We have reached the end of the third week in this year's legislative session, which is well underway with the pace rapidly increasing. Last week, the General Assembly compl eted state budget hearings and we will continue to work on passing a solid, balanced budget. So far, we have already taken up many of the tough issues facing the legislature and will continue to work hard moving forward.

Earlier in the week, the Senate voted to override one of the governor's vetoes from the 2007 session. Out of 12 veto overrides up for consideration, I am pleased that Senate leadership chose to override only one of those, House Bill 529. The bill removes references to the Legislative Budget Officein the Georgia code and replaces it with references to the Senate Budget and Evaluation Officeand the House Budget Office.I decided to vote against the override, which passed 47 to 7. My decision was based on the fact that I could not, in good faith, question the Governor about something with which I was relatively unfamiliar, as I was not a member of the General Assembly in 2007. I have complete trust that Gov. Sonny Perdue will make the hard choices that he faces daily as he serves the people of Georgia.

Recognizing the need for improving the state's transportation system, the legislature this week introduced the first two pieces of legislation that will make up Georgia's new transportation funding plan, announced by Senate and House Transportation Committee chairmen, Senator Jeff Mullis and Representative Vance Smith. Senate Resolution 781 will require the development of a statewide transportation plan which will have to be approved by the legislature and updated every fiveyears. The objective of the plan is to create a 50-year safe, reliable, and dependable transportation system for the state using projected growth and demographic trends. Within the next few weeks, Rep. Smith will introduce legislation to fund Georgia's transportation program. These initiatives are a result of the legislature's Joint Study Committee on Transportation funding which spent the interim carefully studying Georgia's transportation funding needs. This is a huge undertaking for the legislature and I look forward to working with my colleagues on this issue.

(Sen. Bill Jackson represents the 24th Senate District, which includes Columbia, Glascock, Lincoln, McDuffie and Wilkes counties and portions of Elbert and Warren counties. He can be reached at 404.656.5114 or via e-mail at bill. jackson@senate.ga.gov.)