It’s that time again. With the start of the new year comes the annual gathering of Georgia lawmakers under the Gold Dome for another legislative session. The 2024 session of the General Assembly, also known as the Georgia legislature, starts Jan. 8 at the Georgia State Capitol.
Georgia has a part-time legislature, which meets for 40 days at the beginning of the year. This year’s session will run through March 28, and each member is paid $17,000 annually for their work.
The upcoming session is the second year of the 2023-2024 legislative session, because in Georgia the legislature holds a two-year session. That means bills that passed either the state House or Senate last year can pick up their journey in the other chamber this session.
But how does all of the lawmaking work, and how can you get involved? Here’s a quick primer.
What’s the legislature’s structure?
Georgia’s lawmakers have met in Atlanta every January since 1868 – and they’ve met continuously since 1777. It’s a bicameral legislature like the U.S. Congress with two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
There are 236 members in the Georgia legislature from districts all over the state, which breaks down to 56 senators and 180 House members —each serving a two-year term. Elections are held in even–numbered years. Currently, Georgia’s Republican Party controls the office of governor and both chambers of the state legislature, which is called a trifecta.
Who are the key members?
The Georgia House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, elected by the entire body. The speaker has always been a member of the majority political party and has the power to schedule debates, vote, and assign members to committees. Jon Burns (R-Newington) was elected as the state’s 75th Speaker of the House last January, at the beginning of the 2023-2024 legislative session.
The chief officer of the senate is the lieutenant governor, Burt Jones, also a Republican, who wields influence in shaping debates and casts tie-breaking votes. The second-highest position is the president pro tempore, John Kennedy, R-Macon, who serves as the Senate’s presiding officer in the lieutenant governor’s absence.
Other important positions for the House and Senate include the majority leader, the minority leader, the whip, caucus chair, and floor leaders. Gov. Brian Kemp appoints the floor leaders to promote the executive branch’s interests in each chamber. The majority leader – currently Chuck Efstration, R-Dacula, for the House and Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, for the Senate – attempts to advance the agenda of the majority party, while the minority leader – James Beverly, D-Macon, for the House and Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain, for the Senate – does so for the minority party.
How does it work?
The legislature’s core responsibilities include approving a budget, deciding on proposed amendments to the Georgia constitution, holding hearings, and passing laws and resolutions. Georgia’s body of law is known as the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) and can be accessed for free on LexisNexis.
Any of the 236 elected House and Senate members can file a bill for consideration within their chamber. Once it’s filed, the bill is introduced to the full chamber on the next legislative day through a “first reading,” where the bill’s author reads it aloud. Next, the presiding officer of the House or Senate assigns the bill to a standing committee.
Here, the bill faces its first obstacle—committee approval. The majority of the work to vet, debate and change a bill happens in committee. Because Republicans hold a majority in both chambers, the chairs of the House and Senate standing committees are all Republican.
The House has 38 standing committees, while the Senate has 28, covering topics such as banking and finance, agriculture and consumer affairs, economic development, and education and youth. These committees play a pivotal role as gatekeepers in vetting bills, providing a platform for thorough discussions that can include testimony from lobbyists, state officials, and regular citizens.
If the subject-specific standing committee votes to approve the bill (either as written, with amendments, or via a substitute bill), it then undergoes further scrutiny by the chamber’s Rules Committee. It’s this committee that decides when to schedule the bill for consideration by the full chamber. The bill is again read before the chamber, and then it’s open for a floor debate. After that, the chamber takes a vote. If the bill passes, it moves forward to the other chamber.
But if a bill fails to gain committee approval, it meets its end, a fate often referred to as dying in committee. The majority of bills actually die in committee.
There are two pivotal dates to keep in mind. The first milestone is Crossover Day, occurring on the 28th day of the session. That’s the final day for a bill to get approved by either the House or the Senate in order to “cross over” to the other chamber for further consideration. Otherwise, it dies in its current chamber.
Bills that manage to cross over to the other chamber then undergo further discussion, amendments and, finally, a vote. If a bill originating in the House passes the Senate, it goes back to the House for final approval and vice versa. But if the House doesn’t like changes the Senate has made, and the Senate insists on them, a conference committee is formed to try and reach a compromise. A bill must pass both chambers to go to the governor for consideration.
The other key date is Sine Die, the final day of the legislative session, scheduled for March 28 this year. Bills passed by both chambers by Sine Die go to the governor to either sign or veto. Kemp has 40 days to decide on a bill after the session concludes. All laws passed take effect on July 1.
During the session, the governor can ask to sign or veto a bill once it passes both chambers. He then has six consecutive days to decide whether to make the bill law. In Georgia, the governor can also choose a third option – to do nothing at all when he receives a bill after the session concludes. In that case, a bill will automatically become law once the 40 day period for his signature is up.
If the governor vetoes a bill in the initial year of the session, the legislature holds the power to override the veto with a two-thirds majority vote in the subsequent year. However, if a bill faces a gubernatorial veto in the session’s second year, the veto stands, rendering the bill null and void.
How do I get involved?
Reach out to your state representative and senator to let them know how you feel about proposed bills. Use Branch’s tool to find out the names of your state representative and senator and here to obtain their contact phone numbers and emails.
You can also search for Georgia bills on Legiscan to track their progress. Stay informed about scheduled committee meetings and catch live streams of them on the General Assembly’s Under the Gold Dome dashboard. Through the dashboard, you can also see what bills have been filed and track their progress through readings, committees and votes in each chamber.
See local democracy in action by attending the General Assembly in person at the state Capitol, located downtown at 434 Capitol Ave. SE, Atlanta, GA 30312. Bear in mind that space in the public galleries for each chamber is limited, so arrive early to make sure you get a spot.
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