The Governor's signing period has officially ended!

Under the Georgia Constitution, the Governor has 40 days from the end of the legislative session in which he must sign, veto, or allow to become law without his signature, all bills passed by the General Assembly. The Governor’s signing period for 2023 has officially ended, marking the end of the 2023 regular legislative session work. All told, the Governor took action on over 250 bills, 13 of which ACEC Georgia monitored, and three of which ACEC Georgia took a position of support on.

April 3, 2023

A post-midnight adjournment early Thursday morning officially brought this year’s legislative session to a close.

March 27, 2023

This week we are entering the final week of the 157th Session of the Georgia General Assembly. We have tracked just under 50 bills this session, including the only bill the legislature is constitutionally required to pass: the budget.

March 20, 2023

Despite last week’s freeze, lawmakers were feeling the heat as they met for Legislative Days 32 through 35. With only five legislative days over the next two weeks remaining, the days will continue to get longer as legislators work to get their bills across the finish line in time for Sine Die on March 29th.

March 13, 2023

Only eight legislative days remain between now and the Georgia General Assembly adjourning Sine Die. With the Crossover Day deadline behind us (the deadline for a bill to pass its chamber of origin), the fate of some major initiatives has become clear, while others remain to be seen.

March 6, 2023

The Crossover deadline is upon us and your ACEC Georgia political advocates are ready for a long day and a potential midnight adjournment. Today is the last day for bills to be considered by the chamber in which it was introduced, so Representatives and Senators alike will be vying for their legislation to be heard in their respective chambers in order to keep their legislative proposals alive. Up today: tort reform proposals on the Senate side and a potential truck weights bill on the House side.

February 27, 2023

Last week, legislators met for Legislative Days 21 through 23. Despite the shortened week, lawmakers worked furiously to hear legislation in their respective committees before next week’s Crossover deadline on Legislative Day 28—this is the deadline for legislation to pass out of its original chamber, and only four legislative days remain for legislation to receive favorable consideration by the chamber where it was introduced.

February 21, 2023

Georgia lawmakers met last week for legislative days 17 through 20 and are now officially halfway through the 2023 legislative session. Only 8 legislative days remain before Crossover Day (the deadline for legislation to pass the chamber where it was introduced in order to be eligible for consideration in by the other chamber) and legislators and lobbyists alike are beginning to feel the stress of the deadline and are working at a furious pace. Issues like sports betting legalization, housing, and healthcare reform are

February 13, 2023

February 6, 2023

The legislative session began to pick up steam last week, with special elections, a House vote on the amended 2023 budget, over 150 new bills filed, and a #GAPOL Top Gun Remake, lawmakers seem to be settling into their new roles, hastening the pace of session.

January 30, 2023

Last week, bill activity under the Gold Dome picked up slightly from previous weeks; however, the legislature has filed far fewer bills than at this point than in previous years. We expect an exponential increase in bills over the next few days.

January 23, 2023

This past week at the Gold Dome was “budget week,” where the heads of state agencies presented the Governor’s recommendations from the $32.5 billion proposed spending plan for their respective departments.

January 17, 2023

This past week was a flurry of activity at the Georgia Capitol. On Monday, legislators were sworn in to begin their 2023-2024 terms and adopted an adjournment resolution setting the calendar for the entire session (see below for more). On Wednesday, at the Chamber’s Eggs & Issues event, Governor Brian Kemp, Lt. Governor Burt Jones, and Speaker of the House Jon Burns each spoke about their priorities this year’s session, which focused primarily on economic development, and addressing the workforce and housing crises. On

January 9, 2023

Today is a monumental day in Georgia politics—despite what is expected to be a very short session day. Today marks the first day of the 2023-2024 biennium session, as well as the first day for a new Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives since 2010, a new Lieutenant Governor, 53 freshmen legislators, and new leadership in each chamber.

May 23, 2022

Saturday, May 14th, marked the last day for the Governor to sign or veto legislation. It is the official end of our regular session business with the General Assembly—and we are absolutely thrilled to announce that Governor Kemp signed HB 476, the Professional Engineers & Land Surveyors Act, into law! The Governor issued a signing statement on HB 476, which can be read here, the PDF is listed as “2022 Veto Messages and Signing Statements”.

April 11, 2022

Last Monday on April 4th state lawmakers adjourned— “Sine Die”—for the regular legislative session. This session we say goodbye to 48 incumbents, including 37 Representatives, 10 Senators, and the Lt. Governor, who are not running for reelection. These departing incumbents include two incredibly influential lawmakers: the chairman of the powerful Senate Rules Committee, Senator Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga), who is retiring after 22 years of service; and the Dean of the House, Representative Calvin Symre (D-Columbus), wh

April 4, 2022

Last week, lawmakers met to convene for Legislative Days 36 through 39, with this past weekend blocked out for House committee workdays. Today marks the last day of the legislative session, known as “Sine Die!” Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter James Salzer wrote a column over the weekend (HERE’S THE LINK) that does an excellent job describing the somewhat chaotic energy of Sine Die.

March 28, 2022

Last week, state lawmakers met for Legislative Days 32 through 35, leaving only five legislative days left in the 2022 Legislative Session. But a lot is going to happen in those last five days! HB 476 – Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Act We are absolutely thrilled to report that last Thursday, HB 476 – ACEC Georgia’s PELS Board legislation – was passed unanimously out of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee!

March 21, 2022

Last week, state lawmakers met for Legislative Days 28 through 31. Tuesday, Legislative Day 28, was Crossover Day – the deadline which is the last day to pass a bill out of the chamber of origin—and lawmakers met until 9:30pm in the Senate, while the House met until 11:00pm. On Thursday, the Senate unanimously voted to support Governor Kemp’s gas tax suspension proposal, HB 304. The estimated fiscal impact of this proposal is roughly $400 million. The Governor has stated that the lost funds will be replaced by unreserv

March 14, 2022

Last week was an incredibly important week in Georgia politics! In addition to lawmakers convening for Legislative Days 25 through 27, this past week was “qualifying week,” which is the 5-day period when candidates must officially file their paperwork to run for office within their respective political parties (or as undeclared/independent candidates).

March 7, 2022

Last week, lawmakers met for Legislative Days 21 through 24. This week begins “qualifying week,” which is the 5-day period when candidates must officially file their paperwork to run for office within their respective political parties (or undeclared/independent classifications). Friday is the last day to file that mandatory paperwork in order to be eligible to run for any given regularly scheduled election in 2022. Qualifying is sometimes a turning point in the legislative session, because incumbents will finally know

February 28, 2022

Georgia lawmakers met to convene for Legislative Days 19 and 20 this past week—officially marking the halfway point to Sine Die (the last day of session, scheduled for April 4) and 8 Legislative Days until the Crossover Day deadline of March 15. The legislature is certainly feeling the heat of the election year and the approaching deadlines. As such, the legislature kept quite busy last week and promises to continue to stay busy this week!

February 21, 2022

This past week, Georgia state lawmakers met for Legislative days 16 through 18. There are now three calendar weeks until the Crossover Day deadline (March 15th), though only 9 legislative days are scheduled between now and Crossover. The various Cobb County cityhood bills continue to move steadily through the legislative process and may soon be subject to voter approval during the May primary election this year. The proposed city of Mableton passed the House Government Affairs Committee this past week and is now elig

February 14, 2022

This past week the Georgia General Assembly met for Legislative Days 12 through 15. The legislature is now past the halfway point to Crossover (the deadline for legislation to pass its original chamber) and activity in both chambers is starting to pick up. The amended budget, HB 910, passed the House by a vote of 152-4 this past Friday. The entire amended budget passed by the House totals $29.9 billion. The House largely preserved the Governor’s ambitious promises made in response to a huge windfall in tax revenue and

February 7, 2022

This past week the legislature met Tuesday through Thursday for Legislative days 9 through 11. As of February 3rd, nearly 2,900 bills and resolutions have been introduced over the course of this two-year session! Of those 2,900 bills and resolutions, House Bill 961 by Rep. Chuck Efstration (R-Dacula) and Senate Bill 329 by Sen. Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia) are high on ACEC Georgia’s priority list. HB 961 and SB 329 are both intended to address a 2021 ruling by the Georgia Supreme Court that eliminated the apportionment of

January 31, 2022

Among the issues the House is juggling, and in addition to the proposed city of Buckhead, there are several other bills proposing referendums for the creation of new cities. These new city proposals include the cities of Lost Mountain, Vinings, and East Cobb—all of which are located in Cobb County. The legislation proposing the cities of Lost Mountain and Vinings passed the House Government Affairs Committee’s Special Subcommittee on Cityhood this past week and are now pending in the full committee.

January 24, 2022

Last week, the Georgia General Assembly took its customary break from legislative days for the joint House & Senate Appropriations Committees to hear presentations from various state agency heads on their portion of the Governor’s proposed budget. The Governor kicks things off with an overview of any significant changes from the previous year’s budget, while also highlighting his new initiatives and budget priorities. Some of our readers may already be familiar with the Governor’s recommendation to increase overall spen

January 18, 2022

Last week, UGA’s complicated relationship with Hope turned into full-blown commitment and the excitement was palpable at the Capitol. In fact, before the Georgia General Assembly even met to convene the second year of the 156th General Assembly on Monday, January 10th, they preemptively decided to take Tuesday off to recover from the Monday evening championship game (before UGA had even won!).