Republican leaders in the House used their version of the budget to propose $3.5 million in local community grants they say are needed to promote economic development and education throughout the state. Most of the 45 projects are found in the districts of powerful GOP leaders and their conservative Democratic allies.

However, the top GOP members of the Senate want the money placed in a development fund that would be managed by the state Department of Community Affairs. The agency would be in charge of deciding what communities get the money.

Lawmakers from both chambers continued to fight over the budget Friday afternoon, calling off the fruitless negotiations by midday and deciding to meet again Monday. The budget drama slowed business at the Capitol during the next-to-last week of the 2005 legislative session.

House Speaker Glenn Richardson, R-Hiram, refused to take up any Senate bills for consideration during much of the day Thursday in order to force the Senate to give in on the budget. The effort failed to produce immediate results.

Democrats have called the proposed local projects the same type of "pork barrel" spending that they were criticized for when their party was in charge of the Legislature.

Still, many bills did win votes during the week.

Republicans scored a major victory by giving final legislative clearance to a new GOP-drawn congressional reapportionment plan that reconfigures the boundaries of Georgia's 13 districts.

The new map now sits before Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue, who soon will give the plan his signature before sending it on for review by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The GOP map will replace Georgia's existing congressional map, which was drawn in 2001 when Democrats ran the state.

Georgia moved one step closer Tuesday to becoming the last state in the South to legalize the sale of sparklers, considered one of the safest types of fireworks.

Reversing course, the House voted 119-53 in favor of allowing sparkler sales in the Peach State to those 18 and older who present a photo ID. The vote was a radical shift from March 17, when the same legislation failed 67-96 in the House.

A bipartisan band of lawmakers had opposed the bill, worrying it would open the door to the sale of more dangerous fireworks.

However, support mounted Tuesday after state attorneys tightened language regarding the size and type of sparklers that would be permitted.

In other news, the House gave its approval Tuesday to a watered-down version of a public smoking ban that cleared the Senate earlier this year.

The House added a slew of exceptions to their version of the bill, making it OK for smokers to light up at outdoor work sites, retail tobacco stores, and bars and restaurants closed to minors younger than 18.

The bill now goes back to the Senate, which will likely disagree with the House version. A conference committee consisting of members from both chambers is expected to be appointed to craft a compromise.

Reporter Brandon Larrabee contributed to this article.

Reach reporter Brian Basinger at (404) 681-1701 or brian.basinger@morris.com

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