8:12: Carnival safety, yacht repair tax exemptions among the bills passed by Senate
7:48: Governor Deal is addressing the House, expect him to be off to deal with this major highway meltdown (literally) shortly.
- Update: Deal reminds the House that he may not sign all bills that come before him, what might those bills be?
7:36: Both houses are back in session, lot’s of bills to go before the clock strikes 12(ish)
7:10: All eyes have temporarily turned away from the Capitol to watch a massive fire under I-85 that resulted in a stretch of the highway collapsing… Just when you thought Sine Die couldn’t get any stranger!
- Update – The Senate has temporarily recessed to access the 85 collapse situation.
5:20: Senate is in recess until 6:30, it’s looking like it will be a long night under the Gold Dome!
4:43: The Senate is pondering a compromise on a pair of adoption/foster care bills. If the upper chamber removes the controversial amendment to HB 159 that would have allowed adoption agencies to refuse to work with LGBT homes, the House could relent from their freeze on SB 170 which streamlines foster care regulations.
3:15pm: House sends HB 208, which raises hunting and fishing license fees, to Governor Deal’s desk.
2:50pm: The Senate is moving some things but the acrimony between the two chambers continues from Day 39. Bills are getting held up a bit as each chamber tries to force the other to pass certain legislation, including a version of the Regional Transit Council bill.
The calendar is stuffed and if ever there were to be a repeat of the famous clock incident, this might be it.
2:20pm: Jon Ossoff sighting at the Capitol as Dems gather around to voice their support for the upstart candidate for the 6th Congressional district.
Proud to stand with Jon @ossoff in the #GA06 special election. He’ll fight for Georgia families in Congress. #GeorgiaResists #gapol pic.twitter.com/oFcrxcJXYc
— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) March 30, 2017
1:00pm: Senate passes SB 16, which will expand the state’s medical marijuana program. The heavily debated and publicized bill adds conditions to be covered by cannabis oil.
