Budget Hearings – Thursday, January 20, 2011

Lawmakers will consider reinstating the grocery tax this session. It’s perhaps the most controversial part of a broad plan to overhaul the tax code. Two legislators discussing the plan at recent luncheon on the state budget crisis provide a glimpse of what’s to come when lawmakers take up the issue this year.

The Rev. Bernice King says she will not assume the presidency of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King was elected in October 2009 to lead the organization co-founded by her father, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., more than 50 years ago.

Governor Deal met with the head of Georgia's Emergency Management Agency as well as transportation and public safety commissioners on Thursday. He says they talked about lessons learned from last week's snow storm and how to get ready for the ice storm expected to hit north Georgia early next week.

Ethics reform is not on the minds of many lawmakers this year, but ethics watchdog groups and the Georgia Tea Party have banned together to get their attention. Now a lobbying effort is underway to push for more changes.

Last month the Georgia Public Service Commission approved a surcharge to help Georgia Power pay for construction of the first nuclear reactors to be built in the country in thirty years. Now commissioners want to make sure ratepayers aren’t saddled with the bill if the estimated $14 billion project goes over budget