary in Georgia. Romney, the presumed front-runner for the GOP nomination, was trounced Tuesday by former U.

CLEVELAND -- Ohio's Republican primary vote will not be complete for nearly a month, but its 66 convention delegates are a magnet strong enough to pull Newt Gingrich away from the states that are voting in February. Gingrich spent two days on a bus rolling through Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland to try to drum up support as Ohio's early voting gets under way, with the primary scheduled for March 6.

Lobbyists spent more than $244,000 in the second half of January in an attempt to influence action at the state Capitol. They paid for giant receptions, intimate dinners and voter-mobilization efforts. That’s nearly three times what they spent in the first two weeks of the year.

Potty politics interrupted the state Senate on Wednesday after senators objected to a resolution commending PolyPortables, a Dahlonega-based maker of portable toilets. Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, introduced the measure as a goodwill gesture for a successful business in his community.

The chairman of Cobb County’s legislative delegation, Rep. Ed Setzler, filed a bill Tuesday that would cancel the regional transportation referendum set for July, make changes to the process and call for another referendum in 2014. Setzler, R-Acworth, has long criticized the referendum that, if approved by voters in July, would allow a 1-cent sales tax to fund transportation projects in regions across the state for 10 years.

D'oh! What would Homer think of this? The University of Georgia will hold a panel discussion about The Simpsons Feb. 15. The event, which is sponsored by the college's Willson Center for Humanities and Arts and the Peabody Awards, will look at the show's use of humor and satire.

Goodbye, city of Brookhaven, at least for now. A House committee agreed Tuesday that residents of north-central DeKalb County should be allowed to vote this summer on whether to create a city there. But over objections of state Rep. Mike Jacobs, the Republican from the area leading the cityhood fight, the name will be Ashford.

Republicans scrambled in the face of opposition Tuesday to rework a proposed state constitutional amendment that would reassert the state's right to approve charter schools. Democrats, the minority in both the House and Senate, announced their own version of an amendment that they say would give the state that right while limiting government reach into local school decisions.

The logs sank a century or so ago, sentries to history as four Georgia rivers ebbed and flowed around them. Should they now be sold to the highest bidder? One of the Senate's top lawmakers believes so, keeping alive a debate whether loggers may raise the sunken logs and sell the wood.

DAYTON, Ohio – Newt Gingrich, historian, took a brief detour from the presidential campaign trail today to tour the home of aviation pioneer Orville Wright as he used the Wright Brothers’ story to underscore his space exploration plans. Gingrich’s Ohio swing Tuesday included stops in Cincinnati and Dayton, with a rally planned for Tuesday evening in Columbus.

Gov. Nathan Deal has signed a bill into law that makes it easier for business to file garnishment requests in Georgia. Deal said Tuesday he's committed to working with the state Legislature to "reduce unnecessary regulation on businesses, large and small.

Key legislators want to rewrite Georgia law after the state Supreme Court struck down the General Assembly's last attempt to criminalize assisted suicides. "The Supreme Court has ruled, and now it is up to us," Majority Whip Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, said.

Trafficking in sex workers and laborers -- modern slavery -- has attracted the attention of the Georgia Legislature, which is moving ahead with a study commission. The Georgia House passed a resolution Tuesday urging the creation of a 13-member commission to study human trafficking and the treatment of victims.

The Justice Department is reviewing Georgia’s tough new immigration law and is discussing it with businessmen and law enforcement officials here, but it has not decided to sue to block the statute like it has in four other states, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Tony West said Tuesday.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's spokesman says she plans to veto a measure opposing her board's decision to allow Georgia to dredge the Savannah River and expand its port. The measure viewed as a rebuke of the Republican governor is on its way to her desk following yet another unanimous vote.

Some of Georgia's low-income students will receive up to $10,000 for college through a privately funded scholarship program Gov. Nathan Deal unveiled Monday. The REACH Scholarship program will target middle school students who have the academic skills for college but may struggle to afford it, Deal said.

The Georgia Aviation Authority would be all but dismantled under a bill passed Tuesday by the state Senate. Senate Bill 339 would return the control of aircraft and aviation staff to both the state Department of Natural Resources and the Georgia Forestry Commission.

Visitors to the state Capitol will notice some changes, and they are colored blue and gray. State troopers are now patrolling the Gold Dome and its immediate surroundings as the state beefs up security following a January carjacking of a Public Service Commission employee.

With the strict ethics reforms they want bottled up in the House, several Georgia advocacy groups turned Monday toward Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, as he introduced a new bill championing a cap on lobbyist gifts to lawmakers. Senate Bill 391 is the second bill with caps on lobbyists introduced this year in the General Assembly, cheered on by a disparate and vocal alliance of groups that include Common Cause Georgia, Georgia Watch and the Georgia Tea Party Patriots.

A committee of the state Transportation Board is interviewing candidates this week to lead the Georgia Department of Transportation as commissioner. The agency, which runs a $2 billion budget, is one of the state's most important, building and repairing the state's roads and bridges and helping with smaller local transit and airports.

Legislation is being introduced in the Georgia House that would require each school system to have a minimum of two employees trained in the administration of diabetes treatment, it was announced Monday. “This measure will ensure that every diabetic child in Georgia has the opportunity to strive for excellence in a safe, healthy and supportive school environment,” said Rep.

Two committees of DeKalb County lawmakers that are working to redraw political lines for the County Commission and county school board districts postponed voting on new maps Monday but expect to act by the week’s end. The state House committee looking at the redistricting map for the school board received several proposed boundaries over the weekend, and Chairwoman Simone Bell, D-Atlanta, said she wanted to give members time to review the offerings.

Rep. Yasmin Neal, a Jonesboro Democrat, has bipartisan support to create a five-member committee of legislators to study the creation of an alternative school for expelled students. The House Study Committee on Expulsion School Creation, proposed by House Resolution 1277,  would look at various models, such as a boarding school, and make any recommendations to the Legislature by the end of this year.

Because of a loophole in a state law -- and by personally collecting fees for billing taxes in three cities -- Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand has become the state's highest-paid elected official.Taking in $347,000 last year, Ferdinand's earnings approached the level of the U.

Gov. Nathan Deal's plan to eliminate the sales taxes that manufacturers pay on energy could benefit Georgia businesses and help recruit new industry, but local governments and schools stand to lose together an estimated $144 million. In talks with Deal's staff, cities and counties are seeking the creation of an optional local excise tax to replace their estimated $108 million in losses.

LAS VEGAS – Hold on until Super Tuesday. That’s Newt Gingrich’s game plan following his decisive back to back losses to Mitt Romney in Florida and Nevada’s Republican presidential nominating contests. The former House speaker talked about his way forward during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday morning.

Is metro Atlanta’s privately funded path out of congestion crumbling? A nearly $1 billion toll lane project on I-75 and I-575 is fighting for survival after state leaders decided to reject an infusion of private money that was expected to jump-start it.

As Gov. Sonny Perdue wrapped up his second and final term, the state quietly funneled millions of taxpayer dollars into two heavily criticized projects in Perdue’s home county, a new state audit shows. The $4.37 million was originally approved to help pay for a reservoir in west Georgia but later was diverted.

Mitt Romney continued to dominate the money race in Georgia as the former Massachusetts governor out-raised all other candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in the final quarter of 2011. Reports filed this week with the Federal Election Commission show Georgians contributed more than $525,000 to Romney from Oct.

LAS VEGAS -- Former Georgia Congressman Newt Gingrich delivered a fiery closing argument here on the eve of Nevada's Republican caucuses, predicting he would win the GOP nomination and taking several swings at Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama. Coming off a tough loss in Florida and now trailing Romney by 20 points in a new Nevada poll, the former House speaker vowed to fight for the nomination all the way to the Republican National Convention in August.

President Barack Obama’s name will remain on the Georgia primary ballot after a state law judge flatly rejected legal challenges that contend he can not be a candidate.  In a 10-page order, Judge Michael Malihi dismissed one challenge that contended Obama has a computer-generated Hawaiian birth certificate, a fraudulent Social Security number and invalid U.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Trent Franks is on challenging terrain when wooing his congressional colleagues to back Newt Gingrich for president. “The main hesitation with members here, of course, is they want to be on the winning side,” said Franks, an Arizona Republican.

Activists for ethics reform say a bill introduced Friday that would restore power to the state ethics commission is a good start, but they will continue pushing for changes such as caps on gifts to legislators. House Bill 889, sponsored by Republican House leadership, will restore the commission's ability to interpret and apply rules and laws governing lobbying and ethics investigations.

Georgia farmers would get some help navigating the federal guest-worker program under the amended budget the House approved Friday. The spending plan calls for the Department of Agriculture to use $75,000 to hire specialists to guide farmers through the federal process, said Rep.

The House passed a bill Friday that would free up about $1 billion in motor fuel tax revenue to be used for transportation projects, including a toll road project in Cobb and Cherokee counties. The money had been dedicated to the state Transportation Department in previous years, but an accounting change did not allow the funds to be rolled over from one fiscal year to the next fiscal year.

Georgia would spend about $18.6 billion in state money this year -- an increase of nearly $255 million over what was originally planned -- under a midyear budget House members passed Friday. The vote was unanimous. The House budget includes $300 million for a toll road project along I-75 and I-575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties.

The House Appropriations Committee approved a budget plan Thursday that would increase state spending by about $255 million this year. The committee's budget follows a recommendation by Gov. Nathan Deal for state spending to grow to about $18.6 billion for the 2012 fiscal year.

Praise and scorn rained down on Karen Handel Thursday, as both foes and supporters of abortion rights credited the former Georgia secretary of state for the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s rift with Planned Parenthood. Those in the pro-life camp lauded Handel, who joined Komen last year as its vice president for public policy, for withdrawing funding for Planned Parenthood’s breast cancer screening programs.

LAS VEGAS – Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign needed some good news Thursday and got none as the former Georgia congressman sought to rebound from a stinging defeat in Florida and to gain traction against a surging Mitt Romney. A new poll showed Romney with a 20-point lead over Gingrich in the Silver State, a state the former Massachusetts governor won convincingly in the 2008 presidential primary.

Gov. Nathan Deal and top legislators have a plan to pay for the beleaguered toll road project along I-75 and I-575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties: lots of gas tax money. The state Department of Transportation is not on board yet, and might have to decide on the expenditure.

Charter school supporters claimed a first-round victory late Thursday in their fight to override last year's Georgia Supreme Court ruling, declaring that the state cannot approve and fund charter schools over local school board objections. "We're very pleased.

A House committee tabled a bill Thursday that would move the state's vocational rehabilitation programs from the Department of Labor to the Department of Human Services. The sponsor of House Bill 831, Rep. Tom McCall, R-Elberton, said it just picks up the programs from one agency and drops them into another.

A bill introduced this week in the state House would sweeten Georgia’s economic incentives and lower the threshold of eligibility for businesses in an effort to attract and add new jobs in the state. Gov. Nathan Deal has put job creation at the top of his agenda, and pieces of it are beginning to surface in legislation.

Las Vegas – Real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump endorsed Mitt Romney for president here Thursday, just two days before Nevada Republicans will participate in their state's caucuses. The Donald -- who once considered running for president and then offered to moderate a debate for the candidates --  made his endorsement following conflicting reports about his plans and signs of disorganization in Newt Gingrich’s campaign.

New car buyers in Georgia would have to shell out an extra $2 for the state's "lemon law" fee under a bill passed Thursday in the Senate. The increase included in Senate Bill 305 would raise the fee from $3 to $5, a 66 percent increase at a time when lawmakers by the dozen want to more tightly regulate the state's fee system.

A Georgia state lawmaker is complaining that she's getting too many emails to her personal account. Democratic Rep. Nikki Randall of Macon stood on the House floor Thursday and complained that someone had leaked her personal email account to advocates seeking action from members of Georgia's General Assembly.

The deadline to register to vote in the March 6 presidential primary is the end of the day Monday, and opportunities to vote early are already available. Absentee voting by mail began in January, and in-person early voting begins Feb. 13. Early voting varies by county, but state law requires that early voting polling sites be open Saturday, Feb.

Las Vegas – Trailing in the polls here, former Georgia congressman Newt Gingrich highlighted his proposals to boost the economy and jabbed at Mitt Romney during a rally Thursday at a forklift manufacturing plant, where hundreds of enthusiastic supporters cheered and chanted "Newt!" Also Thursday, a spokesman for Gingrich confirmed his campaign is preparing to challenge the Florida GOP primary results.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The way his chief spokesman describes it, the Newt Gingrich presidential campaign’s financial operation runs like a lawn sprinkler. As soon as money comes down the pipe, it sprays out. “We’re not like the Romney campaign where we can choose this pile of money or this pile of money,” R.

Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign raised almost $10 million in the final quarter of 2011, and a chunk of it stayed in Gingrich's family and their businesses, according to new disclosures. Gingrich's campaign paid him $47,000 for a list of supporters and paid one of his companies $67,000 for web hosting during the final months of 2011.

Tourists going to Georgia's growing number of distilleries could end their walk with a sip of liquor under a new proposal in the General Assembly. Distilleries could give a single half-ounce sample if legislators approve House Bill 514, which a committee approved Wednesday.

Efforts to redraw political lines for both the DeKalb County Commission and county school board districts are on a fast track, despite limited chances for the public to see just how the county will be carved up. The county’s House delegation must vote on new redistricting maps -- which set the boundaries for county commissioners and school board members -- by next week.

Secretary of State Brian Kemp sat for questioning Wednesday by some members of the professional licensing boards he wants to overhaul. Kemp is working on legislation that would give his staff rather than the boards the ability to approve or disapprove licenses for professions such as plumbers and nurses.

A key House panel Wednesday passed a measure to allow a constitutional amendment be placed on the ballot to let voters decide whether a revenue stream set up to fund Georgia's indigent defense system can be dedicated solely for that reason. House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee Chairman Rich Golick, R-Smyrna, who sponsored House Resolution 977, said the public defender system needs to be on as solid financial footing as possible.

Local governments and businesses could avoid water pollution fines if they agree to voluntarily correct problems associated with a spill under a bill passed Wednesday by a Senate committee. Senate Bill 269 has already lit a fire under environmentalists, who say it gives polluters a free pass and takes the teeth out of state law.

Lawmakers started work Wednesday on a bill that would bar students from Georgia schools and colleges if they're convicted of hazing. No vote was taken on House Bill 659, but the bill's author and members of the House Education Sub-Committee on Academic Support suggested revisions.

Another attempt to cut the amount of taxpayer money the state's rural telephone companies can receive was filed Wednesday in the Georgia House. House Bill 855 would phase out a fund that as many as 17 of the state’s rural phone companies have dipped into to subsidize the cost of supplying phone service.

A vote is expected Thursday in the House Education Committee on a proposed constitutional amendment that appeals to charter school supporters and is opposed by public school groups. The amendment would effectively override last year's Georgia's Supreme Court ruling by reinstating the state's authority to create and fund charter schools over the objections of local school boards.

A politically savvy coalition of religious groups and nonprofits is pushing Georgia's Legislature to take more steps against sex trafficking. About 600 members rallied support at the state Capitol on Wednesday for the creation of a commission that will draft a plan to help victims of sex trafficking and crack down on those who run the trade.

Georgia's public colleges are a step closer to getting more money to build dorms, parking decks, student centers and other nonacademic buildings under a bill passed Wednesday by the state Senate. Senate Bill 302 increases from $300 million to $500 million the cap for the Georgia Higher Education Facilities Authority.