• Joeff Davis/CL File
• MISSED YOU Jones qualifies to run for open House seat

Joining Jones, whose last attempt at public services was a failed U.S. Senate campaign, in the race for the office: Karen Bennett, a businesswoman; Patricia Bourdeau, a teacher; field collector Tony Lentini; and Jaye Peabody, a nonprofit executive director and counselor. All the candidates listed Snellville addresses except for Bennett, who's from Stone Mountain. Jones listed his occupation as "consultant" and gave the Georgia Secretary of State's office an Atlanta PO Box address.

Intown congressional and Gold Dome races to watch include:

CONGRESS

* Congressional District 5: Michael Johnson, a former Fulton County judge, will try and unseat Congressman John Lewis, the longtime liberal lion and icon of the Civil Rights movement. The winner of the July 31 primary will face Republican Howard "Go With Sto" Stopeck, a 73-year-old retired attorney who has probably the best website and platform we've seen thus far. Readers who manage to sit through the 15-minute video about his platform will win a gold star. The clip is below is part one of two.

HOUSE

* District 56: Kenneth Britt, a former law firm executive director and longtime community activist from Midtown, challenges "Able" Mabel Thomas, a former state representative and longtime neighborhood advocate for English Avenue and Vine City, in the Democratic primary for state Rep. Kathy Ashe's old seat in the true-blue district. Whoever wins the race wins the seat, as no Republican qualified.

* District 57: State Rep. Rashad Taylor, D-Atlanta, and state Rep. Pat Gardner, D-Atlanta, are vying for the same new district concocted by Republicans during last summer's redrawing of political maps. No Republican qualified for the seat.

* District 58: We're hearing that the Democratic primary contest between state Rep. Ralph Long, D-Atlanta, and state Rep. Simone Bell, D-Atlanta, who were also drawn into the same district, might also turn out to be interesting. The winner of that contest will challenge Republican Earl Cooper in November.

* District 59: And down in Grant Park and thereabouts, incumbent state Rep. Margaret Kaiser, D-Atlanta, will face William Phelps, a 28-year-old Democrat who works in transportation management. Like most intown races, there will be no Republican challenger.

SENATE

* District 6: A trio of Republicans have lined up to challenge incumbent state Sen. Doug Stoner, D-Smyrna, in November. Among the names: Josh Belinfante, an attorney who served as legal counsel to former Gov. Sonny Perdue; businessman Drew Ellenburg; and commercial security professional Hunter Hill.

Other races to watch? Leave 'em in the comments.

• House Communications Office
• State Rep. Elena Parent, D-Chamblee

State Rep. Elena Parent, D-Chamblee, announced today that she won't seek another team in the Georgia House of Representatives and will instead endorse state Rep. Scott Holcomb, D-Atlanta.

Parent and Holcomb's districts were combined during last summer's redrawing of the political maps. The two made the decision "amicably," according to a press release from the Georgia House Democrats:

“I wholeheartedly endorse Rep. [Scott] Holcomb for re-election in the new House District 81,” said Rep. Parent. “Scott is an attorney, a veteran, a father, and a friend. Scott is one of the most thoughtful, ethical, and bright people you will ever meet. Scott and I know there will be a time in the future when we can serve again, and we are proud to work as a team.” [...]

“This isn’t a decision I made lightly,” said Rep. Parent. “Serving as the Representative for District 81 has been an honor and the most fulfilling professional experience of my career. I will serve actively as your Representative through the end of my term in December, and have every intention of seeking elective office again at some time in the future. In the meantime, I am thrilled to be able to work full-time on the policy issues that I care about and that impact every single Georgian at Georgia Watch.”

Parent will move to Georgia Watch, a consumer advocacy group that works throughout Georgia and under the Gold Dome, where she will succeed Angela Speir Phelps as executive director. GW staff tells us Speir Phelps will focus on expanding the organization's consumer energy program.

The New York Times' kicks ass today with a very long, very good story about a scholarship program operating in eight states, including Georgia, that allows public cash to flow to private schools. Some background, courtesy of the Times' Stephanie Saul:

When the Georgia legislature passed a private school scholarship program in 2008, lawmakers promoted it as a way to give poor children the same education choices as the wealthy.

The program would be supported by donations to nonprofit scholarship groups, and Georgians who contributed would receive dollar-for-dollar tax credits, up to $2,500 a couple. The intent was that money otherwise due to the Georgia treasury — about $50 million a year — would be used instead to help needy students escape struggling public schools.

According to information obtained by the Times, that program hasn't always worked out the way it was advertised. Hell, last year a Gwinnett County private school administrator told parents during an informational session that only a small percentage of that cash would actually be set aside for a needs-based scholarship fund. The rest would be funneled back to the family who donated the cash.

The Peach State plays a starring role in the piece:

In Georgia, the scholarship program was criticized for widespread abuses in a report last year by the Southern Education Foundation, a nonprofit group based in Atlanta that works to improve education.

State Representative Earl Ehrhart, a Republican who helped write the Georgia law, called that report “sophistry” and said that any abuses in the program were anomalies. “I can’t tell you about the difference it makes in the lives of these kids,” Mr. Ehrhart said.

The report found that from 2007, the year before the program was enacted, through 2009, private school enrollment increased by only one-third of one percent in the metropolitan counties that included most of the private schools in the scholarship program.

The logical conclusion was that most of the students receiving the scholarships had not come from public schools.

“The law was passed under a certain promise,” said Steve Suitts, vice president of the foundation. “There is no evidence it’s going to those purposes. The kids who were supposed to benefit are not benefiting.”

Be sure to check out the part about a Georgia state rep assuring parents to "feel fine" about enrolling their children who are already attending private school into a public school to qualify for the scholarship. And yes, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the conservative think tank that everyone simply loves at the moment, makes a brief appearance. Open up a tab and read it while the boss isn't looking.

Sounds like the Democrats should run with it.

House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, told the crowd at the state GOP convention, which runs all this weekend in Columbus, Ga., that the lower chamber wouldn't "align [ourselves] with media elites and liberal special interest groups" seeking to divide the party over ethics reform.

As picked up by the AJC's Jim Galloway, who, along with the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, is in Columbus keeping tabs on the convention.

In times of great majorities like we enjoy now, we must remember that there are those around us who seek nothing less than to divide us. There are those who would sow the seeds of dissension and discord in order to advance a self-absorbed agenda that’s not consistent with the best interests of our party.

“Let me be very clear. Regardless of the course that others may take, as for me and the people’s House of this state, we are going to stand united, working hard, standing Republican shoulder to Republican shoulder, to make Georgia a better state – and not align ourselves with media elites and liberal special interest groups. …”

When pressed by Galloway and Aaron Gould Sheinin about this shadowy liberal cabal trying to destroy the hallowed Georgia House of Representatives, Ralston — who, it should be noted, has enjoyed his fair share of lobbyist gifts — dropped the names "Common Cause" and "Georgia Watch."

Last we heard, both groups include liberals and conservatives such as: former Atlanta City Councilman Lee Morris; former state House Minority Leader Bob Irvin, R-Atlanta; former Public Service Commissioner Angela Speir Phelps; Chuck Clay, a former state senator and chairman of the state GOP. And that's a quick rundown of those organizations' boards and staffers off the tops of our heads.

We're guessing Ralston simply forgot that the tea party, which worked alongside the two organizations to push for ethics reform last legislative session. Or the members of his own party who advocated a cap on lobbyist gifts. Oh well.

• Thomas Wheatley/CL File
• City officials say being given more time to complete sewer projects such as the South River Sewer Tunnel pictured above might help reduce Atlantans' water bills

It's long been believed that such a move would give Atlantans a break on their water bills, which are considered some of highest in the country. So sayeth the city in a press release:

City of Atlanta officials have reached a proposed agreement with the United States and the State of Georgia on important modifications to a 1999 federal wastewater consent decree, including the extension of the final completion date to July 1, 2027 from July 1, 2014. The extension will provide regulatory relief to Atlanta by allowing the city to complete the limited remaining work under the consent decree in a cost effective manner. The purpose of the decree is to eliminate sewer overflows into rivers and streams around the City of Atlanta.

“Since 1999, the City of Atlanta has dramatically reduced the number of sewer spills and significantly decreased the number of rain-induced overflows into Atlanta’s rivers and streams,” said Mayor Kasim Reed. “The consent decree extension will allow the city to continue vital infrastructure repairs that reduce sewage overflows and protect our natural resources and drinking water. I deeply appreciate the efforts of all parties in negotiating this agreement, which enables the city to complete its work without putting any further burden on ratepayers.”

Yesterday, Governor Nathan Deal signed HB 1176, Georgia's stab at reducing prison populations, improving public safety, and saving loads of money ($264 million over the next five years, lawmakers hope).

Pew Center on the States, which collaborated with the special council that was created to draft the legislation, is really pleased with the outcome. To say the least.

This comprehensive new law reflects a bipartisan consensus about how to combat nonviolent crime," said Adam Gelb, director of the Public Safety Performance Project of the Pew Center on the States. "Georgia's leaders have developed a landmark set of reforms that will make communities safer and curb runaway corrections spending."

Some of what the bill aims to do ...
— Reserve prison space for people who commit serious crimes. The bill creates degrees of severity for crimes like burglary, forgery, and theft, and raises the threshold for felony theft from $500 to $1,500.

— Invest in accountability courts and diversion programs so people who require help — drug addicts, the mentally ill — so they don't just get locked up, let out, and end up reoffending. According to Pew, $11.6 million of prison savings will go toward accountability courts and $5.7 million will go toward substance abuse treatment programs for offenders.

— Monitor efficiency to see what's working and what isn't.

Here's a more detailed summary of the bill.

• Joeff Davis
• In March, female house democrats draped themselves in caution tape to demonstrate opposition to HB 954

Governor Nathan Deal has signed into law HB 954, Georgia's "Fetal Pain" bill, which asserts that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks, therefore abortions will now be illegal at or after 20 weeks.

The bill does make an exception for "medically futile" pregnancies (i.e. situations in which a fetus will not survive outside the womb) and those that have the potential to kill or seriously injure the mother. It does not, however, make an exception for instances of rape or incest.

Signers of a Change.org petition urging Deal to veto the bill worried it gives the government too much control over women's reproductive rights and puts doctors who perform abortions in legal jeopardy. One woman wrote, "Politicians should not play doctor."

Georgia Right to Life, on the other hand, applauded the bill, saying it has the potential to save 1,500 lives each year.

You can read your uterus' new owners manual here. The bill goes into effect on January 1.