UPDATE: House Bill 143 passed 117-55. Story on the main site. Interestingly, the House adjourned shortly after the vote without taking up House Resolution 1 (the assessment cap). That was unexpected.
Majority Leader Jerry Keen said it was simply a time issue: It's Friday, legislators need to get back to work or spend time with their families, since most of them will be back up here Sunday to be ready for a Monday morning session, he said. He also said the leadership didn't expect debate on 143 to last more than about 15 minutes.
That's interesting, because I certainly expected it to last longer than 15 minutes. And I wouldn't say that I'm a superior predictor of House debate lengths than Rep. Keen.
House Democratic Minority Leader DuBose Porter offered an additional reason for the adjournment: "And they didn't have the votes," he said.
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The House of Representatives is debating House Bill 143, which would basically "save" the homeowners tax relief grant to fund last year's property tax break for homeowners and "kill" it for this year and tie it to revenue growth in years after that.
You can watch online here. But you should probably just get back to work, because I have a feeling you're going to need to make some more money and pay some more taxes.
So far, common law marriage, the integration of the University of Georgia, migration to America, an Albany legislator's "Uncle Nimrod" and the 95 South Song "Whoot There It Is" have all been referenced in arguments for or against the bill.
It's like watching the old Kent Brockman quote in action: "I've said it before and I'll say it again: Democracy simply doesn't work."
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