The biggest achievement this year is the finalization of a balanced budget for FY 2011 which begins in just a few weeks on July 1.  The $17.8 billion appropriated reflects over a 17% reduction of recent budget levels and the painful struggle connected with cutting programs and increasing fees and taxes was a major reason this session lasted as long as it did.

This current group of representatives and senators will not be the same group to meet for another session in 2011.  This is an election year and there is an unusally large number of new people to be in Atlanta next January, as quite a few members of both chambers either are retiring from public office, seeking another position in government, or opting to run for a seat in the other chamber.  In any event, next year will be a year of transition for legislators and a new governor and other constitutional officers.

By the end of the day, after hours of debate, delays, backroom politics and hurt feelings, the Senate approved HB 307, which would impose a hospital tax to help fill a $600 million gap in Medicaid funding.  The 1.45 percent tax on patient revenue could raise about $170 million.  The bill, with three amendments attached, passed 31-15.

The key to the bill was a last-minute amendment that gives a tax cut to insurers on health insurance premiums when the state’s revenue shortfall reserve is funded at the level of $500 million.  But Gov. Sonny Perdue, while praising the bipartisan bill the House passed last week, lashed out at the Senate for trying to “curry favor with a Washington, D.C., special interest group” by adding the amendment “that triggers yet another provision contingent on the first signs of economic growth.”

The Legislature will return on Monday, April 12 for day 34 in a final push to complete the 2010 session.  During the upcoming days, House and Senate budget writers will meet to carve out the remaining aspects of next year’s budget.  If they can get a good handle on matters, there is a chance this session will end before the end of the month.

Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) said this week’s break will allow the House to work with the hospitals “to find common ground” on the budget.

Monday was the last day for any Senate bill to get out of committee.

Both chambers will come back next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, then take a week off for Easter. It would also free them to attend the Masters the same week at Augusta National Golf Club if they chose that course.

Legislative action will resume April 12, which would be Day 34 of the 40-day session.

This coming Thursday, March 25 is scheduled to be the magical 30th day of the 40-day session, and it can spell success or doom for major legislation. Bills have to pass one chamber by midnight on “cross-over day” or they generally are dead for the year.

This year, there’s a lot hanging in the balance. Most of lawmakers’ time so far has been consumed by the loud sucking sound coming from the state’s $17.8 billion budget for 2011, which could have a billion-dollar hole that only seems to get bigger with every month’s revenue report.

Two things to look for in the week ahead:

A controversial bill to improve the way the state funds highway projects (HB1218) comes before the House. It’s a mess right now, full of amendments and a provision known as a regional opt-out that the governor doesn’t like. A House-Senate conference committee will eventually have to work out the details before Gov. Sonny Perdue will sign it.

Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) made a surprise appearance before the House Transportation Committee last week to urge lawmakers to put local interests aside and get the legislation to the House floor.

“We need a transportation policy that looks at the needs of the whole state,” Ralston said. The committee eventually moved the bill forward.

HB 1055 will also generate a lot of discussion. The bill proposes to raise an additional $93 million by increasing fees and adding fees on a long list of state services including specialty license plates and civil court filings.

A divisive proposal that would permit the re-creation of Milton County out of north Fulton County will also probably hit the floor.

And it will have a very tough time once it gets there.

The bill, backed by Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones (R-Milton), will need a two-thirds vote because it calls for the state Constitution to be amended. Democrats, who are a House minority, say they have the votes to stop it.

You could feel the legislative pace accelerating last week as the House and Senate began moving bills.

On Thursday, the Georgia Senate passed a bill that would make texting while driving illegal and impose a $150 fine.

The bill would bar teens from getting their Class C License on a second offense.

“I think the teenagers are starting to get it more than the adults,” said Sen. Jack Murphy (R-Cumming), who sponsored the bill. “Under this bill, it will now be against the law to text in Georgia while you are driving. The point of this bill is not punitive, it sends a message.”

Murphy’s bill is one of several that have been floating around the Legislature this session. With this traction — the bill passed unanimously amid loud applause — it now goes to the House.

The House last week overwhelmingly approved the Water Stewardship Act of 2010 to curtail outdoor watering and require builders and apartment building owners to more efficiently manage water.

While the legislation mandates a so-called “culture of conservation”– by allowing outdoor watering only between the hours of 4 p.m. and 10 a.m., and requiring builders to use more efficient plumbing — its not-so-hidden purpose is to influence Alabama, Florida and a federal judge.

The new water rules, which include exceptions for farmers and nurseries, would mostly go into effect in July 2012.

The Georgia House also passed legislation allowing juvenile offenders to receive credit for time served.

Only adult prisoners are currently given credit for the time they serve waiting for their case to go through court, said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver(D-Decatur).

HB 1144 should help the juvenile justice system save on bed space at a time when all state agencies are looking to cut costs, Oliver said.

The bill now heads to the state Senate for consideration.

Law enforcement would be barred by state law from releasing grisly crime-scene photos under legislation unanimously passed by the House.

A Hustler magazine writer recently requested photos of Meredith Emerson, the Buford hiker who was stripped naked and decapitated in the North Georgia woods.

The request, made under the Georgia Open Records Act, was called “sickening, disgusting and vile” by House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge).

More information is available at the AJC which broke this story.

That means, lawmakers have 20 business days left to pass two budgets and tackle issues such as transportation funding, ethics reform, and school cheating.

As of Friday, 1,730 bills have been filed for the 2009-2010 session – 1,277 in the House and 453 in the Senate. Most won’t make it by the time the final bell rings.

Until then, expect the pace to build to a mad scramble as lawmakers try to get their priorities passed. Their next deadline is Day 30, by which time bills must have passed one chamber to remain viable.

Here are some of the bigger bills under consideration and where they stand in the process. To read the full text of the bill and track its progress, click on the bill number.

Banking

House Bill 926; Lifts some of the mandates on state banks so they can renew loans with their good-standing borrowers.

Status: Signed into law by the governor.

Budget

HB 947: The 2010 amended state budget. It cuts about $800 million from the budget plan passed by lawmakers last April.

Status: Has passed the House and the Senate, but in different forms. Will eventually go to conference committee where a compromise will be found. Timing is uncertain, as lawmakers are likely to wait to see if state revenues recover.

HB 244: As passed by the House last year simply changes the name of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority to the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority. But, it was amended in a Senate committee to add language necessary to facilitate Gov. Sonny Perdue’s plan to tap a GEFA bond fund for $288 million to help balance the 2011 state budget.

Status: Could reach the Senate floor this week.

House Bill 869: Would allow the Legislative Services Committee to order furlough days for legislators because of budget constraints. Lawmakers were asked to voluntarily take furloughs this year. But a couple have refused.

Status: Passed House committee.

Taxes

Senate Bill 346, sponsored by Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), the bill would assure that all property owners receive a valuation from their county annually. They would also get information on when to file an appeal. Under the substitute bill, each county would now send an annual assessment to each property owner. That assessment notice would include a pro forma tax bill. The bill would use the property owner’s millage from the past year, multiplied by the current year’s tax assessment, but would not include any exemptions.

Status: In the Finance Committee.

House Bill 1023, the Jobs, Opportunities and Business Success Act of 2010, by Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ranger) would provide tax credits and cuts and incentives to create, expand and attract new business. Last year, the governor vetoed the similar HB 481, which would have given tax incentives to companies to hire and retain unemployed and would have provided capital gains tax cut.

Status: Passed the House Committee on Small Business Development and Job Creation. But with state budget crisis is expected to have an uphill battle.

HB 1093: Plan by Rep. David Knight (R-Griffin) to require local governments to collect key information from businesses applying for a license. Information would go to Department of Revenue to help the state track and collect millions in unpaid sales taxes.

Status: On Feb. 16, the bill was sent back to committee. But it has powerful backers and could well be back.

HB 39: Plan by Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) to increase state’s tobacco tax by $1 a pack. Estimates say it would generate more than $350 million a year in new revenue.

Status: In House Ways and Means Committee. Outlook is not promising.

House Resolution 1: Limits growth in property tax assessments to no more than 3 percent a year. Similar to Senate Resolution 1, which passed Senate last year.

Status: Both pending in the House.

SB 57: Creates a series of mortgage reforms in response to the foreclosure crisis.

Status: Passed the Senate. Pending in the House, but no movement thus far this year.

SB 77: Authorizes an Atlanta referendum on a tax for public safety.

Status: Passed the Senate. Pending in the House, but no action so far this year.

HB 307 The governor’s plan to impose a hospital tax to help fill a massive $600 million gap in Medicaid funding. It’s being opposed by the powerful hospital, doctor and dental lobbies. The 1.6 percent tax on patient revenues, combined with a 1.6 percent tax on the premium revenues of managed care insurers, could raise about $300 million.

Status: Assigned to House Appropriations Committee..

Insurance

SB 330 prohibits health insurers from rescinding or canceling policies or denying insurance claims based on misstatements or omissions on policy applications. The bill also allows children up to the age of 25 to stay on their parents’ policies even if they aren’t in school.

Status: The bill is in the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee

Ethics

SB 406, to allow online voter registration. The bill would provide for the use of certain information maintained by the Department of Driver Services to identify certain voter registration applicants.

Status: The bill is before the ethics committee.

SB 371 would grant the Georgia Bureau of Investigation power to investigate mortgage fraud. The bill would also grant the GBI subpoena power to investigate fraudulent real estate transactions.

Status: The Senate passed the bill and it now moves to the House

SB 393 would drastically change the way key government officials get their jobs. Instead of an election, the bill – pushed by Gov. Perdue — would allow the governor to appoint state’s insurance, labor and agriculture commissioners, as well as the state school superintendent.

Status: The bill is currently in the Government Oversight Committee.HB 920, sponsored by Sandy Springs Republican Wendell Willard and over 30 other co-sponsors, would ensure that money donated to run for public office didn’t become a slush fund for powerful leaders. It also would extend the one-year revolving door provision to employees of the executive branch and limit lobbyist gifts to $100. Status: Assigned to House Judiciary Committee.

HB 893 by Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver sets up a process for independent review of complaints against elected officials.

Status: Assigned to House Judiciary Committee.

HB 1166 by Rep. Austin Scott, a Republican of Tifton, would make it illegal for the state insurance commissioner to accept campaign contributions from executives of companies regulated by his office. The bill is in response to reports in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and elsewhere that the current commissioner, John Oxendine had collected more than $2.6 million from employees and owners of insurance and small businesses that he regulates.

Status: Assigned to the Governmental Affairs Committee.

Education

SBl 361, Georgia Early HOPE Scholarship Program, would offer vouchers to foster kids, children of military service personnel and the severely disabled with special learning plans.

Status: The bill is in the Education and Youth Committee.

HB 1111 Would bar employees convicted of altering state test scores from collecting a state pension. Would apply only to individuals who join the retirement system after July 2010.

Status: Assigned to retirement committee in the House.

HB 1121 makes it a misdemeanor to tamper with a state assessment, a measure springing out of the recent CRCT scandals.

Status: Assigned to House judiciary committee on non-civil matters.

SB 319 expands the definition of “textbook,” to include computer hardware. Essentially, the bill would let schools buy and use devices like Kindles and iPads as part of their spending budgets.

Status: The bill passed the Senate and is now in the House.

SB 84 would give the governor the power to remove poorly performing board members. The bill was introduced last year after Clayton County became the nation’s second school system to lose accreditation in 40 years.

Status: Approved in Senate last year, passed out of House committee on Feb. 16 and could be headed to House floor.

SB 299 would give principals and school systems more discretion in how they handle disciplinary cases in their schools under the existing Zero Tolerance policies. Sponsors of the bill say the law would, prevent any kind of standing court order that mandates that a student be arrested or jailed immediately without a hearing; ban the charging of a student as a designated felon, unless he used a weapon in an assault or brought a gun to school; and give judges more discretion into how they handle cases.

Status: Passed by the Youth and Education committee.

Utilities

HB 168 Would continue the state’s Universal Access Fund, created in 1995 to make it more cost-effective for phone companies to serve rural areas, and would increase its limit to nearly $200 million for 10 more years. It is funded by a monthly fee on urban customers’ bills.

Status: The Senate passed this amended version of the original bill passed in 2009 by the House which would have eliminated the fund, setting up action by the House.

Public Safety

SB 308 Sponsors of the bill say that it would clarify existing rules about where licensed owners can carry their guns – including churches, bars and public universities. But the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents is fighting the bill and would like the state to keep the current law, where guns are banned within 1,000 feet of college campuses. A substitute bill includes college classrooms and research facilities as prohibited areas to carry a gun.

Status: The bill is in the special judiciary committee.

SB 304 defines that girls under the age of 16 cannot be charged as prostitutes, because they are likely being exploited and should be seen as victims. Sponsors say the bill is designed to protect young girls and would steer them toward diversionary programs. Critics contend that the bill decriminalizes prostitution.

Status: Bill is in the judiciary committee. Sponsor is reconsidering parts of the bill in response to critics.

SB 315, the Volunteer Emergency Assistance Bill, allows out of state licensed emergency personnel to assist the state in the event of a disaster like a flood, earthquake or act of terror. Currently, there are restrictions of what emergency personnel can do if they are not licensed in a state. Status: The bill passed the Senate and has moved to the House for consideration.

HB 897, one of three measures in the House and Senate designed to criminalize sexual contact between teachers and students who are above the age of consent. Sponsors say they want to close a loophole created when the Georgia Supreme Court ruled last year that a lower court erred by not considering the age of a victim as a defense to sexual assault. Status: Passed by House Judiciary Non-Civil.

Healthcare

SB 344 expands volunteer healthcare legislation to include physicians’ assistants, which sponsors say would provide more care for indigent patients.

Status: The bill passed the Senate and is now in the House.

HB 1184 Would expand access by allowing individuals and families to buy health plans that have been approved for sale in other states. Similar measure is pending in the Senate.

Status: Pending in the House.

Environment

HB 1094 Known as the Georgia Water Stewardship Act of 2010, the bill would reduce waste and offer incentives to increase water supply and decrease demand. Effective date would be July 2012, coinciding with the date a federal judge has set for Georgia, Alabama and Florida to reach a compromise on the state’s long-standing stalemate over water use.

Status: Passed the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee.

Transportation

HB 1218: Would call a referendum on a 1 percent sales tax to fund transportation projects. The state would be divided into 12 regions, and each region would have its own project list and its own referendum to approve or reject the tax within the region.

Status: In special subcommittee.

HB 277: As passed by the House, it would allow voters to levy a statewide 1-cent sales tax for transportation projects.

Status: Passed both chambers last year and died for the session in conference committee. No movement this year.

SB 120: Would lift a rule that makes MARTA spend half its revenue on capital projects rather than operations.

Status: Passed Senate; passed House committee last year. No movement this year.

Economic Development

SB 374 creates an Economic Development Council to provide oversight and accountability to how the state’s economic development dollars are spent.

Status: The bill passed the Senate and is now in the House.

Sunday Sales

HB 138, 352 and SB 16 would each allow localities to hold referendums on the issue of Sunday alcohol sales.

Status: all assigned to committees last year. No action expected this year because Perdue has made his opposition to the measures clear.

Legislators Locked In

No one, as of today, is sure how any of these three issues will play out, since all three have problems attached to them:  a lack of predictable revenue, so a cigarette tax has been offered as an alternative.  But some House leaders, especially the Speaker, have said no to that, too.

It is worth noting that Ralston is allowing only four House committees to continue their work during the recess: Transportation — for deal with the transportation issues of the state; Natural Resources — to handle the water bill; Appropriations — for reasons already mentioned; and Ways and Means — which is where all tax-related legislation originates.