A quick review of the Georgia General Assembly 2014 Session.
Today is Legislative Day 24, of a maximum of forty days available in the Session. Any legislation that has not passed at least one chamber of the legislature by the 30th day, called Crossover Day, cannot pass this year unless it is amended onto legislation that did meet the Crossover Day deadline. Currently, the 30th Legislative Day is expected to be March 3d, earlier than any year I can remember. With seven legislative days available, time is getting scarce and the pace is quickening.
Because of the days missed during snow storms, and because a couple of legislative days were “burned” because they were scheduled for days that were snowed out, committee work got backed up.
So now, legislative days are becoming more valuable and committee work has stacked up. Yesterday, both chambers had long floor sessions dealing with contentious bills.
The House passed HB 875, a gun rights bill by 119-56 along party lines. That heated debate included a rare challenge by State Rep. Charles Gregory (R-Cobb) of a procedural ruling by Speaker David Ralston. Only two “yea” votes were cast on the challenge, those of nominally-Republican State Reps. Gregory and Sam Moore (R).
The State Senate passed SB 350 by Senator Renee Unterman (R-Buford), to move the Department of Family and Childrens Services toward outsourcing of foster care. Coming after an already-full calendar, the bill saw seven amendments offered, each of which was subject to debate and a vote before the vote on final passage.
While both chambers considered important legislation, the longer sessions meant that a full-slate of committee hearings started later than scheduled. When this occurs, the committee schedule tends to compress, as members need to be in multiple committees at the same time, and quorums become hard to maintain. Shortened committee meeting times and lost quorums exacerbate the congestion within the committee system.
