On Feb. 11, I co-sponsored legislation that would provide muchneeded assistance to U.S. military veterans who want to attend one of Georgia’s public colleges or universities. SB 405 would allow veterans who have enrolled but have not received their G.I. Bill money to attend classes until that assistance arrives from the Veterans Administration.

Currently, service members returning from active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan are unable to remain in a University System institution while awaiting their financial aid to arrive. Some have been kicked out of school, dropped from classes or assessed fines. This is no way to treat the troops who have put their lives on the line for our country. Our legislation would provide a grace period for these veterans to get their finances in order without delaying their pursuit of a college degree.

Board of Regents’ officials has expressed support for SB 405. A separate measure I introduced, SB 404, would excuse veterans from taking certain classes that they may have taken in the military. Both bills were referred to the Senate Higher Education Committee for its consideration.

Revenues Fall Again: For the 14th consecutive month, state revenues declined in January. The 8.7 percent drop from the same month a year ago brings the total revenue shortfall for the first seven months of fiscal year 2010 to $1.28 billion, a decline of 12.9 percent from the previous year. Income tax collections were off 16 percent in January, while sales tax collections were down 5.5 percent. Corporate income tax collections actually experienced a huge 634 percent gain, but that is the smallest portion of revenue and was not enough to offset the other losses.

Transportation Funding: On Feb. 4, Senate Democrats introduced the Transportation Jobs Development Act, a legislative solution to the transportation funding problem that has caused Georgia to fall behind other states in recent years. The proposed legislation (SB 366 and SR 972) calls for a constitutional amendment authorizing the formation of special transportation districts, which would give citizens in local jurisdictions the power to decide whether to levy a regional sales tax for transportation improvements in their regions. The proposal would also dedicate the fourth penny collected on the state’s motor fuel tax to transportation purposes. As a proposed constitutional amendment, SB 366 and SR 972 require two-thirds approval of both the Senate and House of Representatives, and a majority approval by voters in the 2010 general election.

Healthcare Reform: The issue of healthcare reform has been at the top of the political agenda at the federal level for most of the past year. Earlier in the session, legislation was introduced in the Georgia Senate that would provide consumers with some health insurance protections at the state level. SB 330 would prohibit insurers from imposing a cap on the amount of lifetime benefits a policy holder can receive and would prohibit insurers from canceling a policy because of a misstatement or omission by the policy holder in the original application, unless the misstatement directly relates to the illness that produced the claim. SB 331 would enable parents to keep their dependents on their health insurance plan up to age 25, even if the dependents are not full-time students, and would make it easier for small businesses to offer group health insurance to employees by allowing them to pool their resources with other businesses to lower the cost of coverage.

Legislators Furloughed: Due to the state’s budget crisis, our public school educators and other state employees have had to take unpaid furlough days as a cost-saving measure.

Earlier in the session, a plan was announced for members of the General Assembly to take additional furlough days, which would save the state an estimated $2.7 million. I support this plan because as elected officials we must lead by example. We are not and should not be excused from giving up part of our legislative salaries to help in the very difficult task of balancing this year’s budget. By the end of fiscal year 2010, lawmakers will have taken 11 unpaid furlough days, including one day a month from August through December last year. Other state agencies have each taken between three and 12 furlough days.

Ethics Legislation: SB 394, introduced last week, would prohibit anyone who has had an ethics fine levied against them in the past 10 years from serving on the State Ethics Commission. The measure is intended to increase public trust in the Ethics Commission. The Senate Ethics Committee has the bill under consideration.

Sen. J.B. Powell (D-Blythe) represents the 23rd District (Burke, Emanuel, Jefferson, Jenkins, Richmond , Screven , Washington and Wilkinson counties) in the Georgia State Senate. During the legislative session, contact him at 320-A Coverdell Office Building, Atlanta , Ga. , 30334 ; by phone at 404-463-1314 or by e-mail at jb.powell@senate.ga.gov .