ATLANTA - The General Assembly will meet for just two days before this weekend's special Saturday get-together, but they could be two of the longest days of this year's session.
When the final gavel falls on midnight Friday, it will mark the end of the informal "crossover day," when bills must pass out of either the House or the Senate or wait until next year to be considered again.
"I think we're getting down to the final stretch," said House Speaker Glenn Richardson, R-Hiram.
After that, the Gold Dome will open its doors to working people from across the state.
Because of an agreement between House and Senate leaders, the crossover deadline will come three working days earlier than it has in previous years. Senate rules require that no new bills from either chamber can be considered after the 33rd day, but Friday will be just the 30th working day of the session.
"It was an effort to make the last days of the General Assembly slightly less hectic than it had been," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Stephens, R-Canton.
Although leaders had said Friday will be a hard-and-fast deadline, some exceptions already were already being made late in the week.
Mr. Richardson said some bills - including a measure to compensate people wrongfully imprisoned by the state - might be allowed to go before the House after Day 30.
In the meantime, a few major proposals remain in limbo, including congressional redistricting and Gov. Sonny Perdue's reform proposals for the Department of Motor Vehicle Safety. Mr. Richardson also said he would spend the weekend reviewing a list of GOP campaign promises to make sure they were fulfilled.
Some members also will be looking to push their pet measures through before the deadline.
"So I would suspect next Friday we'll have a very busy calendar that day," said House Majority Leader Jerry Keen, R-St. Simons Island.
Leaders in both chambers said the proposals for redrawing the state's 13 congressional districts probably would not change much from the maps that passed both the House and Senate redistricting panels.
"Overall, there seems to be general agreement that we'll move forward on the maps basically as they are," Mr. Stephens said.
Mr. Richardson said some minor adjustments might be made to clean up some odd-looking districts in the metro Atlanta area.
Some notable bills that will be allowed to pass through the House after crossover day will be a set of proposals repealing the state's infamous Jim Crow laws, part of the formalized segregation codes of the Old South.
Legislative leaders already had announced that a special working day would be held Saturday to repeal the Jim Crow rules and other antiquated laws, while allowing working families to see the General Assembly in action.
Rep. Tyrone Brooks, an Atlanta Democrat who has spearheaded the quest to rid the state of the segregationist laws, said he was pleased.
"When we purge Jim Crow next Saturday, we literally will be saying to the people of this state and this nation, Georgia is moving forward as one," Mr. Brooks said.
The Saturday meeting will also mark the Capitol's first Family Day. Lawmakers are encouraged to invite people from their district to watch the Legislature in action and share a meal on the grounds with elected officials.
Reach Brandon Larrabee at (404) 681-1701 or brandon.larrabee@morris.com.
Here are key bills introduced so far during the 2005 General Assembly session:
House Bill 16
• Description: Exempts interstate projects from the share of highway funds that must be split evenly among Georgia's 13 congressional districts. This is expected to free up more money for metro Atlanta districts.
• Status: Referred to House Transportation Committee
HB 25-28, 372, 373
• Description: Repeal infamous Jim Crow laws, which formalized segregation in Georgia.
• Status: HB 25-27 approved by House Judiciary Committee; HB 28 referred to House Judiciary Committee; HB 372 approved by House Education Committee; HB 373 approved by House Retirement Committee
HB 48
• Description: Gov. Sonny Perdue's "Honesty in Government Act" would bar public officials from entering lobbying until they have been out of office for a year, widen authority of State Ethics Commission and make other changes to state ethics laws.
• Status: Passed House
HB 84
• Description: Make changes to the state spending plan for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
• Status: Passed House; passed Senate; awaiting governor's signature
HB 85
• Description: Allocates a proposed $17.4 billion spending plan for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1.
• Status: Passed House
HB 145
• Description: Would bar elected officials from public service advertisements paid for with public money.
• Status: Referred to House Noncivil Judiciary Committee
HB 197
• Description: Tightens rules on parental notification for minors seeking an abortion and establishes a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking the procedure.
• Status: Passed House; passed Senate; awaiting governor's signature
HB 216
• Description: Restricts access to cold medicines with pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in methamphetamine.
• Status: Referred to House Noncivil Judiciary Committee
HB 218
• Description: Exempts some records related to economic development deals from the state's open-records laws.
• Status: Passed House; tabled by Senate
HB 221
• Description: Would overhaul the formula used to award child support by factoring in the income of both custodial and noncustodial parents.
• Status: Referred to House Judiciary Committee
HB 426
• Description: The "Georgia Smokefree Air Act of 2005" would ban smoking in most public places in the state.
• Status: Referred to House Health and Human Services Committee
HB 499
• Description: Redraws Georgia's 13 congressional districts.
• Status: Approved by House Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Committee
House Resolution 411
• Description: Would tighten open-records laws by requiring two-thirds majority of General Assembly to create new exemptions.
• Status: Referred to House Rules Committee
Senate Bill 4
• Description: Exempts interstate projects from the share of highway funds that must be split evenly among Georgia's 13 congressional districts. This is expected to free up more money for metro Atlanta districts.
• Status: Passed Senate; referred to House Transportation Committee
SB 35
• Description: Gives public school districts more freedom to allocate funding for class-size reductions to other purposes.
• Status: Passed Senate; approved by House Education Committee
SB 77
• Description: Tightens rules on parental notification for minors seeking an abortion and establishes a 24-hour waiting procedure for women seeking the procedure.
• Status: Approved by Senate Health and Human Services Committee
SB 90
• Description: The "Georgia Smokefree Air Act of 2005" would ban smoking in most public places in the state.
• Status: Passed Senate; referred to House Health and Human Services Committee
SB 140
• Description: Would allow the Department of Community Health to transfer PeachCare recipients to managed-care programs as part of Gov. Sonny Perdue's Medicaid reform proposal.
• Status: Passed Senate; referred to House Insurance Committee
SB 214
• Description: Redraws Georgia's 13 congressional districts.
• Status: Approved by Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee
SB 230
• Description: Would require companies to provide immediate notice to people whose identity has been exposed to potential fraud.
• Status: Approved by Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee
SB 270
• Description: Would change state law regarding public-private initiatives by requiring private developers who compete for transportation projects to provide the public with more information; would extend the window of opportunity for developers who want to submit competing bids.
• Status: Approved by Senate Transportation Committee
Senate Resolution 33
• Description: Would create Gwinnett State College to replace the Gwinnett University Center.
• Status: Passed Senate; approved by House Higher Education Committee
- Morris News Service
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