The Senate previously passed the bill March 7, by a 49-1 vote.
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A Senate committee on Wednesday approved a constitutional amendment that would give the General Assembly the power to restore voting rights to convicted felons without the need for a gubernatorial pardon. On Thursday, March 24, we will convene one final time this session for legislative day 40, or ‘sine die, ‘ the last day we have to pass any legislation this year.
Under the bill, the state Department of Education and non-public schools that receive state funds would be required to develop and implement age-appropriate curriculum on the awareness and prevention of sexual abuse and assault. Members running for re-election are in a hurry to return home and begin campaigning. This budget sharply counters the plan passed by the House of Representatives, which restored all of Bevin’s cuts to public universities along partisan lines.
The Senate also reversed Bevin’s plan to hire 43 new public defenders across the state to help with caseloads.
As a procedural move to keep the bill alive, Peake attached his bill to Senate Bill 145. Republican Sen. Renee Unterman of Buford has said a federal grant will fix any backlogs of rape kit testing in Georgia and declined to act on Holcomb’s proposal.
After a panel of negotiators iron out their differences, the two chambers will vote again on the final bill.
As it stands, patients with “cancer, HIV/AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathies, Huntington’s disease, Crohn’s disease, post traumatic stress disorder, intractable seizures, glaucoma, sickle cell anemia, chronic pain, and autism” would be allowed access to full strength cannabis pills, oils and tinctures. Heeding the governor’s call to reward taxpayer dollars to universities based on merit, the Senate budget includes a provision to allow schools to compete for 25 percent of postsecondary dollars based on academic performance, according to Capilouto’s email.
Lawmakers have showed no sign they plan to respond to the governor’s concerns before the legislative session ends Thursday at midnight.
Those that survive head to Gov. Nathan Deal.
Lawmakers already voted this year to lift a weapons ban on Georgia’s college campuses.
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Deal also will review a bill preventing financial institutions from refusing services to legal gun or ammunition sellers. Officials with the state’s Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council have said Georgia is the only state that allows officers to make an unchallenged statement and supported the push for changes amid national scrutiny of the use of deadly force by law enforcement.
