The Senate will vote Tuesday on new legislative districts approved last week by the House, after the districts won approval Monday by two key committees.
The vote was scheduled following passage in both the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Reapportionment Committee. Those votes coincided with action by the House Reapportionment Committee, which approved new Senate districts and sent them on to the House Rules Committee for review.
House members passed the plans Thursday, the same day that Senate members also passed new plans that also redrew legislative districts for their chamber. By rule, the House and Senate have now swapped plans for review and approval. The House Reapportionment Committee meets at 2 p.m. Monday to consider the Senate maps.
It is unlikely changes will be made before the plans reach Gov. Nathan Deal's desk. House members are unlikely to toy with Senate plans, and vice versa.
Hall County Republicans, including Gov. Nathan Deal, had raised concerns about the House plan that would split the county into seven House districts. Deal and other lawmakers from the area said last week they still wanted changes made.
However, Senate Reapportionment Chairman Mitch Seabaugh, R-Sharpsburg, said Monday that no one submitted amendments to the House plans by a 24-hour deadline in use for the special session.
The Senate Rules Committee also scheduled a Tuesday floor vote for a bill in support of Gov. Nathan Deal's decision to block an increase in the state gas tax.
The House passed the bill last week, turning it over to the Senate for final approval. It won Senate Finance Committee approval Monday morning.
Deal in late June signed an executive order suspending the tax hike, which normally kicks in automatically. The tax, at 20.4 cents per gallon, would have increased 1.6 cents per gallon.
The freeze, which lasts until the end of the year, requires legislative approval.
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