This week’s Courier Herald column. Senator Jeff Mullis is winding down a 22-year career in the Georgia General Assembly. A commanding presence at Georgia’s Capitol, he has served as the Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee for the past eight years. He’s probably the most powerful legislator most of you have never heard of. To
This week’s Courier Herald column: Georgia House Speaker David Ralston this week unveiled a $75 million spending proposal for “Law Enforcement and Mental Health”. The headline feature of the package is a one-time $1,000 bonus for every POST certified local police officer and sheriff’s deputy in the state. State law enforcement officers received a $1,000
The following was just sent over by Speaker David Ralston’s office. It’s seems there’s still a bit of a chill in the relations between the Secretary of State and his former legislative chamber. “I appreciate the Secretary of State finally using his statutory authority — which he has had all along — to delay the
Much of Georgia is on hold. “Essential” services and occupations continue, but it seems the closures are becoming more broad by the day, and the expectation of the duration of our Covid-19 Great Time Out is expanding. With that reality in mind, Speaker David Ralston has asked Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, verbally and in
This week’s Courier Herald column: It’s been an unusual session of the Georgia General Assembly, even for a gathering where the first rule is to expect the unexpected. It’s been a long time since fissures within the governing majority in Georgia were as public, and with policy proposals and priorities as disparate. Much of the
The Georgia House of Representatives will have its third Rules Chairman in three years. After the deaths of former Rules Chairmen John Meadows and Jay Powell, Columbus Representative Richard Smith will steer the powerful House Rules Committee when the legislature convenes next month. The Rules Committee is the last stop before legislation in the House
We got this press release from Speaker David Ralston’s office announcing the opening of the North Georgia Office of the Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation that will be opening up in Ellijay. The headquarters of the Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation is located at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College which was proposed by the
Figuring out Speaker David Ralston’s political philosophy is like putting together a puzzle but the pieces don’t match the picture on the box. Case in point on education.In May “the way it should be” done is by having local school boards sort out their allotment of money. After all, the decent Speaker from Blue Ridge
Sunday night, Showtime aired the episode of Sasha Baron Cohen’s (Borat) new program that duped Representative Jason Spencer into…embarrassing himself. The New York Times and the AJC have some background. The NYT’s Sopan Deb has a recent statement from Rep Spencer regarding his appearance. This is QUITE a statement from Jason Spencer, a state rep
Yesterday afternoon House Bill 930 was signed into law at the Georgia Capitol. Those in attendance waited silently and in the dark prior to the ceremony in the Capitol’s North Wing. A scene for The Walking Dead was being filmed on the 2nd floor. Make of that metaphor what you will, but it punctuated the
