ATLANTA (AP) — The Latest on the final day of the Georgia legislature’s session (all times local):
12:15 p.m.
The Georgia House has again voted to require that law enforcement expedite processing of rape kits for sexual assault victims.
Rep. Scott Holcomb sponsored a bill requiring law enforcement to pick up the kits from hospitals within 96 hours that unanimously passed the House earlier this year.
But it stalled in the Senate without a committee hearing. Republican Sen. Renee Unterman of Buford has said a federal grant will fix any backlogs of rape kit testing in Georgia and declined to act on Holcomb’s proposal.
Holcomb, an Atlanta Democrat, is using a legislative maneuver that still allows the full Senate to send the bill to Gov. Nathan Deal.
The measure now returns to the Senate, where its chances of passage before midnight on Thursday are unclear.
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11:30 a.m.
Opponents of a bill allowing concealed handguns on Georgia college campuses say they delivered 30,000 signatures against the proposal to Gov. Nathan Deal.
Representatives from the anti-gun advocacy group Moms Demand Action, along with several legislators, students and campus faculty gathered in the statehouse want Deal to veto the bill already passed by lawmakers.
The bill allows licensed weapons owners to carry concealed handguns on campuses, except in athletic facilities or in student housing. Georgia requires people be 21 to receive a license.
Deal has expressed concerns with the bill, including weapons being allowed in day care centers on campuses, in disciplinary hearings and in faculty or administration offices.
Lawmakers have showed no sign they plan to respond to the governor’s concerns before the legislative session ends Thursday at midnight.
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5 a.m.
Georgia lawmakers have until midnight to vote on bills expanding the number of people who can use medical marijuana, cutting income taxes and trying to lower the number of abortions in the state.
Thursday marks the 40th and final day of the legislative session.
Leaders set an aggressive schedule this year, because all House and Senate districts will be on the November ballot. Members running for re-election are in a hurry to return home and begin campaigning.
Bills that don’t pass both chambers before adjournment must start the process all over again next year.
Those that survive head to Gov. Nathan Deal.
Lawmakers already have sent bills eliminating a weapons ban on college campuses and protecting opponents of gay marriage to the governor, and approved a state budget.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/3/379863/the-latest-georgia-house-oks-rape-kit-bill-facing-off-with-the-senate