The House of Representatives will return to the Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 24, for the 22nd day of the 2009 legislative session.

Please contact me with your views on any issue that needs to be addressed or whenever I can be of service.

Legislation that could lead to a statewide 1 percent sales tax for transportation funding cleared a key House committee Thursday. The House Transportation Committee favorably reported HR 206 and HB 277, sending the proposal one step closer to a vote on the House floor.

If approved by two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate and then by a simple majority of voters in the next general election, the additional sales tax would bring in an estimated $25 billion to fund transportation projects across the state over the next 10 years. An 11-member oversight committee would include five members from metropolitan Atlanta, five members from the rest of the state and one member at large to ensure the funds are invested equitably for both urban and rural projects.

At the same time, the governor and legislative leaders are supporting legislation to create a new State Transportation Authority to replace the current Department of Transportation board, which has governed the highway program in the state for decades. Authority members would be appointed by the governor, the lieutenant governor and the House speaker, instead of being elected by state legislators within congressional districts, as the DOT board is chosen now.

The House of Representatives voted Feb. 12 on two pieces of legislation that would take some revenue decisions out of the hands of local government by freezing or limiting annual property assessment valuations.

HR 1 would have placed a cap of 3 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower, on assessment increases for both residential and commercial property. As a proposed constitutional amendment, it needed 120 votes in the House for passage and failed on a vote of 105-67.

HB 233, however, needed only a simple majority to move on to the Senate, and it passed 110- 63. This legislation would place an immediate moratorium on assessment increases for two years.

I voted against both proposals. While our property tax system may need some reform, these bills took away local control and replaced it with state mandates. This action could cause local governments to raise millage rates, reduce vital services and lay off employees, including police officers and fire fighters. Our already underfunded public schools would be especially harmed by this restriction on local control.

A majority of House members voted Thursday to approve HB 251, which would require local school districts to allow parents to enroll students in any public school in their district, as long as the school has classroom space after its assigned students have been enrolled.

I voted against this legislation because this is a decision best handled at the local level. The Gwinnett County School System already allows such transfers, but other systems might not be prepared for the problems this mandate would cause. The bill now goes to the Senate for its consideration.

Last year, several of Georgia's technical colleges were combined without any input from the legislature, which is responsible for appropriating funds for the system. Georgia has outstanding technical colleges, and 80 percent of the people graduating from a technical college do so with a job.

Believing we need to continue to fully support programs that are working for our citizens, House members passed HB 294, which would require legislative approval for any consolidation, suspension or discontinuation of a technical college or institution under the State Board of Technical and Adult Education. The Senate now has HB 294 under consideration.