UPDATE: That's it. It's over. Sine Die 2010

The Senate is at ease and the House is listening to state Rep. Mark Burkhalter say goodbye.

Senate Bill 308, the gun bill, hasn't come up yet, but should soon. I have only rumor on the abortion bill (SB 529)'s fate. Likewise on whatever last minute deals are cooking to make the House, Senate and governor happy and get us to Sine Die.

The governor stopped by the Senate again. In fact I turned around to find him sitting behind me in the press box. He was in a fantastic mood.

I'll update in this post as things pop up.

10:31: The Senate is back in and dealing with HB 1069, a tax bill that includes, among other things, an end to the refundable portion of the low-income tax credit. The bill also allows Atlanta to extend its MOST tax for water and sewer projects via referendum. Also known as "Atlanta Democrats you have to vote to take government money from poor people if you want to keep your sales tax."

10:42: The Senate passed HB 1069, it still needs approval in the House. UPDATE: It's now passed the House, too. The Senate is on SB 308, the gun bill.

11:10: SB 308 has passed the House and the Senate. It heads to the governor. One of the late changes: You could keep a licensed gun in your car parked on a college campus, but not carry it around the campus.

"On campus you will not be able to carry a firearm. ..." sponsor state Sen. Mitch Seabaugh said. "However, you will be able to park on campus and leave your gun in your vehicle if you have a license."

11:13: Things have taken on that fast-paced, talk-as-fast-as-you-can tone. The Senate is about to give final passage to The Meredith Emerson Act, which limits release of grotesque crime scene pictures.

11:14: It passed unanimously.

11:21: The Senate just passed HB 1321, which the House had passed earlier, and which I certainly hope is as narrowly drawn as it appears to be, and sponsors have promised it is:

HB 1321: Exempts 911 recordings of people dying in a natural disaster from release under the Georgia Open Records Act. The measure is less broad than an earlier proposal to restrict access to any 911 recording of "personal suffering," because it is limited to natural disasters.

11:49: The Senate has brought SB 335, a voter-approved fractional tax to support the arts, back from the dead. A vote will come shortly. Morons all over the place are ripping up paper so they can throw it in the air when midnight hits.

12:01: Sine Die, suckers. SB 335 died, as did SB 529 (the abortion bill), and who knows what else.


Yay! Throw paper!