Politics & Government

Jones Says Milton County Vote Likely in 2012

Saving HOPE scholarships tops her priority list

Milton's Jan Jones said 10 separate resolutions calling for the reformation of Milton County were introduced into the General Assembly this session–one for each senator and representative–for a reason.

“It sends a strong message that it’s not just one person, but there’s many of us,” said Jones, the 46th District representative.

Jones, the Speaker Pro Tempore, said the three senators and seven representatives in North Fulton all authored the same bill.

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Jones said she can’t say for sure when the bill will come up for a vote, but she’s

told most people she expects to get a vote in the General Assembly next year.

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“It can’t be voted on statewide until 2012 on the general ballot,” she said. Voters would see it on the ballot in November 2012.

“Typically, not always, you do not see very many if any constitutional amendments put on the floor in the first year of a session,” Jones said.

Part of the reason is because it’s easier to track the number of ballot measures the General Assembly might have.

“You don’t want to have 25 constitutional amendments on the ballots,” she said.

“Second, I guess I feel like we need another year to continue to try and gauge Atlanta, and show them, have discussions with the about how this could be a win-win solution for everyone,” she said.

The measure would allow Atlanta to look at consolidation with the rest of Fulton County. Jones said every other major or medium-sized urban area in Georgia has consolidated or is looking at consolidation except for Savannah and Chatham County. Macon and Bibb County, and Albany and Dougherty County she thinks have a good chance to pass through the General Assembly this session.

Milton County isn’t her only issue this legislative session. Education issues have taken what time she has available to work on policy. She’s taken the lead on the HOPE scholarship issue.

“Really, not just HOPE. How do we make sure that we are spending our lottery dollars in the best way, given that we don’t have unlimited dollars?” she said.

Lottery dollars are used to fund HOPE scholarships and also HOPE grants, which allow resident to go back to technical school tuition free. The third use of lottery dollars has been for the state’s pre-K program.

“It’s not easy, because it’s a big state with a lot of different ideas. I’m feeling quite optimistic now that we’ll come up with a consensus plan that our average Georgian will find sensible and acceptable that number one, protects HOPE,” Jones said. “And when I say HOPE, I include both HOPE scholarships and grants.”

Fifty percent of lottery dollars are spent on HOPE scholarships, with another 20 percent on the HOPE grant and 30 percent goes to pre-K.

“And if we do not make significant legislative changes to those programs, we will not only run out of money like we did last year…we will have obligations that we cannot fill next year,” Jones said.

“Of anything we do this year other than pass the budget, this is the number one priority of the legislature and the governor,” she said.

She’s also working on legislation that will encourage more dual-credit programs for high school students, allowing them to take more courses with dual credit for high school and college.

It’s a great bargain for the students and the state, she said. And it keeps less engaged students more involved because they believe going to high school is more relevant, while also helping the high achievers.

It’s going to be a fast and furious session,” Jones said.

The session always gets off to a slow start as bills wind their way through committees, she said, but it’s still a 40-day legislative deadline and limitation to work on the state budget and all other legislation.


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