Senate Republicans List Their 2016 Priorities

Senate Majority Leader Bill Cowsert of Athens released the agenda of the Majority Caucus this morning, including seven priority items the Senate will focus on this year.

At the top of the caucus’s agenda are efforts to combat the possibility of terrorist attacks in Georgia. The caucus will conduct an assessment of threats to the state, and if necessary, will draft a legislative response. The caucus also intends to address one of the priorities Lt. Governor Casey Cagle mentioned at the Eggs and Issues breakfast: rural healthcare needs. The Senate also will work to give teachers more time to teach by making testing requirements more flexible.

The caucus will work to protect first amendment freedoms of Georgians, likely referring to Georgia’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act and other measures introduced this session to preserve religious freedom. It also pledges to protect the future of disabled persons by passing legislation authorizing tax free accounts that could be used to provide for the disabled elderly. The caucus pledged to protect the unborn by expanding women’s access to pregnancy centers and family planning services, and pledged to protect small businesses by limiting the ability of government to intrude.

In a statement, Cowsert said,

In this year’s legislative session, the Republican majority will focus its efforts on protecting Georgia’s status as the best state in the nation to live, work, and worship. Georgia prospers when its citizens feel physically safe, feel financially safe, and feel safe from over-reaching government influence on all aspects of their private lives. I am proud to be a member of this diligent and forward-thinking Senate caucus.

He was echoed by Lt. Governor Casey Cagle:

The legislative priorities outlined by the Republican Caucus are a clear indication that the Senate is ready for business. Georgia has always been the kind of place you want to raise your family, and it is our goal to make it the safest, most dynamic place to do business. We have outlined several key areas where we will focus our time and resources, and I look forward to working with our senators to advance these initiatives.