The 2016 Georgia General Assembly session officially came to an end on March 24th as the Senate adjourned Sine Die. The term “Sine Die” is Latin for “without assigning a day for a further meeting or hearing”. Therefore, when the gavel came down on Thursday night, the General Assembly adjourned until January 2017. Legislators and staff worked hard until the midnight deadline to thoroughly discuss dozens of pieces of legislation for the benefit of all Georgians. I have provided a recap below of some of the legislation that stood out to me in the past couple of weeks.
This week the General Assembly gave final approval of the 2017 Fiscal Year budget, which will now go to the governor’s desk for his approval. The final budget includes a 3 percent pay increase for state employees including teachers, school bus drivers, and lunchroom workers. It has been several years since we have been able to reward these workers for the important role they play in the lives of our young people.
In addition, our Georgia State Patrol is receiving a much-needed raise with the new budget. Their pay is ranked among the lowest in the nation. They render outstanding service to all the citizens of our state. After several years without a raise, they will receive an additional 6% in salary with the new budget. Also, we are providing a cost of living adjustment to our state retirees for the first time in many years.
Other state departments and agencies receiving a necessary increase in funding are the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the University of Georgia. This will add new UGA extension agents after many positions were cut around the time of the 2008 recession, and new research faculty positions in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Additions such as these allow the booming agriculture business in Georgia to continue to thrive and grow for years to come.
Finally, keeping education in mind, the budget includes $12,545,000 for the expansion of the Clarkesville Campus of North GA Technical College. Without funds dedicated to our trained and skilled workers who attend our state’s technical colleges, our state would not be able to grow and flourish.
House Bill 757, which after weeks of discussion and studying, became a combination of the Pastor Protection Act, the First Amendment Defense Act and the federal Religious Freedom and Restoration Act. The bill passed both chambers last week and will now go to Governor Deal’s desk for his consideration.
If the bill is signed by the Governor, it will allow those with deeply held religious beliefs to worship and practice how they believe is right. This bill also includes language requiring a public employee to complete the duties and responsibilities of their position and ensures that discrimination of any person or group will not be legalized. This effort took more than a year of hard work and discussion by some of our state’s top leaders, and it will now go to the governor’s desk.
A bill I helped sponsor, Senate Bill 364, passed in the House this week by a unanimous vote. SB 364 reduces the percentage that student growth accounts for in the evaluations of teachers from 50 to 30 percent, and requires student growth to count for 40 percent of the evaluations of principals and assistant principals, in certain schools. It also allows for multiple, formative student assessments to be used in place of an end-of-grade assessment.
HB 579 is a bill I carried in the Senate that allows farmers to haul farming supplies on the highway as long as the vehicle operator is over the age of 16 and is a licensed driver. The vehicles also have to display the “slow moving vehicle” triangle caution sign. I also sponsored SR 1018 which encourages EPA to withdraw the Waters of the United States mandates.
There were a large number of other important bills passed this session, and as always, I encourage you to reach out to my office with questions or visit the state legislature’s website at www.legis.gov.
It is an honor to serve as your senator and I thank you for your feedback and support. If I can be of any assistance, please feel free to reach out to my office at 404.463.5257 or by email at [email protected].
About the Author
Sen. John Wilkinson serves as the Chairman of the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee and Vice Chairman of the Education and Youth Committee. He represents the 50th Senate District which includes Banks, Franklin, Habersham, Rabun, Stephens and Towns counties and portions of Hall and Jackson counties.
