North Fulton residents will have to wait another year to find out if Milton County has a chance at recreation. HR 21 did not move out of the House Rules committee, where it sat for nearly a month. The resolution will revert back to the House State Planning and Community Affairs committee for the 2010 session.
The vote in the House would have been close and the votes in the Senate were probably not there, said District 46 State Rep. and Majority Whip Jan Jones (R-Milton.) The author of the resolution, Ms. Jones said the decision to not move Milton County forward was made at 6 p.m. on Day 30 of the session, the last day for bills to pass one chamber and move to the other.
Ms. Jones said a possible lack of votes was not the only reason for holding the resolution.
"It's protocol not to put constitutional amendments on [the House floor] the first year they are introduced," said Ms. Jones. "Also, we already had a couple constitutional amendments this year and you don't want to overload the ballot."
As a constitutional amendment, the Milton County resolution would go on the ballot in 2010 for a statewide referendum if it were passed by the legislature.
Although she was part of the decision to not put the resolution on the floor, Ms. Jones said she was still disappointed with the outcome.
"The consensus of the chairman and the leadership was to wait but I was ready. I was excited to give my speech and fight," said Ms. Jones.
Ms. Jones said she and District 50 State Rep. and Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Johns Creek) are committed to bringing Milton County to the floor early next year and get it passed and moved on to the senate before such a late date in the session.
Labels: Georgia, house rules committee, house state planning and community affairs, HR 21, milton county, on hold
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 9:24 AM
