Don’t look now, but the Georgia General Assembly is back in session as of this morning. And with that there is no shortage of issues on the table for them to deal with over the next four months. Among the topics to be discussed in the halls of the state capitol this session will be:
- Criminal Justice Reform: If passed, this would be a cost savings measure that would focus more on rehabilitation of non-violent offenders in hopes of reducing recidivism rates.
- Tax Reform: This is a great idea, depending on how it’s done. Legislators tried to push something through last year, seemingly just to say they “passed tax reform.” The report offered last year by the If the Republican-dominated legislature can produce a revenue-neutral plan, it may be worth supporting. But again, the devil is in the details.
- HOPE scholarship: Gov. Deal recently indicated that more changes may be necessary to keep the HOPE scholarship viable.
- FY 2013 Budget: There may also be an amended budget for FY 2012, the current fiscal year. Deal has hinted at more cut backs, but revenues are up from last year, so there shouldn’t be anything dramatic.
- Charter Schools: Perhaps one of the worst decisions to come out of the Georgia Supreme Court in recent years was last year’s ruling on the Georgia Charter Schools Commission. Look for legislators to craft a legislative fix.
- Senate Leadership: As some of you may know, there has been an on-going struggle inside the Senate between Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Majority Leader Chip Rogers. The next couple of days will set the tone in that chamber, and it could get very interesting.
I’ll try to follow relevant issues during the session and keep readers up to date, both here and at Peach Pundit. Should be an interesting session, especially since we’re in a presidential election year.
