With the New Year festivities out of the way, it’s time for us to settle down and get back to business.  For those in the political realm, that means it’s time for governing.  Much of the political press will be transfixed on the change of partisan power in the White House next week, but here at home, we have a new session of the Georgia General Assembly beginning.

All members of the Georgia House and Senate began their two year terms on Monday, January 13^th.  They’ll meet for forty business days of their choosing as is allowed under the Georgia Constitution.  

For those who want to get into the weeds of their schedule, check the General Assembly’s website for what is known as an “adjournment resolution”.  This is what the schedule the House and Senate agree upon for which days they’ll count towards their forty.  Sometimes they do this scheduling a week or so at a time.  

Last year they were able to agree on the path towards forty days pretty quickly.  For those of us that like some predictability of schedule for things like April vacation planning, let’s hope they’ll be able to do so again.  

When in doubt, look at the date of April 7^th. That’s the date for the first practice rounds at Augusta National for The Masters.  The General Assembly likes to have business finished before this event begins.  

It’s easy to chide politicians for appearing to have misplaced priorities for this, but the reason is deeper than wanting to watch the best golf in the world. This is one of the biggest economic development events that is hosted in Georgia. A lot of people with titles need their attention to be on future business, and not the myriad of bills that pile up for passage or failure the last couple of days of session.  

The Masters is a valid deadline.  But let’s hope for the end of March as a bogey.

The agenda is laid out during this first week.  On Tuesday, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce hosts its annual Eggs & Issues breakfast. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House all get a speaking role, and typically use it to lay out their legislative priorities.  

We already know that Governor Kemp is interested in two major pieces of legislation.  At last year’s Eggs & Issues breakfast, the Governor indicated a major piece of tort reform legislation wasn’t quite ready for the heavy lift required for passage, but he wanted it done in the 2025 session.  And here we are.

He also recently outlined an overhaul of Georgia’s prison system. Hundreds of millions of dollars are needed for pay raises to increase employee retention, new facilities, and repair and reconfiguration of existing prisons.

House Speaker Jon Burns has indicated that another bite at the apple of K-12 scholarships – commonly called vouchers – may be needed, as there has been confusion between agencies as to which underperforming school districts have met the threshold of eligibility.   There is also discussion from both the Speaker and Lieutenant Governor about passing protections for In Vitro Fertilization procedures as a clarifying measure.

After Eggs & Issues, the Governor will get even more specific with his agenda at the State of the State address on Thursday, January 16^th.  Shortly thereafter, he’ll release his budget proposal for the next fiscal year.  That’s when the rubber meets the road, and the real work of the legislature begins.

Next week the General Assembly meets for budget hearings. House Appropriations Chairman Matt Hatchett of Dublin and Senate Appropriations Chairman Blake Tillery of Vidalia host a joint committee to hear from Commissioners and agency heads regarding budget proposals.  

Passing a balanced budget is the sole constitutional requirement of the legislature each session. While the budget hearings don’t usually count toward the 40 official working days, they are among the most significant.  It’s when and where the Governor’s budget proposal meets the priorities of the House and Senate.  

Much of the remaining 40 days involves a high level negotiation between both Chambers and with the Governor’s office to get to the final passage of the next budget. There is also the matter of amending the current budget with supplemental spending and/or cuts as revenues and priorities dictate.

And with that, we’re off for another year under the Gold Dome. I’ll do my best to update from time to time on specific issues as they develop and become relevant to those not able to watch the progress at the Capitol in real time.