Legislature enters hectic, 'scary' final days. - Everyone is relieved when its over, especially if no serious damage was done in the final day or so.
Legislature enters hectic, 'scary' final days
By Doug Gross
Associated Press
March 27, 2005
Scary. Hectic. Dangerous. Bewitching.
Those are all words used by lawmakers to describe the frantic final days of Georgia's Legislative session.
The quick, in-and-out meetings of January are long gone as House and Senate members return this week for the final three days of their 40-day session. Now, the marathon, morning-to-night meetings have begun - bringing with them the opportunity for mistakes, omissions and old-fashioned political trickery.
"We're at that bewitching time," said Senate Republican Leader Bill Stephens of Canton. "Virtually anything can happen."
Capitol regulars can recite instances of efforts gone awry in the final days of past sessions. Like House leaders simply forgetting to vote on a highway-funding plan that they had gone out of their way to announce earlier in the session. Or a hastily amended Senate plan that, technically, made it illegal for nurses to give shots.
"Things get so hectic," said University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock. "There are times when something will get passed on the last night, then the legislators go to the governor and say, 'Could you veto that?'"
Bullock said the assembly's 40-day limit - one of the nation's shorter legislative sessions - creates havoc by its very nature.
"In Congress, you may want to get out of town, but you don't have a drop-dead date," Bullock said. "Here, you do."
Adding to this year's hurry is a desire by statehouse Republicans - who control both chambers for the first time in 134 years - to adjourn on the Legislature's 39th day. It's a largely symbolic gesture, since lawmakers may take as much time off between in-session days as they like, but one they believe will show they are more efficient than the Democrats who were previously in control.
Among the bills still hanging in the balance when the Legislature returns Tuesday will be an overhaul of the state's child support laws, Gov. Sonny Perdue's government ethics reforms, and the $17 billion state budget.
Last week, Senate Republican whip Mitch Seabaugh, of Sharpsburg, spent most of a day shuttling between the House and Senate, helping a colleague get a bill passed. He said his job of keeping members of his party in line on key votes gets tougher as the session gets later.
"This is the scary time," Seabaugh said. "This is the time something could slip through if you're not careful."
On Thursday - a 12-hour day in the Senate - Sen. Steve Thompson rushed into the chamber from a hallway meeting, only to find he was a few seconds too late to cast a vote on a minor bill.
"Absent for Georgia!" he said, mimicking an ad a political opponent used against him after tallying every vote he had missed in nearly two decades in the Legislature.
The vote was one of over 50 the Senate conducted that day, and occurred roughly eight hours after the chamber convened.
The flurry of activity also can provide cover for lawmakers to introduce brand-new ideas, or politically unpopular ones, to colleagues who won't have much time to decide whether they like them.
When the Senate and House disagree on the exact wording of a bill, a six-member panel from both chambers negotiates, and can completely rewrite the bill if they choose.
"The conference works it out, the clock's running and there's just no time," to carefully study the results, Bullock said. "You've just got to step forward and say 'yay' or 'nay.' "
Rep. Dubose Porter, of Dublin, the Democratic leader in the Republican-controlled House, said he'll be on the lookout for ideas that have been squelched by lawmakers earlier in the year coming back up as amendments to more popular bills.
"The heads of those ugly snakes could come back up," he said.
According to UGA's Bullock, such vigilance is a good idea.
"When they say, 'This is just a little, old bill that doesn't do anything,' that's when you've really got to get on your guard," he said.
By Doug Gross
Associated Press
March 27, 2005
Scary. Hectic. Dangerous. Bewitching.
Those are all words used by lawmakers to describe the frantic final days of Georgia's Legislative session.
The quick, in-and-out meetings of January are long gone as House and Senate members return this week for the final three days of their 40-day session. Now, the marathon, morning-to-night meetings have begun - bringing with them the opportunity for mistakes, omissions and old-fashioned political trickery.
"We're at that bewitching time," said Senate Republican Leader Bill Stephens of Canton. "Virtually anything can happen."
Capitol regulars can recite instances of efforts gone awry in the final days of past sessions. Like House leaders simply forgetting to vote on a highway-funding plan that they had gone out of their way to announce earlier in the session. Or a hastily amended Senate plan that, technically, made it illegal for nurses to give shots.
"Things get so hectic," said University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock. "There are times when something will get passed on the last night, then the legislators go to the governor and say, 'Could you veto that?'"
Bullock said the assembly's 40-day limit - one of the nation's shorter legislative sessions - creates havoc by its very nature.
"In Congress, you may want to get out of town, but you don't have a drop-dead date," Bullock said. "Here, you do."
Adding to this year's hurry is a desire by statehouse Republicans - who control both chambers for the first time in 134 years - to adjourn on the Legislature's 39th day. It's a largely symbolic gesture, since lawmakers may take as much time off between in-session days as they like, but one they believe will show they are more efficient than the Democrats who were previously in control.
Among the bills still hanging in the balance when the Legislature returns Tuesday will be an overhaul of the state's child support laws, Gov. Sonny Perdue's government ethics reforms, and the $17 billion state budget.
Last week, Senate Republican whip Mitch Seabaugh, of Sharpsburg, spent most of a day shuttling between the House and Senate, helping a colleague get a bill passed. He said his job of keeping members of his party in line on key votes gets tougher as the session gets later.
"This is the scary time," Seabaugh said. "This is the time something could slip through if you're not careful."
On Thursday - a 12-hour day in the Senate - Sen. Steve Thompson rushed into the chamber from a hallway meeting, only to find he was a few seconds too late to cast a vote on a minor bill.
"Absent for Georgia!" he said, mimicking an ad a political opponent used against him after tallying every vote he had missed in nearly two decades in the Legislature.
The vote was one of over 50 the Senate conducted that day, and occurred roughly eight hours after the chamber convened.
The flurry of activity also can provide cover for lawmakers to introduce brand-new ideas, or politically unpopular ones, to colleagues who won't have much time to decide whether they like them.
When the Senate and House disagree on the exact wording of a bill, a six-member panel from both chambers negotiates, and can completely rewrite the bill if they choose.
"The conference works it out, the clock's running and there's just no time," to carefully study the results, Bullock said. "You've just got to step forward and say 'yay' or 'nay.' "
Rep. Dubose Porter, of Dublin, the Democratic leader in the Republican-controlled House, said he'll be on the lookout for ideas that have been squelched by lawmakers earlier in the year coming back up as amendments to more popular bills.
"The heads of those ugly snakes could come back up," he said.
According to UGA's Bullock, such vigilance is a good idea.
"When they say, 'This is just a little, old bill that doesn't do anything,' that's when you've really got to get on your guard," he said.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 8:07 PM
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