The Georgia Legislature gets back to work at 10 a.m. Monday, but the start of its annual get-together looks nothing like a cakewalk. More cash for roads (and maybe higher taxes) tops the list, but that’s not all the state’s top political leaders will face as they gavel in this year’s legislative session:
Gov. Nathan Deal
The 72-year-old governor enters his last term in elected office when he gets sworn in Monday for a second four-year term. If you’re expecting him to sit back and smell the flowers, think again. Deal’s legislative agenda this year will likely include public school funding, an overhaul of the state’s child welfare system and changes to the state ethics commission that at the very least could include more funding.
Cars, trucks and transit
It’s the question of the year for Georgia politicos: How can the state raise an extra $1 billion to $1.5 billion a year on top of what it already earmarks to help ease the state’s ailing transportation system? That recommendation from a panel of high-ranking legislators sets the stage for a dramatic debate that could cause some conservative lawmakers to balk because of expected tax or fee increases. It’s an opportunity for the Legislature’s minority Democrats to gain leverage to ensure the plan’s passage. It’s not clear, however, how far the state’s GOP leadership is willing to go to raise the money or what it wants to spend that extra cash on. While frustrated commuters seem likely to see relief via new highways and bridges, there’s open debate on whether public transit should also be part of the package.
Pomp, then rock ’n’ roll
"Religious liberty" bills. Legalization of medical marijuana. A welcome rise in budget revenue after years of austerity cuts. The to-do list facing lawmakers is long — just don't expect immediate action. The Georgia General Assembly works on a two-year cycle, with each of its annual legislative sessions lasting as many as 40 days. In other words, Monday is but the first day — in the first year — of a very long slog. Deal's inauguration and ceremonial procedures will eat up the first week of work, including the governor's annual State of the State address. It will also take legislative committees time to ramp up and churn.
Newbies
More than two dozen freshmen will join the state House and Senate this year, including incoming state Sen. P.K. Martin, R-Lawrenceville, who in last year's election knocked off his chamber's longest-serving Republican. Others, including incoming state Rep. Heath Clark, R-Warner Robins, have wandered into the Coverdell Legislative Office Building and asked whether they were in the right place.
Protests
Moral Mondays Georgia made a statement last year, sustaining enough outrage to fill more than a dozen paddy wagons over protests seeking expansion of the state's Medicaid rolls, gun control and greater women's access to health care. The group, which is actually a coalition of progressive interests, spent the off-session holding workshops across the state. Now, it is ready to return to the Gold Dome with a still-vague "action" at 2 p.m. Monday somewhere on the Capitol campus.
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