SWGA Politics

Way to dispell the rumors, Sims

Senator Sims claims she’s been targeted by us vicious bloggers. After all, we’re such a monolithic force in Georgia politics that even the Georgia House pays tribute to us, right?  Of course, she could easily have proven Jeff’s accusations wrong.  All she had to do was change the language on the consolidation bill, the one that gives us a vote on the issue, so that it removed the change from partisan to non-partisan elections that would allow the bill to be exempt from cross-over day.

But she didn’t. Read More …

SWGA Politics under attack

Yesterday’s Albany Herald had an article on the latest problem regarding the consolidation bill. In it, the Herald said “Sims defended herself from bloggers who had accused her of being a part of some conspiracy to derail then entire referendum effort by delaying the process and ultimately keeping Dougherty citizens from voting on the matter.” This was…well…less than pleasant. Read More …

Crossover Day Live Blog

Today marks one of two days every year where most of the Ga political bloggers put aside our differences and work together. This is a Georgia Legislative Watch initiative, but Peach Pundit, SWGAPolitics.com, Ga Liberal, and possibly other blogs will also have this same conversation on their sites as well. (If you operate a blog and would like the code to put this on your site as well, let me know and I will get it to you.) Last year was a great time where we even had some legislators on their laptops chatting with us from the floor, and we hope to have them and others join us this year.

For those who are unaware, Crossover Day is the last day where any bill MUST pass its originating chamber to stand a chance at becoming law. The budget is one exception to this, and local legislation (such as Albany/Dougherty Consolidation) may be another.

Feel free to join in any time! We’d love to have you!

Ballot Access Reform: Dead In the Water

This Thursday, March 25, 2010, is Crossover Day in the General Assembly. If a bill does not clear the chamber it originated in by the close of business on that day, it cannot be considered in the other chamber, and therefore cannot go to the Governor for his signature into law.

To clear the chamber it originated in, a bill must first clear the committee to which it is assigned, and in some cases it must first clear the subcommittee before it can clear the committee. If it sits in committee, it can possibly be cleared in a single day. I believe it takes two days to clear a bill that sits in subcommittee.

Here’s the problem: No ballot access bill has cleared the committee or subcommittee it is currently sitting in, and as of right now neither the House Governmental Affairs committee (where all four House ballot access bills currently reside) nor the Senate Ethics committee (where the Senate ballot access bill currently resides) is scheduled to meet this week.

We put up a good fight in 2010 for ballot access. We had FOUR separate bills introduced to address some form of ballot access reform.
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[CORRECTED] Stupid Morality Laws! (SML)

For several days now, when I have mentioned Ray McBerry on Facebook or Peach Pundit, Stephen Vasil has attempted to use a particular ad hominem attack on me because he cannot refute what I have been claiming about McBerry (that is is an absolute stark raving lunatic).

The particular ad hominem he tries to use is asking me how many votes I received in my bid for Leesburg City Council last year. This, despite the fact that he full well knows my numbers – he’s simply trying to embarass me with them.

For an unknown guy who has only lived in town to go up against the sitting Mayor Pro Tem who has lived in town for more than 40 years and pull what I did is nothing to be embarrassed about in my book though.

For the record, I received 20 of 90 votes cast, for 22.22% of the vote.

Now, over the past 24 hours or so, I’ve been considering a proposal for Vasil and any other McBerry supporter who wanted to take me up on it, but it turns out there is this Stupid Morality Law (SML!), namely OCGA 16-12-21(a)(2) which states:

A person commits the offense of gambling when he makes a bet upon the partial or final result of any game or contest or upon the performance of any participant in such game or contest.

So I can’t make this proposal to Vasil, or any other McBerry supporter who may have taken me up on it, because it violates this Stupid Morality Law (SML):
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Change HOPE to Need Based?

Senator Jack Hill, the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has introduced a bill to allow HOPE scholarships based on need, with the explicit intent that these scholarships “be targeted at the neediest students”.

Now, before going too far into this post, I should note that this is in ADDITION to current HOPE scholarships, it is NOT replacing them.

With that said, HOPE is one of those entitlement programs that is costing the State quite a bit of money – money that, as I’ve been discussing for the past week on this site, the State really doesn’t have right now. The problem for legislators is that, like Social Security at the National level, HOPE really has become the third rail of Georgia politics.
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Zombie Bill!

This one just won’t die!

Last year, one of the first bills I took on head on here on this site was HB 614, the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. I teamed up with Jason and others across the State – including Neal Boortz at one point! – to get this bill killed once it was brought to our attention, and it died in the Senate only to have a resuscitation attempt made in the House in the form of an amendment to another bill.

Now, it has been re-introduced in a new bill, SB 418, minus the “Prescription Drug Monitoring Program” title. 418 is largely the exact same thing as 614. Clearly, there are elements within the General Assembly that desperately want this measure to pass.
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[UPDATED] Hypothetical State Budget – Or Is It?

I’ve been talking to several State lawmakers over the last few days trying to get a handle on the State budget – THE single issue that has come to dominate the 2010 Session.

Through these discussions, some hypothetical numbers have been thrown out there, and I think they merit a discussion here.

Let’s take the target as $1 Billion. This is the number everyone was working off of last week, and most still are.

Most special interest tax breaks expire after some number of years and have to be renewed to continue. It is thought that we can save $100 million in non-renewal of certain special interest tax breaks this year.

We could then try to convince people near retirement age to take an early retirement, and save another $100 million. ($200 million so far, $800 million to go)
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Roosters in Subdivisions? Say It Aint So!

Lately, some “liberty” (I use the term loosely here) activists have gotten it into their heads that local governments are trying to persecute them.

How?

By saying “no” to roosters in subdivisions.

So they had their go-to boy, State Rep Bobby Franklin, introduce a bill that would preempt local control on this issue and mandate that no local government could prohibit gardening nor the keeping of chickens, goats, or rabbits – and nor could they require a permit for these activities.
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Breaking: State Budget Worse Than We Could Ever Have Imagined

Last Friday, I wrote about the $1 Billion budget shortfall the General Assembly was facing.

This morning, we were told it is even worse than we could ever have imagined. The pic to the left, currently on the front page of AJC.com and taken by one of their photographers, says it all.

Per State Senator (and Insurance Commissioner candidate) Seth Harp via AJC’s Jim Galloway:

I just came from a budget meeting with the lieutenant governor. Two-point-four now. $2.4 billion shortfall….This is for fiscal 2011.

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