ATLANTA – State Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome), has been appointed to two Conference Committees to negotiate Senate and House differences in two pieces of important legislation affecting a majority of Georgians.  The first Conference Committee he has been appointed to by the Senate Committee on Appointments is the Education Conference Committee, which will negotiate changes in Governor Perdue’s sweeping education reform.  Sen. Smith also has been appointed to the Conference Committee on House Bill 1028 – the legislation that addresses tort reform.  HB 1028 was heavily amended in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, and Sen. Smith carried the legislation in the Upper Chamber.

“These are important conference committees,” Sen. Smith said last week.  “This legislation will affect nearly every citizen of this state, and I am honored to be a part of these two committees.  As the father of four young children, education is very important to me as a parent and as a legislator.  Our children deserve a good education, and this legislation will benefit both the children sitting in our classrooms and the school systems themselves.

“As for the tort reform legislation, we all must agree that something has to be done about the frivolous lawsuits that are filed everyday in this country.  We have got to make some drastic changes if we want hospitals to stay open and doctors to stay in practice.  The huge malpractice premiums that physicians are being forced to pay to protect them from these ridiculous lawsuits are going to hurt the people of Georgia – especially the people in small towns that have only one or two doctors.  As a state senator, I represent those people, and I want to make sure my constituents have access to quality health care.  I don’t want to see people die because they couldn’t get to a doctor 50 miles away in the nearest big city.  It’s just not right.”

Negotiations between the two chambers on pending legislation will continue through Wednesday, which is the last day of the 2004 Session of the Georgia General Assembly.  All bills must pass both houses of the legislature by midnight on Wednesday, or they will die.