For the first time in four years, pro-life forces in the state Capitol will attempt to lay down ground rules for research conducted by the state’s major universities that employs human embryos or genetic material.

But this time, they’ll attempt to avoid a fight with infertile women, and with University of Georgia researchers engaged in a promising – and potentially lucrative – line of study.

H.B. 481, sponsored by state Rep. Jay Neal, R-LaFayette, is titled the “Ethical Treatment of Human Embryos Act” – as was its 2009 predecessor. Co-sponsors include state Rep. Donna Sheldon, R-Dacula, who is said to be considering a 2014 run for U.S. Rep. Paul Broun's congressional seat.

The 2009 version of this bill attempted to limit the creation of human embryos through in vitro fertilization by pregnancy clinics – unused embryos are sometimes donated by parents for scientific research. The new version would not.

The bill would make it illegal to:

-- “Create or attempt to create a human-animal hybrid;

-- “Transfer or attempt to transfer a human embryo into a nonhuman womb;

-- “Transfer or attempt to transfer a nonhuman embryo into a human womb

-- Transport or receive for any purpose a human-animal hybrid or any product “derived from such a hybrid.”

Four years ago, pro-science forces in the Capitol fought off the bill, in part to protect University of Georgia research that was made public a year later. Two UGA researchers, Steve Stice and Franklin West, had discovered how to use human DNA to create a line of pigs whose organs might someday be used for human use – without rejection.

That research, and more like it, appears to have received a carve-out in H.B. 481. Nothing in the bill would prohibit:

-- “Research involving the use of transgenic animal models containing human genes;

-- “Xenotransplantation of human organs, tissues or cells into recipient animals;

-- “An individual from receiving nonhybrid organs, tissues or cells delivered from outside of this state….”

But here’s a line in the bill that opponents are likely to focus on as a backdoor effort at “personhood” for all human embryos:

“In disputes arising between any parties regarding the in vitro human embryo, the judicial standard for resolving such disputes shall be in the best interest of the in vitro human embryo.”

The 2009 version of this bill originated in the Senate, passed that chamber, and died when it was bottled up in the House Science and Technology Committee by its chairman, Amos Amerson – who has since retired from the Legislature.

The committee’s new chairman is state Rep. Ed Setzler, R-Kennesaw, who in the past has led efforts to ban embryonic stem cell research.

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Last week, Senate Republicans beat back a Democratic amendment to a  bill that would have cut $150,000 from the budget of Georgia Public Broadcasting – the exact amount of the salary given to former Senate majority leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, for a newly created position there.

The progressive group Better Georgia has directed protests to Republican lawmakers, with some interesting results.

On his Facebook page, state Sen. Fran Millar posted this defense:

“Did not support Senator Rogers. The vote was on an amendment to the Amended Budget and the Rogers component was only one part. If it was free standing then I would have supported it.”

State Sen. Mike Dugan, R-Carrollton, sent a response to a constituent that included this:

“I have never met Mr. Rodgers and wouldn’t know him if he walked past me so I have absolutely no allegiance to him at all. I don’t know all of the particulars of his hiring other than what I got from the news. I do know that cutting GPB’s budget $150,000 would have compounded an already bad situation and those that would have suffered the most would have been our children. We don’t have the ability in our process to remove his specific salary but I would have if possible.”

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One of Savannah’s most famous landmarks, the two-mile Eugene Talmadge Memorial Bridge, may be about to cast off its segregation-era namesake. From the Savannah Morning News:

Members of the Chatham County delegation to the General Assembly this week expect to recommend a new name for the bridge, an act that will go a long way toward ending a debate that has raged since before the bridge was completed in 1991 at a cost of $71 million.

“We met on (Feb. 21), and there seems to be pretty much a consensus to move the name to the Savannah Bridge or the Savannah River Bridge,” said Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah. “It just seems to make more sense to attach the name to a location or a destination and not a person.”

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Buzzfeed this morning takes a look at Georgia’s looming Senate race and the longstanding feud between Gov. Nathan Deal and U.S. Rep. Tom Price, R-Roswell, who endorsed Karen Handel in the 2010 GOP race for governor. A tidbit:

Even in a vacuum, the Republican primary will likely be a competitive one: Price would face Rep. Paul Broun, and Reps. Jack Kingston and Phil Gingrey are also weighing bids.

But, for Price, such a four-way race is preferable to the alternative: Chambliss vacating office early, leaving Deal the power to appoint his successor — almost certainly not Price.

Recently, when Betty Price crossed paths with Chambliss's wife, Julianne, in Washington, Betty Price asked for Julianne Chambliss's assurance that her husband would not leave the Senate early.

"Saxby's going to finish his term," Julianne Chambliss responded, according to a source familiar with the discussion. Then, she added icily, "We keep our word."

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We have more Republican movement on the issue of gay marriage. From the New York Times:

Dozens of prominent Republicans — including top advisers to former President George W. Bush, four former governors and two members of Congress — have signed a legal brief arguing that gay people have a constitutional right to marry, a position that amounts to a direct challenge to Speaker John A. Boehner and reflects the civil war in the party since the November election….

Among them are Meg Whitman, who supported Proposition 8 when she ran for California governor; Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Richard Hanna of New York; Stephen J. Hadley, a Bush national security adviser; Carlos Gutierrez, a commerce secretary to Mr. Bush; James B. Comey, a top Bush Justice Department official; David A. Stockman, President Ronald Reagan’s first budget director; and Deborah Pryce, a former member of the House Republican leadership from Ohio who is retired from Congress.

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In Virginia, the Fairfax Democratic Party is gloating over the effective removal of voter integrity advocate Hans von Spakovsky from the electoral board of the largest county in the state. 

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The AJC’s Politifact Georgia today looks at Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s assertion that felony crimes in the city of Atlanta are at their lowest level since 1969.