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The 157th Georgia General Assembly convened for the 2024 legislative session on Monday, January 8, 2024, which marked the start of the second year of our biennial General Assembly. In addition to convening in the House Chamber each day, our House committees also began holding meetings to consider legislation that carried over from the 2023 legislative session, as well as new legislation that has been introduced.
On Thursday, members of the House and Senate gathered in the House Chamber to convene for a joint session to hear Governor Brian Kemp as he presented his assessment on the current condition of our state government in his annual State of the State Address.
Below I have highlighted some of the items he addressed as priorities:
· A permanent appropriation in the state budget for school security of $104 million, specifically for school safety improvements. With these funds, schools will be able to determine how to use that money in order to best meet the security needs of their individual schools.
· A request for a $3,000 pay raise for State Patrol officers, as well as Georgia’s correctional officers and other state law enforcement agencies.
· Legislation for the peace officer loan repayment program. Peace officers play a vital role in supporting the safety and security of Georgia’s residents.
· Continue efforts to combat human trafficking in Georgia. Under the leadership of the GRACE Commission, eight pieces of legislation that target traffickers, while also supporting victims, have been signed into law. These efforts have enabled Georgia’s GBI HEAT unit to investigate 369 cases of human trafficking since its creation.
· Georgia’s state workers and teachers would see a four percent pay increase under the governor’s proposal. In addition to supporting Georgia’s current employees.
· Allocate $500 million to shore up the state retiree fund, ensuring our state keeps its promise to our retirees and maintains solid financial footing.
In addition to hearing Gov. Kemp’s State of the State Address on Thursday, the House voted to adopt an Adjournment Resolution, House Resolution 779, to set our calendar for this legislative session. Each session is comprised of 40 non-consecutive days, and this year’s calendar sets our final day of session, or “Sine Die,” on Thursday, March 28. We have an aggressive schedule this year and much work to be done prior to the final swing of the gavel. You can find a copy of our complete legislative calendar here.
Finally, to conclude our week, my colleagues and I gathered alongside Gov. Kemp, Speaker Burns, and Lt. Gov. Jones for a Celebration of Service event to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King’s vision for progress and unity transcended history for all Georgians and all Americans. His dedication to spreading peace and equality in our nation serves as an everlasting example of how we as legislators should conduct ourselves as we work to grow and support the needs of Georgia’s residents.
Now that the 2024 legislative session has begun, I will spend most of my time over the next few months at the State Capitol. After we celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, my colleagues and I will return to the Capitol on Tuesday, January 16 to begin our work on one of the most important pieces of legislation of this session: the state budget. Before leaving the Capitol last week, my colleagues and I received the governor’s budget books, which include his budget recommendations for the amended and full fiscal year budgets. We will review these recommendations, and the House and Senate Appropriations committees will hear directly from the governor to discuss his recommendations on Tuesday morning. The Appropriations committees will continue to meet throughout next week to discuss budget requests from our state agency heads, and I look forward to sharing updates with you about the budget process.
As our House committee meetings get underway throughout the session, you can attend these meetings in person or watch live streams of all official House committee and subcommittee meetings on the House website. You can always find the meeting schedule and live streams at https://www.legis.ga.gov/schedule/house.
The official House Facebook and Twitter accounts also provide useful information and daily updates throughout the session, including press releases, meeting announcements and legislative actions from the House floor. These valuable resources can help you stay engaged and informed on our work while we are in session.
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