Young Democrats of Georgia

Georgia House Watch, Perdue Watch

Sen. Robert Brown May Not Be Returning To The Capitol

13WMAZ.com Eyewitness News Headline

Brown is the minority leader in the Georgia Senate. He has held the District 26 seat since 1991. The district includes parts of Bibb, Houston, Twiggs and Wilkinson counties. His candidacy has been discussed at local political gatherings for weeks. But for months, Brown has said publicly that he hasn't made up his mind. Brown caused some waves in the recent session of the General Assembly. He filed a bill stating that no "public building, site, structure, road (or) highway" would ever be named for him.

A local bill approved by the Macon City Council to reduce the council's size died because Brown was opposed.

And he drew criticism from the Georgia NAACP by saying that a state apology for slavery would be pointless and meaningless.

State law requires that he resign his Senate seat if he qualifies for mayor.

Qualifying is scheduled June 4 to 8.

Senate Moves To Shore-Up Trauma Center Emergency

AP Wire | 01/25/2007 | Senate proposal seeks to shore up trauma system

Only 15 of the state's 152 hospitals are now certified trauma centers, leaving some rural regions dangerously exposed. Archbold Memorial Hospital in southwest Georgia, for instance, is the only trauma care center south of Macon, Columbus and Savannah. Health care workers have urged lawmakers for more than a decade to create and fund a statewide trauma network. A legislative report released this month helped intensify the calls. In the report, hospital administrators said 700 lives would be saved each year if Georgia's trauma death rate drops to the national average, and emergency responders warned that the network of ambulances and helicopters was spread too thin. Georgia's trauma death rate is 20 percent higher than the national average, Staton said.

Sen. Emanuel Jones Files Bill To Close Juvenile Law Loophole ala Genarlow Wilson

ABC News: UPDATE: Outrage After Teen Gets 10 Years for Oral Sex With Girl

There are new developments in the case of Genarlow Wilson, a 17-year-old Georgia high school football star and honor student who received a mandatory 10-year prison sentence for aggravated child molestation. His crime: receiving consensual oral sex from a 15-year-old female schoolmate.

Cutting Through the Rhetoric of SR 20 & Tax Reform

Time to cut through some hype. The Georgia Budget & Policy Institute has done a great job of cutting through the rhetoric of "tax reform" from the conservative spin machines at the state capitol, and has developed a comprehensive study of the Tax & Expenditure Limitation bills (TEL Bills) floating around the capitol this session.

Read GBPI's report: The Truth About TEL (Analysis of SR 20)

Family Day At The State Capitol 2007

Blogwatch: Unions say they'll bring the potato salad to 'Family Day' | Political Insider

This is what happens when Republicans try to throw a block party. Everybody thinks the invitation applies to him. As they did two years ago, GOP lawmakers said they had reserved Saturday, Feb. 10, for ‘Family Day’ at the state Capitol — a day to draw back the curtain of legislative mystery for the glowing faces of young children, to allow them to discover for themselves that the world of politics is very much like the world of Spongebob Squarepants, right down to the squirrel with the fishbowl on his head.