It’s become tradition for lawmakers and lobbyists that the first Wednesday of each new legislative session start with an early morning surrounded by hundreds of their closest friends at the Georgia World Congress Center...more
1/14/2021
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Board of Elections ,
Budgets ,
Educational Institutions ,
General Elections ,
Governor Kemp ,
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State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Substance Abuse
Tuesday marked the second day of the new legislative session and the opening day for first reading of legislation and assignment to committee. Among the ten bills and resolutions read and referred, the first of the thousands...more
It’s the second Monday in January, and the Georgia General Assembly opened its 2021 Session today with socially distanced ceremony, saliva testing, and other start-of-session housekeeping. Akin to “syllabus day” at the...more
In the longest legislative session in Georgia history – caused by the long COVID pause from mid-March to mid-June – lawmakers handled a number of thorny and difficult issues, including the passage of a...more
8/21/2020
/ Appropriation ,
Budgets ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
General Assembly ,
Governor Kemp ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Liability ,
Public Health Emergency ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
State Legislatures
Legislative Day 40 (Sine Die) - After weeks of rumors of an abbreviated conclusion to the 2020 Legislative Session and a final several days with rumblings that adjournment sine die was imminent, the General Assembly defaulted...more
Legislative Day 39 - With one legislative day remaining, the General Assembly kicked in high gear today to wrap up consideration of legislation for the 2020 Legislative Session. ...more
Legislative Day 38 — June 24, 2020 - With only two legislative days remaining in the 2020 Legislative Session, floor activity in the House and Senate hit a fever pitch as legislators jockeyed to get their measures amended,...more
Stars aligned in the Capitol today as the House and Senate reached agreement on the most closely watched issue during the reconvening of the 2020 Legislative Session. After announcement late yesterday of a compromise to HB...more
Although the House and Senate each had robust Rules and committee calendars for Legislative Day 36, all eyes were looking towards signals to a compromise on the FY 2021 State Budget....more
It may have been Saturday and the first day of summer, but it was also Legislative Day 35 under the Gold Dome. In a rare weekend convening that was the result of the House and Senate failing to agree on an adjournment...more
While families around the state prepare to celebrate Father’s Day weekend, members of the Georgia General Assembly continue to work into the evening and are slated for a rare Saturday session day tomorrow. Because the House...more
What a day under the Gold Dome! The budget, hate crimes legislation, tobacco tax increase efforts, CON amendments, etc. All of these issues are enormous decisions to be made by lawmakers. The day kicked off early as...more
The Senate dominated the news today as they unveiled both their take on the state’s FY 2021 budget (which was laden with cuts to align with decimated state revenues resulting from the COVID-19 shutdown) and the first public...more
Today, the General Assembly reconvened for its 31st Legislative Day (the second legislative day of the COVID era), and the environment remains both strange and amusing. While the people watching is supreme (and included one...more
Lawmakers began early, and in earnest, this morning in an effort to complete the 2020 Legislative Session, primarily to write a FY 2021 budget as constitutionally required. While many lawmakers and lobbyists donned masks to...more
Today was all about the numbers - State spending and revenue as well as the increasing count of Georgians diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. The House Appropriations Committee voted out its version of HB 793, the state’s...more
3/11/2020
/ Legislative Agendas ,
Mental Health ,
New Legislation ,
Pharmacies ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
State and Local Government ,
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Tax Credits ,
Teachers
Roadrunners, Hawks, Mariners, and other big-headed mascots flocked to the Capitol atrium today for Georgia State College Day at the Capitol, and House and Senate members also had education on their minds. ...more
With visions of getting out of Atlanta and back to their home districts before traffic set in, legislators worked quickly today to put a cap on a full legislative week. ...more
Just over a month after first convening on January 13, 2020, the General Assembly took its first major action today as the House signed off on its version of the Amended FY20 Budget. ...more
After shifting to a lower gear last week in an effort to look more closely at the State’s revenues and develop a spending plan for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2020, lawmakers reconvened this morning for Legislative Day 13....more
Returning to the House and Senate chambers for the first time since January 16, legislators got back to business today following last week’s budget hearings. With presentations on Governor Kemp’s proposed Amended FY20 and...more
Although the General Assembly is in adjournment this week, the third floor of the Capitol was still abuzz today as legislators began hearing from Governor Brian Kemp and other leaders from the Executive Branch on their budget...more
Well before dawn today, business leaders, lobbyists, and lawmakers from around the state convened in Downtown Atlanta to rub elbows and eat eggs while the State’s political leaders forecast the next few months under the Gold...more
It is the second Monday in January, and neither monsoon nor blackout could keep the Georgia General Assembly from convening for its 2020 Legislative Session....more
We are pleased to present the Nelson Mullins Gold Dome Report for the 2019 Session of the Georgia General Assembly. We appreciate the privilege of representing our clients and wish to accumulate in some detail the key pieces...more