Published Monday, January 12, 2009

Local legislation bills prepared

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Newnan Times-Herald

A bill to change the terms of Senoia's mayor and council from two years to four years will likely be one of the first bills acted on this year by the Georgia General Assembly.

State Rep. Billy Horne, R-Sharpsburg, will be working with legislative counsel to draft the bill that will change the council terms, and "hopefully get it on the rules calendar as soon as possible."

In most cases, major changes to the structure of local governments can't be made without "local legislation" approved by the General Assembly.

Some slight changes to the rules governing local legislation were implemented Monday, the first day of the 2009 session. Now, no one will be allowed to amend local legislation on the House floor. Some representatives spoke out against the change, but the House rules passed by a vote of 108 to 65.

Horne said he didn't think that any particular action triggered the rule changes. "It's more of a housekeeping change," he said.

"It's always been a gentlemen's agreement that you respect local legislation," said State Rep. Lynn Smith, R-Newnan.

Horne, Smith, and Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, R-Sharpsburg, work on local legislation together. They have a standing agreement that they won't introduce local legislation unless the governing body requesting it votes unanimously to approve it. The delegation also requires that the governing body hold a public hearing on the issue and take a public vote.

All that was done in Senoia, Horne said. He met Friday with members of the city council to work on the details. A few years ago, the council wanted to move forward with going to four-year terms, but couldn't get a unanimous vote, so Horne told them he would not move forward.

Horne explained Monday that the unanimous council vote is important. "I do not want to be used to divide a community," Horne said. Some representatives in other counties only require a majority vote, Horne said.

"I prefer to see everybody together on what we do before we do it," he said.

The major change to the rules passed Monday, though, had to do with cell phones.

When the House is in session, members will no longer be able to carry on cell phone conversations on the House floor. Members can listen to voice mails and send text messages, but cannot speak into cell phones while the House is in session, said Majority Leader Jerry Keen, R-St. Simons.