No. 9, March 10, 2003

Assembly's Two-Week Recess to Accommodate Budget Talks

On March 6 - Day 26 of the Georgia General Assembly's 40-day session - legislators agreed to take a two-week recess.

During this time, the Conference Committee will be reviewing and debating outstanding issues regarding the Fiscal Year 2003 Amended Budget, while House and Senate committees and subcommittees will continue to tackle issues surrounding the FY '04 Budget.

The session will resume on March 24, at which time the General Assembly plans to work for four days before recessing for another week. Legislators then plan to meet April 7-11 and April 14-16. After a one-day recess for Passover, the current plan calls for the final day of the session to fall on April 18. Additional recesses could stretch the session out even longer.

Legislative Update will share more details on budget negotiations as they become available during the recess.

Legislation of Interest to the University System

System officials are monitoring many bills of interest to the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Public Library Service. Here is a summary of several pieces of legislation:

House Bill 25 would allow teachers and other personnel who forfeited sick and personal leave to regain that leave after returning to service for two consecutive years.

House Bill 95 would assign a penalty of a "high and aggravated misdemeanor" to athletic boosters who contribute more than $250 in cash or goods to college athletes. The bill is intended to dissuade "rogue" boosters from getting colleges into trouble with NCAA rules.

House Bill 199 would require college students to get a meningitis vaccination or sign a waiver before entering a post-secondary institution. A related bill, House Bill 521 would require students to affirm they have read information about the disease.

House Bill 324 would establish an International Affairs Coordinating Council composed of the heads of several state agencies, including the Board of Regents.

House Bill 550 would provide for multi-year contracts to allow state agencies to pay vendors with what used to be known as "contingency" payments as a result of either enhanced revenues or cost savings resulting from a defined project. The bill has passed the House Appropriations Committee and is in the House Rules Committee.

House Bill 551 rewrites the governance of the Student Finance Commission, allowing the Governor to appoint the 13 members of the board and removing agency heads from the board. This bill has passed committee and is headed to the House Rules Committee.

Senate Bill 38 would establish the Database Protection Act. It provides database owners with limited protection against unauthorized commercialization. The bill has been assigned to a subcommittee.

Senate Bill 52 would require public libraries to install filters to protect Internet browsers from pornography. The bill passed the Senate Science and Technology Committee and now sits in Senate Rules.

Senate Bill 103 would establish the Internet and Computer Safety Act. The bill has been assigned to a study committee.

Senate Bill 244/House Bill 341 establishes HOPE Scholarship eligibility requirements for part-time students attending private colleges.

For more details on these and other legislation, go to http://www.usg.edu/pubs/ and click on "General Assembly."

Information for this article was contributed by Jim Flowers, special assistant to the University System's chief information officer.

Voter Poll Supports Increased Aid to Education

A new national poll reveals that education is a top priority for American voters, and that most Americans want lawmakers to fight for adequate education funding.

Participants in "Demanding Quality Public Education in Tough Economic Times: What Voters Want from Elected Leaders" rated protecting and strengthening education of greater concern than health care, terrorism, national security, Social Security and job creation.

The poll, conducted in late January by the Public Education Network and Education Week, shows voters want state and local legislators to know more about education, fight for more education funds and hold schools accountable for performance. It also shows that - by a margin of almost two to one- Americans are willing to vote against lawmakers who don't treat education as a priority.

"In tough economic times and amid global uncertainty, voters are saying loud and clear that education is a core American value," says Wendy D. Puriefoy, president of Public Education Network. "Voters view education as an essential service."

The poll also reveals that voters believe state budget crises could slow the pace of school improvement across the nation. While many Americans favor the new federal "No Child Left Behind Act," they believe states cannot afford to implement it, and that the federal government - not the states - should provide the necessary funds to implement the act.

For more information, visit http://www.publiceducation.org/doc/NationalPollPressRelease.doc