Nathan Deal's administration wanted in 2015 for Mercedes-Benz workers. More typical was the last-minute tax break that Gov. After an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter found out about it and posted it on social media, good-government lobbyists and bloggers picked up on it, and the House killed the measure. What the sponsor didn't mention was that it also sealed the records of some ethics cases against politicians. With two hours remaining in the 2012 session, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill shielding the identities of people applying for hunting and fishing licenses. The next session they had to change it because it also prevented Grandma and Grandpa from getting a loan, he said. Mullis remembers a bill lawmakers passed early in his tenure designed to stop unscrupulous lenders from taking advantage of the elderly.
In 1992, the General Assembly approved a bill at the last minute that included an amendment pushed by the doctors lobby that was written so broadly it made it a felony for nurses to give injections or for diabetics to give themselves shots. Denmark Groover of Macon, a brilliant lawyer and onetime Marine fighter pilot, dangled above the House chamber, trying to keep the clock from running out on a legislative session. The most famous example occurred in 1964, when state Rep. In the end, lawmakers will take more than 100 votes between 10 a.m. Legislation that would outlaw most abortions passed Friday A new, $150 million voting system was OK'd earlier in the session.īut there are plenty of bills - from taxes on ride-sharing and airlines to medical marijuana expansion - still up in the air as the General Assembly heads toward its annual finish line. The $27.5 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year was passed last week. Some of this session's biggies are already out of the way. Then there’s the recognition of everyone from Miss Georgia Peach and the Alpha and Omega-3 fraternity to the the AA high school badminton champions and honored guests such as rapper T.I., Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Smokey Bear and somebody’s third cousin, twice removed, named Bob.Įventually, committees start meeting, bills are “perfected” and make it to the floor of the House and Senate, and things start happening. But a big chunk of the first few months is taken up listening to the Scripture reading of the day, introducing the doctor of the day, and listening to “points of personal privilege” from members. The General Assembly has 40 working days to approve a budget and pass laws - starting each year on the second Monday of January.
And there is no deadline like being told, “It’s either today or talk to me about it again next January.” Nothing gets a must-have bill moving like a deadline. Legislative leaders like the planned procrastination. No might be the safer bet, but most lawmakers would rather say yes. The rank and file are brought bills they’ve sometimes never seen before, and they are asked to vote on them. Converting a “shall” into a “may” changes something from a state mandate to a friendly suggestion.Ĭonference committees - groups of three House members and three senators - often get together late on the final day of the session and decide what’s in the final bills that colleagues vote on. Other times it’s just a line in a bill - or even a word. Sometimes they’ve gotten tax breaks for businesses. Some lobbyists even specialize in closing deals at the last minute. And a lot of time it’s stuff you never saw until the last day.” “Generally, anything anybody is trying to slip through is done on the last day,” he added. You don’t need to stay the whole time, you need to watch it for about 30 minutes and watch your laws being made,” he said. “Everybody in Georgia needs to come and look at it. Neill Herring, who has lobbied for the Sierra Club for decades, said the final day is a crash course in sausage making. “It’s important that you’re paying attention.
“Oftentimes we have to come back and correct some things we do,” Mullis said. They are putting good things in and some not-so-good things in.” “When you are a new legislator, you really don’t understand all the hubbub going on around you that goes into creating the legislation. “It’s kind of a controlled chaos on the 40th day,” Mullis said. But he hasn't forgotten his first Sine Die when he joined the General Assembly in 2001. Senate Rules Chairman Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, is one of the most powerful members of the General Assembly because his committee decides what bills his chamber considers.
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