The second session of the 153rd Georgia General Assembly convened on January 11, 2016. According to House leadership, this year’s session will be fast-moving because of the upcoming May elections. Because of this accelerated schedule, many committee meetings and hearings will be held in late afternoon or at night. If you have specific issues you are following or have hearings you would like to attend, please contact my office to get the most current meeting schedule.
Week One included a visit from the current Miss America, a Georgia native, to the State of the State Address from Governor Deal. The Governor’s address covered many topics, but several points should be highlighted. The state’s “rainy day fund”, or reserve fund, has grown to more than $1.43 billion. To put this in context, the reserve fund was over $2.3 billion in 2007, but was almost completely depleted by 2011 during the Great Recession. The Governor also emphasized the continued drop in the unemployment numbers across the state as well as the creation of over 22,000 new manufacturing jobs, which have created over $900 million in new wages for Georgia families. These economic figures are certainly encouraging.
As part of my pre-legislative communications, I highlighted education issues as ones to watch. Many proposals were circulating in the weeks leading up to the session that would significantly impact our K-12 public education system. Many of the proposals were products of the Governor’s Education Reform Commission, which released its report in December. Fortunately, the Governor’s posture seems to be one of caution when addressing the recommendations of the Education Reform Commission. As part of the State of the State Address, the Governor expressed a willingness to create another education-related study group for the purpose of examining the proposals. This study group would be comprised of current educators, which would allow professionals in the classroom the opportunity to weigh in on the proposals. In addition to policy issues, the Governor’s budget recommendations released on Thursday of last week include additional funding to completely eliminate furlough days for all of Georgia’s educators as well as a 3% salary increase. I join local school board members in supporting this use of these new funds.
Another issue I highlighted during the weeks leading up to the session was that of casino gambling. Introduced at the end of last session, House Bill 677 is a proposed constitutional amendment to allow casinos in Georgia. Casino gambling is being sold as a way to continue to fund the Hope Scholarship. House Bill 677 currently includes details about required investment and territory for the casino companies, but this is changing. At this point, the only debate in the General Assembly on casino gambling will be about whether or not to put the issue on the ballot as a referendum for Georgia voters. In other words, what began as a multi-page bill is being condensed into a simple question. If general election voters approve the referendum, the details of the legislation will be worked out a later date. Polling shows general election voters of Georgia are likely to approve the measure. I have asked to hear from folks on this issue numerous times on live radio and in print. So far I have heard from eight people. If you want to share your opinion on this issue or any others, please contact me. I can be reached at 404-656-0325 or [email protected].
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rep. Dan Gasaway (R-Homer) represents the 28th GA House District. His district includes Stephens and Banks Counties and the southern end of Habersham.
