The 2011 state budget and a transportation bill are the major issues looming over the General Assembly as Friday’s “Crossover Day” nears, according to Rep. Bill Hembree (R-Winston).

Crossover Day is the day that legislation must clear one legislative chamber and move to the next in order to be passed by end of the session.

Both chambers will come back next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, then take a week off for Easter. Legislative action will resume April 12, which will be Day 34 of the 40-day session.

“We’re looking at the whole budget, trying to determine final figures,” Hembree said last Friday. “We don’t know any specifics yet.”

Hembree said the transportation bill will likely mirror what Gov. Sonny Perdue has proposed.

“Under the bill, counties would get together as regions to decide whether to work together on an optional sales tax to fund regional transportation,” he said. “It would give the counties the ability to opt out if they don’t like their region.”

Hembree said an ethics bill will also likely be debated in the next few days.

He said the House of Representatives has passed all education measures from the Education Committee, chaired by Rep. Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth). These bills give local school boards more flexibility on how to use education money the state sends them, he explained.

He said the state water bill has passed both the House and Senate and awaits the governor’s signature.

“The bill focuses on conservation,” he said. “It prohibits outdoor watering between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and gives local systems more flexibility.”

“I’m trying to focus on the basic issues that are before us now,” said Hembree, who heads the Rules Committee. “My goal is to limit the number of new laws and bills that go through the House.”