There will be a shoot-out among several dueling gun bills in the House and Senate this year. Both houses have heard bills strongly supported by georgiacarry.org, which would allow licensed people to carry concealed weapons in more public places. The tripup for many Republicans – and law enforcement – might be the bills sponsors' rejection of a safety training requirement for getting a permit. Many states require safety and proficiency training to get a concealed carry permit. Even Texas. 

JERRY HENRY OF Georgia Carry 

PUT YOUR PETS IN YOUR TRUST

Finally! "With passage of this bill, you can arrange a trust to benefit a pet," Rep. Wendall Willard (R-Sandy Springs) told the House on Tuesday. It's part of an overall update of Georgia trust law that he carried over from the Senate. For humans, the bill also sets limits on what a trustee can earn by their

administration, mandates yearly budget reports for the beneficiary and limits how much a creditor can dig into a trust if the beneficiary's getting into debt. The House and Senate now must reconcile their similar bills. "We're not making substantial change, we're putting in a uniform code provision for trust law," said Willard.

SHOW ME MY MONEY! 
Georgia city governments may have to put their budgets online, right alongside their neighbors for easy comparison, under a bill unanimously approved by the House on Tuesday. All Georgia cities prepare a standard budget and audit every year; this bill would require those with a budget over $1 million to send copies

to UGA's Carl Vinson Institute of Government, which will put them online for easy viewing. The lead sponsor, Rep. Ed Lindsey (R-Atlanta), said the law would "bring sunshine into government." There's no date set for Senate action. The bill is a climbdown from a first draft that would have required the cities to post online every transaction over $1,000.

There's to be a rare four-hour House committee hearing on Wednesday, on the proposal to tax hospitals and health care providers. Governor Perdue has suggested the 1.6 percent "provider fee" to help plug a budget hole predicted at $2.6 billion in FY2011. The Appropriations Special Subcommittee on House Bill 307 (the FY2011 budget bill) will not take a vote. There will have to be more hearings and consideration before that.

PERDUE WANTS TO SOLVE WATER ISSUE AFTER EIGHT YEARS 

The governor's water conservation plan for the metro area also goes up for its first Senate hearing this week. It's carried by Sen. Ross Tolleson (R-Perry), also chairman of the Natural Resources and the Environment Committee. The bill proposes some conservation measures, like mandating low-flow toilets. That's not too far from what environmentalists demanded last year as a bare minimum. The bill also suggests conservation must be combined with new reservoirs, a pricey option.