[5:22pm] The House is going through some agree/disagrees. These are some outstanding pieces of legislation that need details worked out between the two legislative bodies in order to get final passage.

[5:26pm] Pot flavored candy is destroying the fabric of America so much that the Georgia General Assembly needs to ban it. The Senate substitute for HB 280 passed 120 to 37.

[5:29pm] State Rep. Bobby Franklin tried to amend a bill about dog collars to include a ban on abortion. His amendment failed 152 to 2.

[5:30pm] The FY 2009 budget just went on the desk of legislators. Georgia laws says that the budget must sit for an hour. You can view the budget here. This budget includes $6 million in local assistance grants, which are earmarks for specific projects (not all of them are pork, but most are).

[5:38pm] Here is the AJC article on the budget. It highlights the 2.5% raise for teachers and pork for various legislative leaders.

[5:49pm] Quote of the Day: “I’m tired of men in the Capitol playing vaginal politics." - State Rep. Jill Chambers

[5:56pm] On the floor now is HB 978, which deals with the seizing of vehicles owned by a driver that has never been licensed.

[6:00pm] HB 978 passed 115 to 44.

[6:25pm] I'm waiting for some of more controversial bills to come out. My internet connection acting weird due to the storms that are moving through the area.

[6:34pm] The House is in recess until 7:15pm.

[6:42pm] If you've been watching the House session online, then you've noticed that House Majority Leader Jerry Keen is presiding. That is because House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Speaker Pro-Tem Mark Burkhalter are part of the conference committing negotiating with the Senate over the tax cut.

[7:15pm] They're back. Keen is back at the helm.

[7:26pm] Here is the latest I've heard on a couple of issues. A deal is close on the T-SPLOST tax increase. I have also heard that a tax cut isn't looking good right now. Senate leaders have claimed that they would not consider the T-SPLOST without the tax cut. Let's see if they keep their word.

[7:32pm] The FY 2009 budget (HB 990) was just introduced on the floor and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Ben Harbin is taking to the well to discuss the bill.

[7:55pm] The FY 2009 budget passed by a vote of 151 to 4. House legislators voting against the bill were Bobby Franklin (R), Billy Mitchell (D), Alan Powell (D) and Martin Scott (R).

[8:05pm] Speaker Richardson is now presiding over the House.

[8:05pm] State Rep. Steve Davis writes that the 216 Group is no more. That's a bummer.

[8:09pm] By the way, the Senate unanimously approved the budget earlier today

[8:19pm] The House has passed the Senate substitute of HB 881, which establishes the Georgia Charter Schools Commission. It passed 114 to 40.

[8:20pm] I can't read the article, but this can't be good. Insider Advantage shows the headline on the tax cut as a comment from House Speaker Glenn Richardson to Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. Richardson apparently told Cagle to "stand up and be a man." Richardson and House leaders have claimed that Cagle is holding up tax reform.

[8:55pm] It has been uneventful for the last hour or so.

[9:03pm] State Rep. Jill Chambers just moved that the House agree to the conference report to SB 300, the Transparency in Transparency in Government Act. The purpose of the bill is to "provide for the creation of and maintenance by the department of a website which provides public access to certain state expenditure information." This is similar to HB 91, a bill the Governor vetoed. The House overrode that veto and Senate never took it up. The compromised on the this bill instead.

[9:06pm] SB 300 passed 161 to 0.

[9:11pm] State Rep. Ed Setzler is questioning some provisions of SB 430, which deals with comparing DNA of suspects of felony crimes. Setzler maintains that DNA collected from individuals, no matter if it's a misdemeanor of a felony, will be compared to a national database of violent criminals. His concerns are very valid.

[9:14pm] SB 430 has passed 103 to 50.

[9:21pm] HB 89 is on the floor. This is the zombie gun bill. Rep. Bearden took no questions and the Speaker moved on to the vote.

[9:22pm] HB 89 passed by a vote of 106 to 56.

[9:24pm] Here comes another supplemental calendar.

[9:25pm] The Jim Galloway with the AJC has some information on HB 89.

[9:37pm] SB 433, hospital CON reform, has passed the Senate.

[9:38pm] SB 393 is being debated on the floor. This bill would prevent a tax on transactions in pawn shops. Some Democrats are making a big issue out of it because supposedly some pawn shops charge a 300% interest rate and couple of other reasons. It's kind of pointless for them to make that argument. It's a private transaction. There is no coercion involved so government has no reason to intervene.

[9:42pm] SB 393 failed to pass, 88 to 65.

[9:43pm] SB 458 was just sent back the House Rules Committee.

[10:01pm] The House just approved the conference report for HB 1245. This deals with indigent defense issues.

[10:03pm] HB 89 passed the Senate by a vote of 40 to 15.

[10:04pm] The storm is beginning to pickup here.

[10:07pm] House Rules is meeting again.

[10:10pm] Gwinnett County gets alcohol sales for the stadium for the new AAA baseball team with the passage of HB 1280.

[10:18pm] Maybe thirty minutes ago, the Speaker tried to pass through some uncontested resolutions. One of them was SR 996. This is a constitutional amendment that would settle issues with Tax Allocation Districts (TAD) that were ruled constitutional by the Georgia Supreme Court in February. SR 996 was taken off the uncontested list and will be voted on separately.

[10:21pm] The Speaker is still blaming the Senate for the lack of tax reform. He is calling the most recent offer from the Senate "cockamamie" and went on blast Cagle. Richardson said, "It doesn't look like Casey Cagle is gonna let the people of Georgia have tax reform."

[10:26pm] Watch out for the drunk interns on the Senate floor.

[10:29pm] Some of the legislators that are retiring spoke at the well. The last one, State Rep. Jimmy Lord, simply said, "Bye." He got a standing ovation.

[10:33pm] SR 996 is on the floor. I had the bill number wrong earlier. This is a constitutional amendment, 120 votes are needed for passage.

[10:37pm] This bill makes me nervous. There is a lot of talk about blight and redevelopment, and Georgia has a weak eminent domain law.

[10:38pm] State Rep. Steve Davis is speaking on the floor. He correctly says that HR 996 would redirect public funds for private uses.

[10:43pm] The AJC has an article up over the spat between the Richardson and Cagle over the tax reform issue.

[10:56pm] HR 996 passed by a vote of 129 to 38. The bill clearly gives the opportunity for local governments to "enter into contracts for any period not exceeding 30 years with private persons, firms, corporations, and business entities."

[11:02pm] State Rep. Stan Watson (D) is saying his goodbye to the House. He is running for DeKalb CEO (currently held by Vernon Jones, who is running for Senate) this year.

[11:04pm] Richardson is ranting against Cagle again. Richardson said that the car tag has a new name the "Cagle Birthday tax." Richardson said, "I hope Georgians by the 9 million will thank him tomorrow and flood him with e-mails and tell him we're sick of Casey Cagle. It's time to get a new Lt. Governor in this state."

[11:05pm] Richardson: "Tax reform, and all the work that was put in it, is now dead." He also added that the statewide trauma network is dead as well.

[11:08pm] A deal on the transportation tax increase has been reached. We'll see if the Senate lives up to their word.

[11:11pm] The House is disagreeing, SB 340, on a point sanctuary cities bill.

[11:34pm] The House is about to vote on SB 342, the Water Conservation and Drought Relief Act. This would fund some new public reservoirs. The Speaker came to the floor and took another shot at Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.

[11:39pm] SB 342 passed by a vote of 111 to 39.

[11:40pm] Tax Man Smith just moved to consider the conference committee report on SR 845, the transportation sales tax.

[11:45pm] HR 845 still gives taxing power to RDCs, not to local governments.

[11:47pm] Enabling legislation for this legislation is forthcoming.

[11:48pm] State Rep. Tom Graves pointed out that the tax reform legislation is dead, but the House was still going to enact a tax increase. Richardson got upset by it being called a tax increase, which it is. He took a shot a Grover Norquist with Americans for Tax Reform and said that legislators that opposed the tax increase are "killing the system." No, that would be you, Mr. Speaker. Georgians are overtaxed as it is. Their tax burden has not gone down under Republican control and if the Speaker has his way, it'll go up.

[11:49pm] SR 845 has passed by a vote of 134 to 34.

[11:54pm] HB 1035, the enabling legislation for SR 845, passed by a vote of 138 to 28.

[11:55pm] I'm headed over to the Senate to see what is going down.

[11:58pm] SR 845 did not receive the required majority to pass a constitutional amendment in the Senate.

[11:59pm] Cagle: "It looks like the Speaker just Sine Died."

[12:00am] SB 342 passed the Senate by a vote of 37 to 6.

[12:02am] Both the House and Senate have adjourned.