The Georgia Legislature only met two days this week–Monday’s Crossover Day and a relatively abbreviated session on Wednesday–and will return to the Gold Dome on Monday. The long weekend provides a break for most legislators after a long second half of February that saw floor action every day after President’s Day, but it also gives
In addition to Sen. Tommie Williams’ retirement announcement, Sen. Bill Jackson (R-Appling, D-24) also announced he would not be seeking re-election to the State Senate and will be retiring at the end of his current term. He was elected to the Georgia Senate in 2007 after serving 16 years in the State House. He currently
It has been announced today that Sen. Tommie Williams (R-Lyons, D-19) will be retiring from his GA Senate seat after 18 years of service and not seek re-election. Senate President Pro Tempore David Shafer (R – Duluth): “Sen. Tommie Williams is one of the pioneering leaders of the Georgia Republican Party. His election to the
During a break in the Crossover Day action, House Speaker David Ralston was asked about Governor Nathan Deals statement today that legislators should be able to come to a resolution on religious liberty that would preserve the rights of people of faith without discrimination. The Speaker responded, I’ve been trying to to do that for
Bills that would have provided additional funds for the Hope Scholarship via the legalization of casino gambling and parimutuel betting on horse racing are dead for the remainder of this session, and therefore would need to start from scratch in 2017. The Parimutuel betting measures, sponsored by Senator Brandon Beach of Alpharetta, failed to get
Raising an unstated but obvious threat of a veto over certain versions of “Religious Liberty” bills on the table in the legislature, Governor Nathan Deal today said that Georgia will remain a state that protects the freedom of religion but that does not require allowing discrimination. As tweeted by Greg Bluestein of the AJC: “I
All in the name of slightly lower income taxes. On the floor today in your Georgia Senate (which no less an authority than Kirby Smart called the better looking of the two chambers) there will be a vote on Senate Resolution 756. It is a Constitutional Amendment that would cap the state budget at $23.6 billion
In the week since the Georgia Senate passed a version of the Pastor Protection Act that included significant portions of Senator Greg Kirk’s First Amendment Defense Act, opposition to the bill as it stands now has grown. While it might have been easy for legislators to brush off the complaints of a telephone service provider
On Friday, the Georgia Senate passed Senate Bill 369, which creates new restrictions and clarifies existing language on the personal use of fireworks. The bill passed by a vote of 50 to 1 and was sponsored by Senator Jeff Mullis (R-53). It was preceded by House Bill 110, passed during the 2015 legislative session, allowing
The results of 11Alive’s latest SurveyUSA opinion poll were released this morning, revealing interesting data on the state’s views on legalizing medical marijuana, recreational marijuana, casino gambling, and pari-mutuel wagering. On legalizing growing of marijuana for medical purposes, Georgians are in favor at 67%, with a 2.5% margin of error. 23% responded that this should
