7 March Daily Radio Script

Before adjourning Friday the House took up two of the more major bills of the session. The first … a much anticipated ethics reform package and the second … a spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.

After lengthy debate a detailed reworking of the statutes covering elected and other government officials was adopted. One of the most notable features in the bill is closing the revolving door through which elected officials leave office and immediately become lobbyists. Additionally, a great many of the functions of administering provisions of the measure have been transferred from the Secretary of State’s Office to the State Ethics Commission.

Highlighting the 17 plus billion dollar spending bill is more than 200 million dollars in new money for improvements in K through 12 schools, colleges and universities.

It is a lean budget but education remains a priority

Also last week, separate legislation was adopted which allows prison inmates to be hired as paid workers by private companies and which establishes drug courts. The sole purpose of these would be to keep offenders under a strict rehabilitation program. Both programs, it is hoped, will reduce the number of people returning to prison.

Recognizing that tourism is Georgia’s second largest industry, House lawmakers also voted to establish a state-wide Tourism Marketing Board to coordinate the promotion of this important feature of the state’s economy.

I’m _________ reporting from the Capitol.