One of the most controversial issues of this term has focused on the right of employees to keep firearms locked in the trunks of their privately owned vehicles, even on company parking lots. 

Senator Chip Rogers introduced a bill that would have prevented employers from conditioning offers of employment on policies that would prohibit employees from keeping firearms locked, out of sight, in their vehicles.  His bill contained many exceptions, including airports, electric power companies and any employer with a controlled access parking lot.

A version of Chip’s bill was incorporated last year into House Bill 89.  Strongly opposed by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, it was tabled on the final day of the session.

Today, the Senate Rules Committee agreed to a compromise that more narrowly protects employees who hold Georgia firearms licenses.  Firearms licenses, issued in each county by the probate judge, are available only to adults of good moral character who undergo criminal background checks.

The National Rifle Association agreed to the compromise.  The Georgia Chamber of Commerce has proclaimed victory.  Many local chambers, including the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, had broken with the Georgia Chamber over its opposition to the original bill.

I voted for the compromise, and it passed out of committee with bipartisan support and just two dissenting votes.

I offered two amendments to the bill dealing with the issuance of firearms licenses.  The first amendment required probate judges to request a background check within two days of receiving an application for a firearms license.  It also required law enforcement agencies to respond to the judge’s request within thirty days.  The second amendment gave applicants the right to seek judicial relief if the probate judge refuses to act on the application within 45 days.  Both of these amendments were approved by the committee and included in the final substitute.

I am not sure yet whether the bill will come to the floor this week or next, but when it does, I expect that it will pass by a comfortable margin, with bipartisan support.

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Today’s AJC carries this alarming report that, at the rate things are going, Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River may run dry in as little as three months.

The state has ordered outdoor watering bans and encouraged voluntary water conservation, and all of us are hoping for rain.  But there is nothing we can do about a federal court order requiring the Army Corps of Engineers, which runs the Buford Dam, to keep releasing millions of gallons of water from the lake for the benefit of two endangered species of mussel. 

These little sea creatures live Florida, in the Apalachicola River, where the fresh water from Lake Lanier ends up before flowing into the Gulf of Mexico.  As I understand it, their mating cycle requires that they be bathed with a steady stream of water.  During a serious drought like the one we now face, the frisky critters would normally be in serious trouble.  But fortunately for them, we humans had the foresight to build the Buford Dam and create a giant reservoir of water that could be used to keep them bathed in good times and bad.

I do not want to be insensitive to the plight of any endangered species, but surely turning Lake Lanier into a mudhole cannot be good for biodiversity either.

Three years ago, I drafted a bill that would have encouraged the use of public-private partnerships to create a system of regional water reservoirs.  Even had the bill passed, we would still be five to seven years away from the first reservoir being constructed.  But five to eight years away is better than seven to ten years away.

The General Assembly is set to consider a statewide water plan in the upcoming session.  I would like to see regional reservoirs as part of that plan.  I would also like us to aggressively explore desalination and other emerging technologies. 

Responsible use and conservation are important, but we cannot rely on a strategy that puts us entirely at the mercy of the weather.  We need to increase the supply of fresh water and figure out the best way to store it for the times when Nature does not provide enough.

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Three Democratic state senators today urged Governor Perdue to call a special session to terminate legal proceedings in the Genarlow Wilson case and take “immediate and decisive action to set Genarlow Wilson free and end this terrible nightmare for him and our beloved state once and for all.”

I am not sure what they are now proposing.  Every earlier legislative attempt to free Mr. Wilson would have opened up hundreds or even thousands of child molestation cases to judicial review, with mandatory notifications to the victims of these crimes.

Two weeks ago, House Democratic Leader DuBose Porter urged Governor Perdue to call a session to reduce the gas tax.

Given that a special session for any purpose would force the immediate transmittal of the Governor’s vetoes and almost certainly result in an intraparty confrontation over the budget, I suspect the Democrats would embrace virtually any reason to meet in special session.

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Sonji Jacobs of The Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote today about Senate Bill 11, the first bill to pass the State Senate in this session.  I have finally been mentioned in the AJC outside the context of Sunday alcohol sales. 

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The Senate Rules Committee met for the first time this afternoon.  Two bills were scheduled for floor action tomorrow morning.  One of my bills, Senate Bill 11, has the distinction of being the first bill passed out of the Rules Committee during this session.  As I discussed under my entry for Day Five, Senate Bill 11 protects judges of the superior and state courts who are called into active military service, clarifying that they do not vacate their offices and may run for reelection.  The other bill on tomorrow’s calendar is Senate Bill 18, sponsored by Senator Seth Harp, which permits municipal courts to participate in the alternative dispute resolution program currently operated by state and country trial courts.  Although it is a general bill, it applies only to the municipal court in Columbus, Georgia.

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Today is the seventh day of the 2007 Legislative Session.  Blogging aside, this day will begin for me at 9:00 a.m. with a meeting of the Senate Republican Caucus.  The session itself, beginning at 10:00 a.m., will again be brief, with no bills having yet had time to make it to the floor.  At 11:45 a.m., we will go into joint session with the House to hear a message from the Chief Justice.  This message is commonly called the “State of the Judiciary” address and will begin at 12:00 noon.  You can watch the regular and joint sessions live on the General Assembly website.

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Today is the fifth legislative day of the 2007 Legislative Session.  On Mondays we go into session at 1:00 p.m., not 10:00 a.m., to allow traveling lawmakers time to get to Atlanta.  It is still too early for any bills or resolutions to have made it through committee and onto the floor so our session this afternoon will be relatively short.  As always, you can watch our proceedings live at the General Assembly website.

This afternoon I will appear before the Senate Special Judiciary Committee to present Senate Bill 11. This bill, which I introduced on the first day of the session, deals with judges of the superior and state courts who are called into active military service.  The bill clarifies that judges who are ordered to perform military service may continue in office and seek reelection during such duty.  It also provides that being ordered to perform military service shall be a basis for requesting temporary assistance from other courts.  Several members of the judiciary serve in the National Guard or Reserves, and as the war in the Middle East continues, it becomes increasingly more likely that the will be required to call upon the provisions of Senate Bill 11.

Today I will also be circulating Senate Resolution 5, the Taxpayers Dividend Act, for signatures from potential cosponsors.  I pre-filed this constitutional amendment but have not yet introduced it.  We will discuss it in more detail later.

[UPDATE] The Senate Special Judiciary Committee heard Senate Bill 11 this afternoon and voted unanimously to report it out of committee with a “do pass” recommendation.

[UPDATE] Thirty three Republicans cosponsored Senate Resolution 5, which I introduced this afternoon.

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