Amendment would safeguard HOPE, pre-K funds
March 30, 2007 -- Atlanta, GA -- State Sen. Tim Golden (D-Valdosta) Thanks to bipartisan cooperation in the Senate, legislation aimed at safeguarding lottery revenues for Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship and pre-kindergarten programs was sufficiently strengthened to win the necessary two-thirds approval for a constitutional amendment.

I was pleased to help lead negotiations between Senate Democrats and Republicans and co-sponsor the Tarver-Golden Amendment to Senate Resolution 125. As originally introduced, SR 125 was similar to legislation that failed to pass the Senate or the House of Representatives during the 2006 session, largely because of arbitrarily determined “trigger” points that would result in automatic but unnecessary cuts to the program. These triggers, representing certain percentage decreases in lottery revenues, would have potentially caused a reduction in payments for HOPE Scholars’ books and fees as well as pre-K funding.

Working with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Sen. Joe Carter (R-Tifton), Governor Perdue’s floor leader, we were able to strengthen the HOPE and pre-K protection measure, which hopefully will pass the House of Representatives and go before the voters next November. The Tarver-Golden amendment eliminated the triggers that were of concern to many Senators.

These bipartisan negotiations also resulted in bipartisan support for Senate Bill 75, also passed by the Senate, which would give weight to honors courses and help more high school graduates qualify for HOPE, and a commitment from the lieutenant governor to support House legislation that would give more HOPE grant flexibility to students who participate in dual enrollment college programs while still in high school.

Tuesday, March 27 was “crossover day” for the 2007 session of the Georgia General Assembly. As the 30th legislative day of the session, it was the deadline for measures to be sent from either the Senate or House of Representatives for consideration by the other chamber this year. Legislation approved by the Senate this week included:

• SB 96, which I introduced, further strengthening Georgia’s drug-free work place program by authorizing employers to conduct on-site oral testing of workers for substance abuse in the pre-employment screening application process.

• SB 274, which would require notary publics to be legal U.S. residents. Also, the bill would require applicants to prove their county of residence with a government issued identification card or passport. 
• SB 125, which would increase penalties for “super speeders” on our highways, using the additional funds to pay for trauma care.

• SR 309, a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the creation of infrastructure development districts, also known as “private cities.”

• SR 130, a proposed constitutional amendment designed to allow local communities to establish “townships,” a mechanism other than forming new cities for handling zoning issues.

The Senate did not vote on SB 137, which called for a referendum to determine if local governments would allow of alcohol on Sunday, or SB 43, which would have kept business owners from prohibiting employees from keeping firearms in locked vehicles parked on company property.

• State Sen. Tim Golden represents the 8th District (Brooks, Cook, Lowndes and Thomas Counties). During the legislative session, he can be reached at 121-A State Capitol, Atlanta, Ga. 30334; by phone at 404-656-7580; or by e-mail at tim.golden@senate.ga.gov.