This past week the legislature reconvened for legislative days 21-24 after being in recess for two weeks of budget hearings. It was a busy week both on the floor of the House and in committee rooms all around the Capitol. Read More»

Last week the General Assembly convened for legislative days 18-20 of the 2010 session of the Georgia legislature. We have officially reached the half-way point of the 40-day session and there is still much work to be done.

Last week the Senate adopted the FY 2010 mid-year budget adjustment that was passed by the House the previous week. As I previously reported, the measure included in excess of $1 billion in additional spending cuts. These reductions were necessary to balance the budget due to much lower than expected state revenues brought on by the still struggling economy. Read More»

Last week the Georgia General Assembly was in session for days 9-13 of the 2010 legislative session. Significant work continued in committees all around the Capitol and the flow of bills on the floor of the House began to increase. In addition, several important pieces of legislation were introduced last week in both the House and the Senate. Read More»

This week the Georgia General Assembly convened for days 5-8 of the 40-day session. The majority of the work this week was done in committee rooms around the Capitol as bills begin moving through the committee process so that they may be considered by the full House and Senate later in the session. Read More»

On Monday, Jan. 10, the state legislature convened for Day One of the 2010 session. In many ways it was an historic day.

During November and December, a variety of disturbing events occurred that led to the resignation of the former Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson. That meant that for the second time in as many years the House had to elect a new speaker and a new speaker pro tem on the first day of session. Read More»

We were met this weekend with the disturbing news that U.S. Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) had finally agreed to vote yes for the Democrats’ healthcare bill, providing the crucial 60th vote and assuring passage of the measure in the Senate.

Upon passage, the House and Senate will appoint negotiators to a joint House-Senate conference committee, which will resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill and send a final product back to both chambers for final approval — only then does the bill go to the President. Read More»

Amazingly, it is now mid-December and Christmas is just a matter of days away. After the holidays the Georgia General Assembly will convene for the second year of the current two-year term of the legislature.
As I have written in recent weeks, the issue that will dominate the upcoming legislative session more than any other is our state’s budget due to economy.
November revenue numbers were released last week and the picture remains bleak with a more than 17 percent drop compared to last November. Read More»