Road kill
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Georgia is one of the top 10 states in the country in deer-related auto accidents. Now, drivers could get some just desserts -- or dinner.
The Senate gave final passage to Senate Bill 474, which would allow drivers to keep any bear or deer that they might run over. The so-called Road Kill Bill passed 47-0.
In the past, if someone hit and killed a bear, the Department of Natural Resources could take it to mount or place in a museum. The bill would give drivers the option to keep their bears as long as they report the accident to the DNR within 48 hours. They would not have to report a deer strike.
C-Tran funding
The Georgia House gave final approval Thursday to legislation to allow Clayton County residents to vote on paying an additional 1 percent sales tax to fund C-Tran, the county’s mass transit system. House Bill 1393 would raise the cap on the sales tax counties can levy. It also would extend the exemption from motor fuel taxes for public transit for two more years.
The measure sets up the possibility of an imminent sales tax vote in Clayton County. However, the referendum would have to be green-lighted by the County Commission, which voted 4-1 to cancel its bus service in the first place.
South Fulton reservoir
The Georgia House balked at passing legislation that would have opened the door for a reservoir in south Fulton County.
Rep. Mike Coan (R-Lawrenceville) said Gov. Sonny Perdue wanted the legislation. But some House members voiced concern about the impact on other regions of the state and said this project, like other reservoirs, should be delayed until completion of a statewide water plan.
Health care opt out
A bill that would prohibit mandatory participation in any federal health care system is headed to Gov. Sonny Perdue for his signature. The bill was attached as an amendment to Senate Bill 411, the Healthy Georgians Act of 2010.
Staff writers Nancy Badertscher and Ernie Suggs contributed to this article.
