LIVE UPDATES: The AJC's Bill Tracker lets you check the status of bills on this final day of the legislature. (Note: Requires Tablet or Laptop; not optimized for phones)
The 2013 legislative session’s closing gavel is expected this upcoming week. The House and Senate are in session Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and will race to deal major issues like guns and ethics. Dozens of other bills will also either reach final passage or wait until 2014. Here are some of the top issues still facing legislators.
K-12 EDUCATION/HIGHER EDUCATION
HB 372: Would lower eligibility requirements for the HOPE Grant from a 3.0 grade-point average to a 2.0.
Where it stands: Passed Senate with changes; back to House.
Will it pass: Prospects are good.
SB 243: Would cap the state's private school tax credit program and require more transparency about how it operates.
Where it stands: Passed Senate with major changes, now in House committee.
Will it pass: Prospects are mixed. It is supported by the governor.
HB 140: Would expand the tax credit scholarship program from $51.5 million to $80 million.
Where it stands: In committee.
Will it pass: Almost certainly not.
HB 123: Would allow parents and teachers to force a school district to consider their petition to make their traditional public school a charter school.
Where it stands: Withdrawn from Senate committee.
Will it pass: Dead.
SB 12: Would limit the liability of Georgia's public school systems for injuries and damages suffered in after-school play to encourage more activities for kids.
Where it stands: Passed the Senate, in House committee.
Will it pass: Prospects are good.
ETHICS
HB 142: Would ban lobbyist gifts to individual lawmakers, strengthen the ethics commission, put new restrictions on lobbyist-funded travel.
Where it stands: Substantially revised in Senate and sent back to House.
Will it pass: Hard to call.
TAXES
HB 266: Would revise several provisions of a new state car tax law that took effect March 1.
Where it stands: Signed into law.
Will it pass: Already has.
SR 412: Would prohibit additional increases in the state sales tax, unless it is used for income tax reductions or infrastructure improvements.
Where it stands: In Senate committee.
Will it pass: Not this year.
SR 415: Would prohibit the General Assembly from increasing the state income tax above the current rate of 6 percent.
Where it stands: In Senate committee.
Will it pass: Not this year.
TRANSPORTATION
HB 264: Would privatize many MARTA operations, such as payroll and human resources, technical support and para transit. Would also change the way governing board members are appointed.
Where it stands: Passed the House, in Senate committee.
Will it pass: Prospects are mixed, but House sponsor is pushing hard.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
HB 346: Would make the Fulton County tax commissioner an appointed, instead of elected, position.
Where it stands: Passed House, in Senate committee.
Will it pass: Prospects are good.
HB 347: Would change the makeup of the Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections by giving the local legislative delegation the authority to appoint the chairman, instead of the County Commission.
Where it stands: Headed for governor's desk.
Will it pass: Already has.
HB 541: Doubles Fulton County homestead exemption to $60,000.
Where it stands: Passed House, tabled in Senate.
Will it pass: Most likely.
HB 176: Would automatically approve applications for new cell towers if a city or county government doesn't review an application within 150 days.
Where it stands: Passed House committee.
Will it pass: Not this year.
COURTS/PUBLIC SAFETY
HB 349: Would give judges limited ability to issue sentences lower than established mandatory minimums.
Where it stands: Passed the House; passed Senate committee.
Will it pass: It has strong support but is controversial.
HB 468: Would prevent school boards from using public money for litigation regarding removal of a member.
Where it stands: Passed House committee.
Will it pass: Has bipartisan support, but missed key Crossover Day deadline. Unlikely to move this year.
HB 242: Would provide community-based alternatives to locking up juvenile offenders and require fewer to be incarcerated.
Where it stands: Passed House and Senate, but Senate made changes House must consider.
Will it pass: Almost definitely.
HB 55: Would allow wiretaps across county lines.
Where it stands: Signed by the governor.
HB 57: Bans latest variation of synthetic marijuana.
Where it stands: Signed by the governor.
SB 136: Would lower the state's legal intoxication limit for Georgia boaters.
Where it stands: Passed the Senate; amended version passed House.
Will it pass: Yes; has strong support, including the governor's.
GUNS
HB 35: Would allow school boards to appoint one or more school employees to carry a gun on school property and at school events.
Where it stands: Passed by a House committee.
Will it pass: No. But much of the language was added to another gun bill.
SB 101: Is now the primary gun bill. As amended by the House, it would allow guns on public college campuses, allow churches to permit weapons, let school districts arm school administrators, and add mental health restrictions on concealed weapons permits.
Where it stands: Passed Senate, amended and passed by House. Likely headed to conference committee.
Will it pass: Questionable. Has very strong support and opposition. Time may run out.
HB 394: Would allow both current and former state lawmakers to carry firearms into otherwise restricted areas such as schools.
Where it stands: In House committee.
Will it pass: No.
SB 74: Would lower the state's prohibition on anyone under the age of 21 from carrying a gun to 18, but only for military service members who have completed basic training.
Where it stands: Passed Senate committee.
Will it pass: No.
SB 93: Would allow hunters to use gun silencers.
Where it stands: Passed Senate committee.
Will it pass: No.
SB 146: Would ban assault weapons as well as high-capacity magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
Where it stands: In Senate committee.
Will it pass: No.
HB 512: Would comprehensively sweep away many restrictions on carrying firearms in Georgia, including on college campuses, on public school grounds and in churches.
Where it stands: Passed House, in Senate.
Will it pass: Questionable. Much of its language now included in SB 101.
SB 161: Would require gun owners diagnosed with a mental disability as many as 10 years ago to get a sworn statement from a psychologist or psychiatrist before a judge could grant them a concealed-carry license.
Where it stands: In Senate committee.
Will it pass: No.
ALCOHOL
HB 314 & SB 174: Would allow brewpubs to sell beer for off-premises consumption.
Where they stand: HB 314 is in House committee; SB 174 in Senate committee.
Will they pass: No.
ENVIRONMENT/RECREATION
HB 36: Make redfish a gamefish only, meaning it can't be sold commercially.
Where it stands: Passed House and a Senate committee.
Will it pass: Outlook is positive.
SB 81: Would delay legal harvesting of wild ginseng by two weeks.
Where it stands: On the governor's desk.
Will it pass: Already has.
HEALTH CARE
HB 178: Would limit who can run pain clinics, barring nonphysicians and felons from being majority owners.
Where it stands: Headed for governor's desk.
Will it pass: Already has.
SB 24: Makes way for renewal of a 2-year-old hospital provider fee that helps bolster Georgia's Medicaid program.
Where it stands: Signed by the governor.
SB 141: Would overhaul Georgia's medical malpractice system to require arbitration instead of jury trials for complaints against health care professionals.
Where it stands: In committee.
Will it pass: No.
SB 171: Would allow multispecialty surgery physician groups to buy single-specialty surgery centers without obtaining a certificate of need, or CON.
Where it stands: Heard by a Senate Health and Human Services subcommittee.
Will it pass: No.
SB 202: Would create standards for arbitration agreements used by nursing homes that ask residents to waive their constitutional right to have complaints heard by a jury of their peers.
Where it stands: In committee.
Will it pass: No.
SB 65: Would allow licensed professional counselors to involuntarily commit for 72 hours mentally ill patients who appear to be a danger.
Where it stands: Passed by the Senate; set for House debate Monday.
Will it pass: It has strong backing.
SB 14: Would create a Georgia Alzheimer's and Related Dementias State Plan Task Force to address the rising number of Alzheimer's patients.
Where it stands: On its way to governor's desk.
Will it pass: Already has.
HB 198: Would require licensing of health care navigators, who would help guide consumers through the new federally run health insurance exchange that opens in January.
Where it stands: On governor's desk.
Will it pass: Already did.
HB 284: Would create protocols for informing parents of the dangers of concussions and for identifying and treating players with head injuries.
Where it stands: Passed the House and a Senate committee.
Will it pass: Prospects are good.
OTHER
SB 83: Would allow counties to save on burying indigent corpses in paupers' graves by cremating them instead.
Where it stands: Passed the Senate and a House committee.
Will it pass: Unknown.
HB 125: Would tweak Georgia's immigration law to prevent an unintended consequence: massive backlogs in state license renewals for thousands of nurses, insurance salesmen and other professionals.
Where it stands: Passed House. Substantially changed by a Senate committee.
Will it pass: Likely at the last minute.
HB 350: Would require both operators and employees of Georgia's child care facilities to undergo a federal fingerprint check.
Where it stands: On the governor's desk.
Will it pass: Already has.
HB 487: Would give the Georgia Lottery power to regulate legal video poker machines and divert a portion of fees to the HOPE scholarship.
Where it stands: House and Senate passed differing versions; conference committee is likely.
Will it pass: Prospects are good.
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