Abortion conference and dinner break
Three senators will spend their dinner break talking about House Bill 954, the bill that would tighten restrictions on abortion in Georgia.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle appointed President Pro Tem Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, and Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, along with Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, for a conference committee on HB 954. Williams and Unterman supported the bill as originally written. Cowsert supported amendments that created a loophole in the bill. The Senate passed the amended bill Monday with the loophole.
The House earlier had announced three of their members would be part of the committee.
Casey said the Senate will go back to work at 7:45 p.m.
Senate Democrats try to get cap on gifts
The move came during debate on Senate Bill 92, which is related to elections and absentee voting. The proposal, by Sen. Jason Carter, D-Decatur, would cap lobbyists' gifts to lawmakers at $100.
Such a cap has been pushed this year by a diverse coalition of advocacy groups, including Common Cause Georgia and the Georgia Tea Party Patriots. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, however, said legislative counsel advised him not to allow it, saying the amendment was not germane to SB 92. The amendment died on the floor at 6:16 p.m.
Governor visits Senate
Gov. Nathan Deal visited the Senate just after 5:30 p.m., receiving a standing ovation from senators.
Deal served in the Georgia Senate before he was elected to Congress. "This is where I learned where governing was all about," Deal said.
He congratulated lawmakers on the session, and said he felt they could go home and be proud of what they accomplished this year.
Property taxpayers' rights bill amended in Senate
An expansion of property taxpayers' rights passed at 4:40 p.m. in the Senate, which amended the bill and sent it back to the House.
Spearheaded by Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, Senate Bill 234 would forbid counties from selling tax liens to private collections firms if the property value is under appeal.
The measure would also create a state panel to handle complaints about local boards that hear residents' tax appeals, with authority to remove assessors or equalization board members. The bill would also prevent tax commissioners from collecting personal fees from cities for billing their taxes.
The Senate tweaked language related to that last section, among others. SB 234 passed on a 50-1 vote. If the House agrees to the changes, it would go to the governor for his signature.
Zero-based budgeting
A compromise has been reached on zero-based budgeting, one of last year's big efforts that fizzled and seemed to fade into the background this year.
Senate Bill 33, as proposed by a conference committee of Senate and House members, calls on officials from state agencies and programs to justify all spending periodically during the budget process.
They would have to use zero-based budgeting at least once every 10 years, starting in January. Not everyone would have to do it at the same time, however. The governor's planning and budget office would consult with the budget staff of both the House and Senate to decide which agencies and programs get picked each year.
Members of both chambers must agree this afternoon on the compromise before it can be sent to Gov. Nathan Deal for his signature.
At ease
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle announced at 3:25 p.m. that the Senate is taking a break until 4 p.m. That gives conference committees time to work, as well as anyone trying to broker a deal on a bill.
Conference committees
Fresh from lunch, Cagle at about 2:30 p.m. started on committee appointments to hammer out compromises on at least a couple of bills. One of them is a surprise: Senate Bill 203, a potentially costly and controversial proposed investment law.
It would mirror a former law that Georgia lawmakers killed in 2004. As proposed, it would allow the state to funnel as much as $125 million in tax credits through investment companies to small businesses
Proponents of the bill argue it would provide the money needed to help companies expand and create jobs. Opponents say that — as with the previous law — the new measure will simply hand piles of taxpayer money over to a few investment firms, which will reap most of the benefit.
Not much action, then lunch
The Senate adjourned for lunch and will reconvene at 1:30 p.m.
Much of the morning was taken up with resolutions honoring retiring officials and noncontroversial items.
Long-range cost impact on education bills approved
The Senate voted to require the state to develop a 10-year projection of financial consequences for any bill passed by the Legislature causing “significant impact” to the Department of Education.
The bill passed 53-0 in a vote recorded at noon.
Currently such bills have fiscal notes, but typically do not have projections that far into the future.
Senate votes to shield some hunting and agricultural information from public
The Senate voted to exempt personal information on hunting and fishing licenses and certain agricultural data from state open records laws.
The bill, House Bill 875, passed the Senate 50-1 at 11:40 a.m., with Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta as the only vote against. The bill included an amendment from Agriculture Committee Chairman John Bulloch, R-Ochlocknee, to shield from the public information farmers will be required to turn over to the Agriculture Department to qualify for a new tax exemption on energy cost.
Bulloch said the information includes personal data, like taxpayer identification numbers, and business information, such as the purchase of machinery and energy consumed.
“Why ought that be exempt from the Open Records Act?” Fort asked.
Bulloch said similar personal taxpayer information already is exempt under state law. The amendment extends that protection to farmers seeking the new energy exemption, he said.
“This is personal information we are protecting,” he said.
Senate recognizes retiring auditor for decades of service
While still getting started with their legislative duties, the Senate took a moment at 10:45 a.m. to honor one of the longer-serving officials in state government.
State Auditor Russell Hinton, who joined the audit department in 1974, is retiring.
He has been chief auditor for the state since 1999.
“I can tell you without a doubt that Georgia is a better state and a more successful state because of the work of the Department of Audits and Russell Hinton,” said Sen. Jack Hill, R-Reidsville.
Hinton received a standing ovation from the chamber. The Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts provides fiscal notes for lawmakers, showing the financial impact of bills.
“We have a wonderful state,” Hinton said. “We holler at each other every now and then, but it always gets done right."
Chaplain calls for Christianity in schools, government
The last chaplain of the day for the 2012 Senate session urged senators to allow Christian education in schools, restore the traditional family structure and the reinforce the United States of as Christian nation.
“We need to put God back in our government,” he said. “We need to demand what made us great will still be taught. We need to be able to pray and mention our Lord Jesus at football games.”
Senators found on their desks a copy of the book “The American Patriot’s Bible.”
Senate convenes for Day 40
The Georgia Senate convenes this morning with senators prepared for a final day of political wrangling on issues ranging from abortion, a constriction of unemployment insurance and criminal sentencing reform.
"We never start on time," a Senate staffer told a group of young pages.
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