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
This week’s Courier Herald column: The top line statistics tell us things are good. Last week, Georgia’s unemployment rate hit a record low. Georgia has more people working than ever before. The state’s economic success continues to attract new residents and new employers alike. About 100,000 new people are calling Georgia home every year, adding
This week’s Courier Herald column: The muted lull between the Georgia General Assembly’s March Sine Die and the January 13th reconvening of legislators has been relatively quiet publicly. Behind the scenes, there has been a philosophical and practical struggle over Georgia’s budget – all within the ranks of the majority Republican party. In late summer,
Ed Rynders, Republican Representative from Leesburg, will be resigning his seat today, per the Albany Herald, citing health issues. “Plus, and not a lot of people know this, I had a heart attack in June and needed three stents. I had health issues going back to the last session of the Legislature — I even
This news dropped just before Senator Isakson’s announcement on Wednesday, and didn’t get the attention it may deserve. While it may seem we do a lot of “study” on healthcare issues, there is one item here that seems to have bi-partisan, bi-cameral support: Price Transparency. Patients are tired of surprise billing, and an inability to
First the old business: Governor Brian Kemp has asked for state agencies to prepare for across the board budget cuts of 4% to 6%. In order to ensure time and planning to analyze, prioritize, and implement possible spending reductions, Speaker David Ralston announced earlier this month that the House would commence budget hearings early this
First the actual news here: The Georgia House of Representatives has announced it will begin offering paid leave for employees who have children, including those who adopt or for foster care. The press release is as follows. ATLANTA – Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) today announced a new paid family leave policy for employees of
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
Representative David Stover, who has represented parts of Coweta County in the Georgia House, has resigned his seat citing family issues. The Newnan Times Herald has the official line: Stover married a woman from England last summer, but following his reelection in 2018, he said he intended to serve through the end of his term
This session the Georgia Legislature passed Senate Bill 77, which expands protection of confederate monuments in Georgia. The bill now gives private groups the right to sue any government or person for removing a monument that “recounts the military service of any past or present military personnel of this state; the United States of America
