City Government

Your State Legislature is in Session Now

You probably know who your Mayor, Tom Reed, and City Council members are, but do you know who your Federal and State representatives are? If not, this is the time of year when it is good to know who your state representatives and senators are because the General Assembly is currently in session.

The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are 66 senators and 180 House members. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly elected by the constituents of their district.

The Georgia Constitution limits the General Assembly to 40 official days each year. The Legislature's only mandate is to approve a budget, meaning lawmakers could complete their work in less than 40 days. Typically, lawmakers meet for all 40 official days, and the session lasts around 90 days, accounting for weekends, off days and work days related to legislative duties.

The 2023 session opened Monday, January 9, and will close in early April. The session is broken into two parts, with what is known as "crossover day" in between, typically around the 28th legislative day. Legislation that hasn't passed at least one of the two chambers by "crossover day" cannot be taken up for consideration for the remainder of that session. However, measures that fail to pass in time can be attached to other bills as amendments after crossover day.

Legislative measures are filed by members and assigned to committees for review. The House has 38

Robert T. Rokovitz, MPA, ICMA-CM

standing committees; the Senate has 28. Legislation must be passed by committee before it can go before the full chamber. Even committee-approved measures must be reviewed and passed by another committee, Rules, before going to the floor for debate. The House speaker retains the power to schedule floor votes on legislation, giving him the power to block measures.

Legislation is approved or denied by majority vote, except in cases involving proposed voter referendums, such as in constitutional amendments or significant changes to local governance, as in the chartering of a new city. In those instances, approval is by two-thirds majority. Bills and resolutions that pass both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly must still be signed into law by the governor. The Georgia General Assembly can override a governor's veto with a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber.

Constituents like yourself can follow legislation at the following link: https://www.legis.ga.gov/. The legislators work on your behalf, so do not hesitate to reach out to them if you have a question about proposed legislation that may impact you personally or professionally.

For our immediate area, Mandisha Thomas in District 65 is our state representative and can be reached by email at: mandisha.thomas@house.ga.gov