With the

Georgia General Assembly set to open next week, Rep. Lynn

Westmoreland is looking forward to the "education

year."

Westmoreland

represents northern Fayette and eastern Coweta counties

in the 104th District. Gov. Roy Barnes has said his focus

this legislative term will be in beefing up the state's

education program, Westmoreland pointed out.

"Everybody's

excited about this and I'm glad we're finally focusing on

education," he said.

One of the

local education issues Westmoreland will be monitoring is

securing state funding for Coweta County's Central

Education Center.

The center,

which opens next fall, is Coweta's first technical and

charter school. Businesses from around the county offered

input into the types of classes taught at the school and

Westmoreland believes the governor will approve state

funding for the project.

"I

think he wants this to be a centerpiece to show other

communities around the state what can be done when

everybody works together," he said.

Usually by

this time of year, Westmoreland has received requests

from local leaders about issues that need to be discussed

quiet.

Statewide,

Westmoreland said the legislators will focus on trying to

spread some of the Atlanta region's good economic health

to other parts of the state.

"The

governor has created a Georgia One program that would

offer economic incentives for companies to locate in

other areas of the state," he said.

Legislators

also will look at the governor's proposal to require

developers to set aside a certain percentage of their

land for green space. Westmoreland recently served on a

committee studying the state's water supplies and said

water will also be a critical issue as the state

continues to grow.

Since this

year is an election year, Westmoreland expects things to

be relatively quiet this year. The representative

recently moved to Sharpsburg from his long-time home base

in Tyrone. Westmoreland is enjoying his new surroundings,

but still manages to visit many of his friends in Tyrone,

he said.