Legislative update [Mar. 20, 2006]

DTAE - Legislative Updates

2006 LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education

The Week Ahead:
The Legislature will reconvene on Monday, March 27 for day 38. The schedule for the remainder of the week remains undecided.
Useful Links:
For more information on House and Senate members or to track legislation, log on to www. legis.state.ga.us
To access live committee meeting broadcasts in the House, log on to www. legis.state.ga.us, click on HOUSE, then select Georgia Legislative Network from the Daily Update and select from the menu of broadcasts.
Previous Updates:
January 9, 2006 January 23, 2006 January 30, 2006 February 6, 2006 February 13, 2006 February 20, 2006 February 27, 2006 March 6, 2006 March 13, 2006
MS Word version of this update

Week of March 20, 2006
The 2006 legislative session is winding down to the final days! Lawmakers ended a full week of activity on Friday, March 16 Day 37 of the 2006 session of the General Assembly. Both houses will return to work on Monday as lawmakers continue their duties in the three days that remain, assuming they utilize the allotted 40 day maximum. Highlights for the week include:
q The department's carry forward legislation, House Bill 1294, passed out of the full Senate on Friday and now heads to the Governor's desk for final approval. This bill extends the sunset provision on House Bill 1582 (from the 2004 session) by two years, allowing the department to "write-off" certain uncollectible debts. Further, the bill allows the technical colleges to "carry forward" fees collected from continuing education, contract training and technology fees.
q The Senate voted 50-3 on Thursday to adopt the $18.65 billion state budget for fiscal year 2007 (see attached excel file for details). The budget conferees worked throughout the weekend in an unsuccessful attempt to resolve the long list of differences in House Bill 1027.
q Senate Bill 506, legislation which establishes mandatory fees for HOPE scholarships and grants for eligible public postsecondary institutions created after January 1, 2004, passed out of the House on Wednesday and now awaits the Governor's signature. This bill was initially created to benefit the newly created Georgia Gwinnett College but could potentially benefit any newly created technical college or university.
q An amended version of Senate Bill 562, legislation creating the Georgia Higher Education Facilities Authority, passed unanimously out of the House Higher Education Committee on Thursday and is scheduled for a vote on the House floor on Monday, March 27. The amended version of the bill creates a legislative oversight committee similar to the one created for the World Congress Center.
q An amended version of Senate Bill 415, which will expand the HERO (Helping Educate Reservists and their Offspring) Scholarship, passed out of the House Higher Education Committee on Thursday. The amended version expands coverage to any member who was evacuated from the combat zone due to severe injury and unable to return to duty, regardless of length of stay. This bill will now be assigned to a conference committee to work out the differences.
q Representative Shaw and others introduced House Resolution 1944, honoring James Bridges for 40 years of service and congratulating

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DTAE - Legislative Updates
For questions regarding information contained in this bulletin, please contact:
Laura Gammage
lgammage@dtae.org (404) 374-6557

him on the announcement of his retirement.
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