Top bills to start making debuts

ATLANTA --- The General Assembly met for a week to get sworn in and hear the governor's budget recommendations, then spent last week reviewing them. This week, officials will begin rolling out their major proposals.

- Gov. Sonny Perdue's floor leaders in the House and Senate will introduce bills to enact several proposals on his agenda, including extra pay for science and math teachers, bonuses for top-performing principals, heightened fines for speeders exceeding 85 mph and bills to make lawsuits more difficult.

- Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Senate leaders will give the formal "first reading" to a constitutional amendment to create a regional 1-percent sales tax for transportation.

- The House Ways and Means Committee begins consideration of a constitutional amendment to cap the increase in property assessments used in local taxes. Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, said members of the Senate Finance Committee he used to head will be urged to sit in on the House committee's discussion.

Many of the House and Senate committees will have to formally organize themselves and adopt their rules for the next two years or hear briefings from the agencies they deal with. Most won't have many bills to consider because much legislation has yet to be introduced.

Reach Walter Jones at (404) 589-8424 at walter.jones@morris.com.