Proceeds

from the tobacco settlement and ethics guidelines

are among the topics that should be on the front

burner during the upcoming 2000 session of the

Georgia General Assembly, according to one local

legislator.

State

Sen. Rick Price, whose District 28 includes

portions of Fayette, Coweta and Spalding

counties, is gearing up for his fourth session,

which begins Monday. He was elected to his post

in late 1996 as he was concluding two consecutive

four-year terms as Fayette County Commission

chairman.

Price,

a Republican, is a member of the Senate's

Minority Caucus and serves on the Transportation

Committee as well as the Economic Development

Committee.

Legislation

he introduced in 1999 that will be considered

again this year includes a bill that would cut

personal taxes as well as a measure addressing

mandatory sentences for criminals who evade

police.

Price

is serving on a study committee that is looking

at the state's Regional Development Centers.

Seeing how RDCs can be improved is a priority for

Gov. Roy Barnes, Price said.

Also

said to be big on Barnes' agenda is education

reform, although as one might expect, Democrats

and Republicans have different ideas on how best

to tackle that problem.

Price

has touted a program being bandied about in

Georgia for helping students and their parents.

Called Early HOPE, it would give parents the

option to get out of a public school with

scholarship money if that school does not perform

above the 40th percentile on the Iowa Basic

Skills Test.

Opponents

of the program are trying to change its name,

Price said, fearing the connotation with the

hugely successful HOPE scholarship program would

be too great to overcome.

Distribution

of funds won from large tobacco companies by

several states that sued the cigarette makers

recently also will be a high priority, Price

said.

Government

leaders have proposed using the money for health

care and rural economic development, or letting

the additional revenue facilitate a tax cut,

among other measures.

"It's

free money," Price said. "At least some

people think it is."

Recent

convictions of two of their own have motivated

the Senate to look closely at ethics issues.

Diana

Harvey Johnson of Savannah and Ralph David

Abernathy III of Atlanta, both Democrats, were

found guilty of corruption charges in the past

few months. Neither is in office now.

Sen.

Van Streat, D-Nicholls, is currently under

scrutiny by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

The

Senate already has begun taking steps to address

these issues, Price said, but its members are

emphasizing civility in this and other

potentially volatile issues.

With

the 2000 census coming up, reapportionment is of

paramount importance on both the state and

federal levels.

The

GOP is only six seats shy of taking control of

the Senate, Price said, and Democrats have only a

slightly larger advantage in the House.

Of

course, with Fayette and Coweta counties among

the fastest growing in the state during the past

decade, district lines could shift repeatedly in

this area.

"All

of the growth is Republican," Price said.

In

Washington, representation from Georgia could

jump from 11 to 13 seats in the U.S. House, he

added.

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