House begins final day of session

Lawmakers in the Georgia House of Representatives have begun the last day of the 40-day session with plenty left on their plates.

“Good morning. Does anybody know what day it is?” House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, to the hoots of the rank and file. “Welcome to Day 40 and thank you for a great session.”

Much of the work Thursday will concentrate on hammering out agreements with the Senate on bills that have passed both chambers but in different forms. Bills to increase revenue for MARTA, extend insurance for children with autism, legalize fireworks and make significant changes to campaign finance and disclosure laws are among the dozens of bills awaiting action.

How long the day will go is anyone’s guess. Lawmakers could wrap up their work relatively early or take the final day all the way to midnight.

Much of the morning was taken up with the routine business of agreeing or disagreeing to changes of House bills made by the Senate.

One of those — House Bill 70 — will affect every elementary school classroom. The House gave its final stamp to that bill, naming the white-tailed deer as the official state mammal.

Some of the harder measures — like the state budget and a massive transportation investment plan — are already decided. That could provide room for other, less noteworthy bills. One notorious measure, Senate Bill 129, the "religious liberty" bill, is considered a long shot for this session.

The bill is similar to one passed in Indiana and has drawn criticism as providing a legal way for business owners to discriminate against gays.

“Tic-tock tic-tock. You’re running out of time,” an opponent of the bill tweeted to sponsor Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus.

McKoon, who has engaged in numerous Twitter debates on the bill, responded he has “until March of 2016 or so. That’s a lot of tick tocking.”

Bills that fail to pass before midnight can be revisited in 2016, the second year of the two-year legislative cycle.

The mood throughout the morning was light.