Day 38 - April 1, 2008

The House and Senate had long calendars today.  With just three legislative days to go until Sine Die much remains unresolved.  Legislators must still agree on a budget; however, the budget conference committee has not met in the last two days and no agreements have been made. There is also no resolution on other large issues such as passage of a tax cut and of funding for the trauma care network.

The House passed the Senate’s version of HR 1246, which caps property tax assessments, while also adding an amendment of its own.  The House added back the car tax repeal. Subsequently, the House agreed to the Senate version of HB 1244, which contains the Lt. Governor’s proposal to reduce the rate on the state income tax. This agreement also came with an amendment which defers the dates of implementation to 2011 and makes the income tax rate reduction effective only with the passage of HR 1246 in a referendum.

The Senate passed HB 1133 which would establish and income tax credit for contributions made to Student Scholarship Organizations to pay tuition for public school students to attend private schools. This Bill passed 32 to 20.
 
HB 1040, the guardianship bill, also passed the Senate.  The bill allows juvenile courts jurisdiction to appoint permanent guardians in child deprivation cases without terminating parental rights.
 
There were also a few relevant committee meetings this morning. The Senate Education Committee passed HB 904 which requires day care workers to be fingerprinted prior to employment, The House Children and Youth Committee passed a Resolution proposed by Judy Manning supporting a study on mental health issues surrounding children. The Senate Governmental Oversight Committee passed HB 977, the high deductible health plan bill, by Substitute without discussion. Language added to the bill attaches SB 404 establishing the Georgia Health Marketplace Act.  SB 404 was also amended onto several other bills in committee including HB 544 and HB 1221.