Gonzo Lawmakers - Day 39

A daily recap of the Georgia Public Broadcasting show "Lawmakers". The show airs weekdays at 7:00pm with a replay at 5:30am the following weekday.

Day 39

* The penultimate day and the penultimate episode of Lawmakers

* Straight to a live shot of the House. These are more frequent as we run headlong towards the end.

* Budget passes but there's a fight over that VA home in Milledgeville. The Donkeys are going to pin this tail on the Elephants forever. John Douglas (much less crazy this year) responds that if everyone is taking a hit the veterans have to as well. Not the best response. It reminds me of the time Roy Barnes pissed off the teachers and we all know how that ended.

* Earnest Dan Weber wants to get some more money for teachers. Nan Orrock is on his side. But Perdue still might veto. All of this means its doomed. Veterans. Teachers. Some Republicans are playing with fire.

* No live shots yet. Where are the kids?

* Here we go! Transportation and that means Valarie. She's in studio. If I recall, SB200 saw a rare procedural move in the House. Let's see how it plays. The critical portion is the DOT would have to run all projects through the Governor's office. So, the Governor becomes a giant project manager. The whole weird twisty thing even brought the Speaker to the well. In the end the bill ended in a tie which let Speaker Richardson vote and pass the thing back to the Senate. To be honest, this hideous little chimera has metastisized so many times, I'm not sure anyone understands what it does.

* We're past the big stuff and into the minutae.

* Definitions. We're arguing over definitions. Yes, yes, counselors, I know many times legal decisions fall on the crux of a definition, but good TV it does not make.

* We can adopt embryos. I'll take an even dozen.

* Garden club vs billboard owners. There's a cage match only government could gin up. I think the begonia lovers won but I'm honestly not sure.

* Tiana's at Hogwarts. Some immigration bill that's apparently clean up to get us in line with Federal law.

* We're going to allow victims to show emotion when they give a statement during sentencing. Yes, it's as ridiculous as it sounds.

* John Oxendine is accusing Lt. Gov. Cagle of playing politics with the Insurance Department's budget. Imagine that.

* My sweet lord, they are using Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyrie" to introduce a segment about scooters. I love the smell of small two stroke engines in the morning. There's Brittany looking spiffy on a yellow Vespa. Keith Heard showed up for some face time. I'm sure his Athens constituency are just plum happy.

* Lawmakers will be on at both 7:00 and 11:00 this Friday. I, however, will not. More about that later. Look for the final Gonzo Lawmakers next monday. Until then, that's a wrap.