[76]
On March 1, 1972, Carter stated a possible usage of a special session of the general assembly could take place if Justice Department opted to turn down any reapportionment plans by either the House or Senate.[77] Carter pushed several reforms through the legislature, providing equal state aid to schools in the wealthy and poor areas of Georgia, setting up community centers for mentally handicapped children, and increasing educational programs for convicts. Under this program, all such appointments were based on merit, rather than political influence.[78][79] In one of his more controversial decisions, he vetoed a plan to build a dam on Georgia's Flint River, which attracted the attention of environmentalists nationwide.[80][81]
Civil rights were a high priority for Carter, who added black state employees and portraits of three prominent black Georgians to the capitol building: Martin Luther King Jr., Lucy Craft Laney, and Henry McNeal Turner. This angered the Ku Klux Klan.[81] He favored a constitutional amendment to ban busing for the purpose of expediting integration in schools on a televised joint appearance with Florida governor Reubin Askew on January 31, 1973,[82] and co-sponsored an anti-busing resolution with Wallace at the 1971 National Governors Conference.