Politics
Five things we learned under the Gold Dome today: lawmaker unhappy with Trump and Clinton
Feb. 29, 2016 - Atlanta - Lobbyists in the hallways follow the day's activity. Many key bills come up for last-chance votes Monday on crossover day at the Capitol. Crossover Day is the final day for a bill to move from one chamber to the other this year. Although there are ways around the rule, only a few bills each year successfully defy Crossover Day's deadline. BOB ANDRES / BANDRES@AJC.COM
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Wednesday marked the end of the week for state lawmakers. The House and Senate were off Tuesday after a long Crossover Day on Monday and now they’re out for the rest of the week.
But before the senators and representatives could head home for their long weekends, they had quite a busy and productive day.
Here are 5 things that happened at the Georgia Capitol today that you should know:
1. State Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, is not happy with how some Georgia students were “unfairly and illegally kept out of” Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump events. [State lawmakers are raising questions about why black university students were removed from Clinton and Trump rallies held in public buildings.]
2. Special education students could have video cameras monitoring their classrooms. [“The cameras are not Big Brother, but they will serve as an objective eye,” said Valencia Stovall, D-Lake City.]
3. A key Senate committee easily approved a tax break on Super Bowl tickets. [This bill will also give back-to-school shoppers another sales tax holiday this summer.]
4. The state is waiting to see if Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens will take legal action now that his office has decided daily fantasy sports games are a form of illegal gambling. [Earlier this week, the Senate failed to take action on legislation that would have for the first time made daily fantasy sports games subject to state regulation.]
5. A bill that could reduce the weight of student “growth” in teacher evaluations to 30 percent from the more than 50 percent required under current law is moving along. [It got a hearing in the House of Representatives Wednesday, after passing the Senate by a unanimous vote last week.]
