By MONROE ROARK
Staff Writer

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.