Exactly one month ago today, Georgia voters agreed to amend the state Constitution with three different amendments, one of which addresses the Judicial Qualifying Commission, or watchdog agency for judges in the state of Georgia. The amendment, during the legislative session and ahead of the election, was plagued with controversy for a number of reasons,
Autonomous (self-driving or driverless) cars are still in their infancy. Autonomous car designs are different from traditional human-driven cars and may lack both a steering wheel and pedals, so laws and regulations on the state and federal level may not be conducive to the testing of these cars on public roads. Public road testing is
After Governor Deal vetoed the Free Exercise Protection Act last spring, There has been lots of speculation over whether “religious liberty” legislation would be a factor in the upcoming 2017 legislative session. That speculation grew more heated after House Speaker David Ralston wondered in an interview with Bill Nigut and Jim Galloway if the issue
During the 2017 legislative session, the ability to request a fiscal note from the Department of Audits and Accounts or the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget will be limited to what the law prescribes. In practicality, what does that mean, and how will it affect legislation being written or voted on? Let me explain.
This week’s Courier Herald column: With the calendar now having turned to December, we’re roughly half way between last month’s election and next month’s “governing”. An Inauguration is on tap for Friday, January 20th. Congress and the Georgia legislature will begin legislative duties a couple of weeks earlier. While the professional political class and most
With the the 2017 legislative session beginning five weeks from today, we’re beginning to see what leadership in the General Assembly is prioritizing for the upcoming session. On Friday, House Speaker David Ralston presented some ideas in a conversation with Bill Nigut and Jim Galloway on GPB’s Political Rewind, while House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams
With Judson Hill announcing he’s in for the presumed special election to fill Tom Price’s Congressional seat, Georgia’s “resign to run law” means that there will be special election to fill Hill’s State Senate Seat upon his resignation or qualifying for the Congressional race. As such, East Cobb attorney Gus Makris is preparing to announce
With the nomination of Rep. Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services, potential candidates are already maneuvering to fill his seat. While phone calls are being made and rumors are being launched, no one is yet sure when this special election sprint will end. Determining this should be easy: the governor determines an election date
Over the weekend, Dunwoody’s Reporter Newspapers published a post mortem on the 2016 elections, featuring comments from Senator Fran Millar and State Rep. Tom Taylor, who represent the area, along with Oglethorpe University political professor Joseph Knippenberg. The theme of the story as expressed in both the headline and the lede was that Georgia Republicans
This week’s Courier Herald column: Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve taken a look at the national and partisan implications of the surprising win for Donald Trump. Today we’re going to focus on what this means for Georgia. Access is power in Washington. Several prominent Georgia Democrats are now rethinking their future, as their
