The Georgia General Assembly at a glance for Thursday, Day 40 of the 2018 legislative session:
The time is now: The 2018 legislative session draws to a close Thursday and much remains to be done. The Senate has 41 bills available for debate after pushing through nearly half of its calendar on Tuesday. The House has seven items eligible for debate, but the Rules Committee is expected to meet sometime Thursday to add more legislation to the list. Regardless of how many bills are on the calendar, lawmakers will have until midnight to pass anything that will become law this year.
Budget and transit: Still outstanding is an agreement on the budget and a plan for the future of Georgia's transit system. The budget is the only piece of legislation the law requires the General Assembly to approve each year. Senators agreed to a compromise on the $26.2 billion budget on Tuesday after working out details in a conference committee of lawmakers from each chamber. The House has yet to agree. Also up in the air is an agreement between the chambers on the expansion of mass transit in metro Atlanta. Lawmakers have been working since last week to reach an agreement.
On the record: "Every senator has a right to put any amendment that they want on any bill. ... But yet when you turn an amendment in at the very, very last minute to where, no, it's not able to get printed in due time for everyone to see, that's being disrespective of the body. So if you have an amendment that you want turned in, you have a right to do so, but I would ask that all amendments get turned in in a timely manner where it can be presented to the body in full."
— Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle on late-arriving amendments
Business days remaining in the 2018 legislative session: 0. Sine die.
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