On Feb. 18, your House and Senate reached the mid point of the 2010 Georgia legislative session and the budget news is not good. On the bright side, the Senate passed its version of the supplemental FY 2010 budget today to get us through the end of the fiscal year on June 30th. It will now go back to the House for reconciliation by a committee of three each Senators and Representatives and the final copy will be approved by both Houses and signed by the Governor.

 The very bad news comes when we begin writing the FY 2011 budget. Revenue projections and figures are now so unpredictable that we have recessed for two weeks to await the report of income to the state for February, likely to us by March 5. During the two weeks we are out of session, budget sub committees will meet to attempt to hammer out proposed expenditures while we await the February report. The bad news is that everyone should brace themselves for more radical and deeper cuts than even the most pessimistic projections have previously discussed.

 In other news, the Senate continues to work on rewriting Georgia's concealed weapons carry laws. Senator Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) met with the Special Judiciary Committee for more than four hours to walk them through the bill and discuss possible changes. According to Seabaugh, the legislation has two purposes, to remedy confusion in the current law and bring continuity to the process of licensing and regulation. "Legally carrying citizens want to follow the laws and law enforcement officers want to be able to enforce the law," Seabaugh said. I fully support his efforts and look forward to voting for his bill. I am a firm believer in the Second Amendment to our constitution.

 Senator Jeff Mullis, (R-Chickamauga) introduced a bill to establish a "Blue Alert" when a law enforcement officer is seriously hurt or killed by an assailant who escapes immediate capture. The system would be similar to the "Amber Alert" and messages would be flashed on highway signs when the alert was activated. After two Newton Deputies were seriously wounded recently and two metro Atlanta law enforcement officers died in the line of duty this past week, the system is needed as soon as possible.

 Finally, Georgia's judicial system would see major changes if a bill by Senator Preston Smith, (R-Rome) is passed. SB 429 would create a judicial operations fund for the operations of the courts and a significant portion of judges’ salaries. The bill would also add two Supreme Court Justices and three Appeals Court Judges. These additional positions would give the courts more personnel to handle the overflow of cases and accelerate the process of appeals. The bill already has 31 signatures in the Senate, 29 votes are needed for passage.