State Sen. Ronnie Chance (R-Tyrone) has a strong list of legislation that passed both chambers of the legislature this year.

Legislators got $103 million in school funding restored that had been cut in previous years, and another $92 million in school construction funds, Chance said Tuesday.

“This greatly helps local systems with increases in costs such as utilities, rising fuel prices and materials,” Chance said.

The budget also includes $341 million to fully fund the children’s insurance program, PeachCare for Kids, $17.3 million for trauma care providers and $70 million in funds for reservoir construction.

The legislature also passed a statewide water plan to “guide sustainable use of Georgia’s water resources,” Chance noted.

“While it is not a plan to address our drought conditions, the implementation of the water plan will insure that future water needs are met while protecting our environment,” Chance said, noting that bill has already been signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Also the legislature passed a bill that aims to streamline the federal permitting process for reservoirs. Ironically, Fayette has been caught up in just such a complex process for nearly 30 years with the planned Lake McIntosh along the Peachtree City and Coweta County border.

A bill that would have created a way for voters to approve a regional penny tax to fund transportation projects failed. But another bill was approved that establishes a special bank to finance transportation projects in the state, with $28 million for that account in the 2009 fiscal budget, Chance said.

For Fayette voters, this legislative session will be remembered for the one bill that died: Senate Bill 458, which in its initial version would have allowed students in disaccredited schools to attend public schools in another county. That bill drew fears from Fayette residents that local schools would be flooded with students from nearby Clayton County should Clayton’s school system lose its accreditation as expected in September.

The bill stated that the students’ acceptance would be on a space available basis but failed to specifically address how such space would be calculated. It also allowed that the receiving school system would get the state funds for that student, but it didn’t have provisions for transferring the local funds from the old school system to the new school system.