Days remaining in the 2017 Legislative session: 17
It's a week away from Crossover Day (not that anyone's counting), with both chambers beginning to open the floodgates to move their bills through the pipeline.
The Senate is in at 9 a.m. Rules Chairman Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, has unofficially declared it "law enforcement day" in the chamber, and five of seven bills on the calendar deal with public safety issues.
That includes Senate bills 154 and 160 (dubbed the "Back the Badge Act") which jointly seek to expand protections for on-duty law enforcement officers and increase penalties for those convicted of abusing them.
The House will convene a half-hour later, at 9:30 a.m., and has 11 bills to consider. Most of them are minor, although House Bill 199 would create a tax credit for video game companies that invest in Georgia, similar to the popular credits offered for television and film production.
More eyes (wait for it) will actually be on the afternoon meeting of the Health and Human Services Committee, which will convene upon adjournment of the House. The panel will -- again -- consider HB 416, which would allow optometrists to give patients eye injections on a limited basis if they take at least 30 hours of training. The same bill, minus the training requirement, failed a vote of the same committee earlier this month.
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