The Dean says buckle up for the upcoming legislative ride. Identification, a Bible & holier-than-thou attitude required for admittance to govern.

Bill Shipp's latest column:

Morality issues likely to dominate legislature

Georgia Republicans won more than simply control of the state legislature in the Nov. 2 election. The state GOP captured what it sees as the moral high ground.

Newly anointed legislative leaders are likely to move quickly in the upcoming General Assembly session to expand their "morality" position.

Arguments over equalizing school taxes may be postponed. Tort reform proposals may bog down. The budget debate is likely to turn into another messy brawl.

But watch Republicans fall into line quickly over restricting abortions. They also are prepared to promote posting the Ten Commandments in courthouses and to adopt Gov. Sonny Perdue's initiative to give taxpayer
dollars to church groups.

Georgia voters have plainly marked a no-risk road for the now-empowered Republicans to travel for the next two years. More than 2 million citizens, nearly 70 percent of the voters, approved on Election Day a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages. Never mind that state and federal laws already prohibit same-sex marriages. The Republicans' dramatic ascendancy was nearly eclipsed by the landslide against homosexual nuptials.

Georgia voters apparently wanted to send a message regarding what many see as an important moral issue. Leading lights of the GOP's legislature are expected to interpret that signal to mean our citizens additionally favor:

* New limits on abortions: Republican lawmakers have tried repeatedly to gain passage of a bill forcing a 24-hour waiting period on women seeking abortions. House Speaker-designate Glenn Richardson of Dallas, Ga., recently told radio talk-show host Royal Marshall that he favored the waiting period and intended to bring it up in the House. It is nearly certain to pass.

Before the next legislative session ends, Richardson's position may look moderate in comparison to those of some of his colleagues.

In 2003, six Republican representatives introduced a bill banning all abortions in Georgia. The Democratic-controlled House ignored the bill. This year, three of those sponsoring legislators, Reps. Bobby Franklin of Marietta, Sue Burmeister of Augusta and James Mills of Gainesville, are members of the new House majority caucus. Their wishes are not likely to be shrugged off again.

In addition, Rep. Franklin introduced a bill to require a woman to petition a Superior Court judge for permission to have an abortion. He filed another bill that would require the court to issue "a death warrant" (an execution order) for a fetus before a doctor could proceed with an abortion.

* Taxpayer funding for religious groups: Gov. Sonny Perdue along with his GOP legislative leaders support a constitutional amendment allowing the state to give taxpayers' funds to religious organizations for social services. Critics of the move insist that it is a first step toward public financing of vouchers for students to attend religious schools. Republicans tried earlier this year to put the issue on the Nov. 2 ballot. Democrats said no. There may not be enough like-minded Democrats left to keep the measure off the next election ballot.

* Posting the Ten Commandments: In the last legislative session, Speaker-to-be Richardson introduced a bill requiring the secretary of state to prepare documents for display in county courthouses that reflect the religious heritage of the nation. The papers would include the Ten Commandments, the Mayflower Compact and the Declaration of Independence.

Richardson would require the attorney general to provide legal defense for any county government that is sued for displaying the commandments. Terming the separation of church and state "a fable," Richardson says he favors renewing the push next year to post the Ten Commandments in public buildings.

These issues are just a sample of the GOP's moral agenda. Newly elected Sen. Nancy Schaefer, R-Habersham County, founder of the Christian fundamentalist organization Family Concerns Inc., is sure to have her own to-do list, including items restricting government supervision of education.

Now watch what happens next. As the Republicans roll out their moral-values agenda, the American Civil Liberties Union and similar organizations will explode in a flurry of headline-making activities to upend the morality movement. Their efforts will backfire again. Just as Republicans did with the anti-gay rights amendment, they will reap another bonanza of voter support.

Meanwhile, legislation related to tax revision, environmental protection and similarly politically perilous imperatives will fall through the cracks, only to be decided finally by those despised "activist judges."

Republicans are not the first Georgia politicians to be mesmerized by morality while the state burned. During the civil rights struggles decades ago, the Democratic-controlled legislature busied itself debating whether mixed drinks should be legalized in Atlanta and if an anti-Vietnam War lawmaker (Julian Bond) should be seated in the House. The General Assembly, in its political wisdom, left to the courts the onerous and then-unpopular work of striking down many of Georgia's segregation laws.

Abdication in the face of controversy is a well-documented custom of Southern legislatures, no matter which party is in charge. Observing whether Georgia's GOP leaders depart from that tradition should be instructive.