Deep coverage
Crossover Day is one of the most crucial days in a legislative session, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will have a team of more than 10 reporters, editors and photographers at the Capitol on Thursday to cover the day’s proceedings. Activities can be followed throughout the day on ajc.com.
More than 800 pieces of legislation have been proposed this year in the General Assembly, but what really counts happens Thursday.
Crossover Day, which comes every year on the 30th day of the Legislature’s annual 40-day session, is the day when bills must pass at least one chamber to remain alive. It is hectic and long, but out of Thursday’s clamor will come winners: several dozen bills picked as worthy of consideration to become law.
More: The status of bills and what lawmakers are saying, updated throughout the day
What to watch, part one: Guns
Whether to significantly expand access to guns in Georgia will likely be the debate to watch Thursday. House Bill 512 is the biggest of more than two dozen gun bills offered this year following December’s school massacre in Newtown, Conn. Many of the bills pushed for expanded access to firearms across the Peach State, with HB 512’s backers combining ideas from several of those proposals into one measure. That includes lifting the weapons ban on college campuses and in public school “safety zones,” strengthening state law by explicitly allowing guns in nonsecured areas of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and making it legal to carry firearms into all bars and churches. Students currently can’t keep weapons in dorms or classrooms, but they may store them in locked cars. Guns can be carried into bars, but only with the permission of the bars’ owners. The state’s conceal-carry law also prohibits anyone under age 21 from carrying a gun. HB 512 has an intriguing chance at passage, despite a public stance by legislative leaders — including House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge — that no “dramatic shift” in Georgia’s gun laws would happen this year. It’s worth noting, however, that the measure faces powerful opposition, including the University System of Georgia.
What to watch, part two: Schools and HOPE
Education issues will also be a hot topic. More money could flow to the state’s strained HOPE college scholarship program under House Bill 487. It would give control and enforcement of video poker machines to the Georgia Lottery Corp. and direct that a share of the profits go to the HOPE program. Video poker machines are legal if they are registered and taxed, although stores are only allowed to award vouchers for merchandise in the store, not cash or tobacco or alcohol. House Bill 372, which has the blessing of Gov. Nathan Deal, would make more technical college students eligible for the HOPE Grant by changing the eligibility requirement to a 2.0 grade-point average. That’s down from the current rule of 3.0 and a return to what existed before lawmakers overhauled HOPE in 2011 to prevent it from going broke. Nearly 9,000 students lost the grant last year because they couldn’t maintain a 3.0. Senate Bill 243, meanwhile, would place notably stricter controls on the state’s private school tax credit program and limit who can benefit from it. Also supported by Deal, the bill comes after the Southern Education Foundation, a nonprofit group that pushes for education improvement in the state, asked the Department of Revenue to investigate the program because of repeated financial abuses.
What to expect:
A long night, at least in the House. There are 29 bills on the Senate calendar and nearly 40 on the House’s list. The House is likely to add additional bills as the day goes on. House Rules Committee Chairman John Meadows, R-Calhoun, predicted the House would work past bedtime. “Y’all best pack your sleeping bags,” he warned members Wednesday as they met to select bills to debate on Crossover Day.
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