The House and Senate have agreed to return to finish the 2020 session on June 15th. Legislators have 11 business days remaining in the session, and a budget must be passed before the end of the fiscal year which is June 30th. An adjournment resolution spelling out specific session days following the 15th remains a
Georgia may soon take its name of the short list of states without a hate crime statute – especially given the newly announced support from two powerful lobbying arms in the business community. In 2019, the Georgia House of Representatives voted to approve a bill that would increase penalties for crimes committed against certain classes
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees will have another joint meeting this morning, held virtually, at 11:15 am. You can observe this meeting by clicking here. The committees met last week to begin the adjustments needed to the spending plans in progress before the Covid-19 suspension of the General Assembly in March. Members submitted questions
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston’s office distributed a report that frames guidelines developed by the House Committee on Reopening in consultation with the Georgia Building Authority, the Georgia Department of Public Health, and others. You can read the full Speaker’s memo here, and you can read the full committee report here. Some highlights: Public areas
We get a lot of press releases from individual legislators here. We don’t post most of them, as our space is limited and many are often just PR vehicles or for bills being dropped that have no chance of moving. I’m sharing two today because they are the opposite of those. The shooting of Ahmaud
On the heels of yesterday’s April revenue numbers (down 36% year over year), members of the House and Senate will have a joint legislative committee meeting this morning at 11:15am, virutally. You can watch the meeting here. The legislature must pass a budget prior to the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30th.
This week’s Courier Herald column: We’re almost two months into Georgia’s State of Emergency to address the issues brought to us by the Covid-19 virus. Our crisis is now one of public health and one of economics. As leaders attempt to simultaneously deal with both problem sets, it often appears we are still in search
This week’s Courier Herald column: Congratulations and condolences to Senator Blake Tillery. The Vidalia Republican was tapped last week to chair the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee following the death of Senator Jack Hill of Reidsville. Senator Tillery has big shoes to fill at a time when there will be no honeymoon period to enjoy assuming
This morning, Governor Kemp, Lieutenant Governor Duncan, and Speaker Ralston announced an extension of Georgia’s State of Emergency until May 13th. This is the action that allows for expanded authorities of the Governor and Executive branch, not to be confused with the Governor’s statewide Shelter In Place order, which is currently set to expire on
I do not want to cause any panic. Many of us already have anxiety around the Covid-19 virus and the changes it is causing to our way of life. But as we navigate the new rules, emergency orders, and shelter in place requirements, I was interested in what other powers the State of Georgia has
