The Georgia Fair Lending Act took center stage in the House today. The House Banks and Banking Committee Substitute to Senate Bill 53 was debated for several hours before passing. We'll have the highlights of that debate.

Reaction to the passage of SB 53 was swift. Lawmakers' Nwandi Lawson
was there as Senator Vincent Fort and representatives of consumer
advocate groups spoke about their disappointment over the legislation's
current form.

The Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee today gave a do-pass recommendation to new Senate maps. We'll have more on that story.

Patients of closed-panel HMOs may soon be able to purchase prescription drugs through the mail. Senate Bill 145 passed the Senate this morning, but not before stirring up a good deal of debate.

Senate Bill 213 would require site permits and licensure by the Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner for pyrotechnic displays.
The bill is designed to prevent tragedies like the club fire in Rhode
Island several weeks ago that killed nearly a hundred people.
Correspondent Hamilton Northcutt has more about that proposed
legislation.

Representative Victor Hill made his first appearance in the well today. Representative Hill, who is a Clayton County homicide detective, presented House Bill 173,
a bill that would make wearing a bulletproof vest during the commission
of a crime- or the attempted commission of a crime- a felony punishable
by 5 years' imprisonment. Although a serious subject, Hill endured a
little good-natured questioning from his fellow House members, as is
tradition. In the end, HB 173 passed.

As promised, Lawmakers brings you more about the first Georgia Center for Cancer Excellence at Grady Memorial Hospital. Hamilton Northcutt takes you inside.

First Lady Mary Perdue is reading across Georgia. In conjunction in the national Read Across America
event, Georgia's First Lady has read to students at nine different
schools from Milledgeville to Dublin and from Roswell to Bonaire.
Lawmakers Leslie Cadle has more.

We'll have all that and more tonight on Lawmakers!