In 1965, John Lewis tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma Alabama in a march for civil rights. Less than a decade later, Calvin Smyre was elected to represent the citizens of Columbus Georgia. Today, Smyre is the longest serving member of the Georgia House. He honored Congressman Lewis as he lies in
This week’s Courier Herald column: The Georgia General Assembly gaveled Sine Die late Friday night, ending an unusual 2020 meeting of the legislature. It was a session interrupted by a pandemic, one that gave legislators an up close and personal look at both peaceful protests and civil unrest, and sent budget writers back to the
Rural broadband has been a hot topic over the last few years, and the transition to online instruction due to COVID-19 has shown real gaps in areas that do not have access to high-speed Internet access. The Georgia Senate passed legislation that would allow the state Public Service Commission to regulating how much electric co-ops
This week’s Courier Herald column: When part of a governing majority, members of the political party in charge get both credit and blame for the state of current events. Georgia’s Republicans have run for re-election several times sharing the success stories of economic transformation in the aftermath of the great recession. Many that have taken
Email in-box reminds us that we’re still in session, but still also in a pandemic: While we’re all trying to work and re-establish normalcy as much as possible, it’s also time to remember that we each have some personal responsibility to keep Covid-19 from spreading.
The Georgia Budget & Policy Institute published a letter urging the governor and legislators to raise new sources of revenue. Thirty-six other signees joined the left-leaning organization including: the League of Women Voters of Georgia, the International Rescue Committee and Open Hand Atlanta. An odd mix to be sure. Charlie has a good primer on
This week’s Courier Herald column: Georgia’s legislature will reconvene Monday to finish the 40-day session that was abruptly suspended March 13th – officially the 29th legislative day – as the state began to shut down for the Covid-19 pandemic. With 11 business days remaining, legislators must pass a budget prior to the July 1st beginning
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
