Number of working days left until the end of the 2015 session of the General Assembly: 13
Three of the biggest pieces of legislation of the year will come up for floor votes today. There’ll be no shortage of drama.
H.B. 170, the transportation funding bill, is on the House calendar, with a floor amendment that, if passed, would severely reduce the amount of revenue the bill would raise. The amendment aims to mollify conservative lawmakers who don't want their names attached to a tax increase. The vote on the amendment should provide a hint of the prospects for the larger measure.
Also on the House calendar is H.B. 213, which would remove the requirement that MARTA use 50 percent of its proceeds on maintenance and 50 percent on operations. Don't kid yourself -- the two bills are connected. The latter is to make sure that Democrats stay in line on the former.
The Senate will take up Gov. Nathan Deal's plan (S.B. 133 and S.R. 287) to create a statewide school district made up of poorly performing schools, which the state would manage. They will also pick up the hot potato "religious liberty" bill (S.B. 129).
The action in both chambers will start at 10 a.m.
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