State Senate leaders approving power-sharing plan with Cagle

MACON - The Republican leadership in the state Senate Friday approved a plan to share power in the upper chamber with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, also a Republican.

Cagle met with the state Senate leaders in Macon Friday after some of them tried to strip Cagle of some of his authority.

The changes include creation of a committee made up of members of the Senate leadership and appointees of Cagle's which, along with Cagle, will now make senate committee assignments and name committee chairs.

"The Lt. Governor is not going to let procedure get in the way of his passion for creating jobs and making the difficult decision necessary to balance the budget and move our state forward," Cagle's office said in a statement issued Friday by spokesman Ben Fry. "He remains committed to delivering results, which is exctly what the voters just overwhelmingly elected him to do."

Word of the pending changes came late Thursday.