Gonzo Lawmakers - Day 11

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 11

* Susan is back in black

* Susan and Nwandi are giggling. Someone must have spritzed the studio with nitrous.

* More Glenn Richardson. He haunts the session. He's under an ethics investigation now. He transferred some money from his campaign to his PAC which may be a no-no. No findings at this time.

* Valerie at Hogwarts. Time to talk water.

* Perdue is not a 'one size fits all kinda guy'. This is his reasoning for not having a comprehensive plan. Okaaaaaay.

* New properties must have more efficient "fixtures". That means toilets.

* Shot of the precious Chattahoochee.

* The Governor wants to find new sources of supply. One thing is interconnection. Sounds like basin transfer. South Georgia just shuddered.

* Chip Rogers wants to expand the current school voucher system to military families. Which means we get to see the original author of the bill, Eric Johnson. He's running for Governor so I hear.

* There's the AJC's Jim Galloway! And he's picking his nose! (Actually, he was just scratching. Don't cut me off Jim!)

* Gotta have some mothers and some chillun's at this type of presser.

* Rogers admits his goal is universal vouchers. He isn't going to cast aspraisions. That means he doesn't want to piss off the teachers. DOE favors charter schools over vouchers.

* Temporary license for medical personnel who comes from out of the state to help in a disaster. Sen. Preston Smith is telling horror stories from Haiti. Hurricane in Savannah. Earthquake in North Georgia. Terrorist attack in Atlanta. Swarm of locusts in Hahira. Just kidding about the last one.

* Trauma system is coming but slowly. Not too shocking considering they only gave them $25 million to play with. We're trying to upgrade rural ambulances. We're also building a central communications center to better direct patients. We're using Alabama as a model! If you didn't understand the state of trauma care in Georgia, I hope that helps.

* An interesting bill passed committee. It closes a loophole that prevented teachers from being prosecuted for having an affair with a student if the kid was over 16. 16 is the age of consent and that's how it got overlooked. Some sharp lawyer used that to get a teacher off. So to speak.

* Susan Hoffman just gave a little "whoop" over getting a mouthful of copy out. I'm telling you. Nitrous in the studio.

* Michael Thurmond is getting pretty gray. Hell, I am too. So who am I to speak.

* Some conservative coalition wants lower taxes and have more family values. Shocking.

* I bet this presser will be fun. Keocia has it.

* We're 46th in the nation in taxes. 50th in the nation in debt. Still not good enough for some people. Per capita spending is down 20%. Of course, Sen. Doug Stoner, a Democrat, is doubtful this is good. Sometimes the parodies are just too self-evident.

* Lawmaker Flashback! And we finally get to see Tom Murphy! I hope he's a gavel banging. Good lord there's a young Al Scott! He was the Labor Commissioner when I started. He took over for David Poythress who resigned to run for something or another. He has quite a snappy suit on. I think my mother had a couch covered in that material. Scott just said everyone in the Legislature is guilty of driving drunk four nights a week! Gavel banging! The chair will TEND TO IT! Speaker Murphy is admonishing Scott. Scott looks hot! He says he wasn't making a reference to anyone but himself. He just admitted to being a drunk!This is the weirdest exchange ever and this best flashback ever! They will never top this one.

* The Senate is honoring some baseball player. Sorry. I'm still reeling from that flashback.

* The ballplayer is not wearing a tie. I'm pretty sure that's against the rules. But he's a ballplayer so they get to do things like that.

* Susan is sorry she didn't get his autograph. But now she's got firefighters to talk about. Nitrous. I'm telling you. Maybe something stronger.

* I like that the chryon has to tell us Sonny Perdue is an R from Georgia.

* Firefighter day at the Capitol. Lord, there's Oxendine. And Thurbert Baker. It's Governor-candidate-palooza.

* State news with Ricky Bevington. She's sorry she has no fires to report. Warren County schools is on the brink of losing accreditation. Metro Atlanta hospitals are taking in Haitian refugees.

* Tomorrow on Lawmakers - Chip Rogers. He's a rock star. But for now, that's a wrap!