ATLANTA --- In a vote that largely followed party lines, the state Senate approved a bill Wednesday that would allow online voter registration for Georgians with a valid driver's license or identification card.
Supporters say the proposal would modernize voter registration, bringing greater access and efficiency to the process.
Sen. Cecil Staton, R-Macon, one of the bill's sponsors, said similar bills have been passed in several other states, including Washington, California, Arizona, Louisiana, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas and Oregon.
Critics blasted the measure as unnecessary, potentially harmful to minority voters and unlikely to pass muster with the Department of Justice -- which has rapped Georgia in recent years for its attempts to create a voter verification system.
"This is a solution in search of a problem," said Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, who added that there has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Georgia. "We are spending time trying to pass a law that has been rejected in another form."
THE SENATE APPROVED the measure, 33-20, voting mainly along party lines. Under the proposal, eligible voters could apply online through the Web site of the Secretary of State's office, which would verify the applicant's license or identification card number, date of birth and citizenship.
Staton called the bill a "future-oriented" proposal. Attempts to amend it failed after more than half an hour of discussion.
Sen. Gail Buckner, D-Morrow, said that while voter verification legislation is on the books in other states, the laws were approved by the Justice Department under President George W. Bush's administration.
But she said Georgia officials are well aware that information from the state's Department of Driver Services is flawed and that eligible voters could be rejected under the proposed verification system.
"We shouldn't knowingly cast Georgia back into a legal situation that will cost the state money to defend a flawed system," Buckner said.
Secretary of State Brian Kemp, a Republican, has said Georgia is planning to sue the Obama administration, arguing the Justice Department is playing politics by blocking the state's efforts to check the citizenship of newly registering voters.
According to Kemp, federal officials have rejected three times the state's system of using Social Security numbers and driver's license data to confirm whether prospective voters are U.S. citizens.
He said the state plans to seek clearance instead in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.
UNDER THE BUSH administration, Georgia was able to gain federal clearance for most of its proposed voting changes, such as the state's law requiring voters to show a valid photo ID to cast an in-person ballot. But the Democratic Obama administration has thrown up roadblocks.
Implemented in 2007, the state's voter verification system has been used to check new voters against information in databases held by the Georgia Department of Driver Services or Social Security Administration.
After a challenge was filed by voting rights groups in the weeks leading up to the 2008 elections, a federal three-judge panel said the state must seek Justice Department clearance under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The act requires Georgia and other states with a history of discriminatory voting practices to clear any changes to election rules with the Justice Department or through federal courts.
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division rejected the checks in May and October
TRANSPORTATION
Speaker David Ralston urged a House panel to get moving on a bill that could provide new funding for roads. Ralston offered the pep talk to the House Transportation Committee before they began considering a new funding bill. He said the plan is needed to pull Georgia's antiquated financing system into the 21st century.
The House transportation plan would allow Georgians voting in the 2012 presidential primary to decide whether to increase the sales tax by one penny to pay for road and infrastructure projects. Regions that approve the tax increase would have money to spend. Those that reject the increase wouldn't see any additional funding.
PETS
Shelters must scan animals for a microchip before euthanizing them under legislation that cleared the House unanimously. The bill requires the shelter to try to find a microchip in animals when they are brought in. If one is detected, officials must make a reasonable effort to locate the owner.
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Gene Maddox, a Cairo Republican who's also a veterinarian. He said Wednesday that the companies that make scanners will donate them to local shelters so there won't be a cost.
PORTS
The House passed legislation Wednesday that would make it easier for the Georgia Ports Authority to issue bonds used to finance expansion. Existing law requires the authority to get a bank's letter of credit for its bonds, but House Bill 1060 would allow the authority to buy insurance or seek a rating from an independent rating agency instead.
MASSAGE PARLORS
The Senate has approved a proposal that would increase penalties against operators of illegal massage parlors, especially in middle Georgia, which seems to be a hub for such establishments.
Senate Bill 364 passed Wednesday by unanimous vote. Under the proposed law, the offense would become a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000 upon a person's third offense.
The bill also creates harsher penalties at the Secretary of State's Office, which administers business licenses.
Under the proposal, a person's license would be suspended for at least a year for the first offense and permanently on the third offense.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
State judges hearing appeals of action by the Environmental Protection Division would have to defer to the agency's expertise on technical matters under legislation approved Wednesday by the Senate Natural Resources Committee.
Critics say the proposal, Senate Bill 486, would make it harder for people to get a fair break if they disagreed with the agency.
Similar bills introduced in the House languished and will probably die because the House Natural Resources Committee did not consider them Wednesday in its final meeting before an internal deadline for legislation to pass.
JEKYLL ISLAND
The Senate Natural Resources Committee passed 5-4 legislation that would require residential leases on the state-run Jekyll Island to be pegged to the price of comparable resort property in other parts of Glynn County.
-- Edited from wire reports
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