As this was being written late on the last day of Georgia's General Assembly, not all the facts were in concerning what local lawmakers did, or failed to do, regarding many last-minute bills.
One piece of good news that did arrive, though, is that Rep. Ben Harbin, R-Martinez, rallied with Sen. Joey Brush, R-Appling, to change arbitrary population language impacting on public school security. Georgia law previously said school boards may arm security people only if their systems had a six-digit population. Now, thanks to these two lawmakers, that requirement is lifted so smaller systems (including Burke County) will be in compliance and other counties (like Columbia) have the option to arm personnel.
We also must share with readers a blooper by Rep. Roy Barnes, D-Mableton - who happens to be a candidate for governor of Georgia.
Barnes was tangling - again - with House Minority Leader Bob Irvin, RAtlanta. This time the loquacious lawyer took the floor to accuse his GOP nemesis of siding with Chicago financier William Farley in his 1988 takeover of textile giant Westpoint-Pepperell. However, when Barnes was reminded that Irvin wasn't even in the General Assembly at the time, Barnes still jabbed his finger in the air and declared, "Well, you would have done it if you had been there!"
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