GEORGIA GENERAL ASSEMBLYRyan D. Williamson

24 February 2015

Agenda

• Attendance• Lecture on the Georgia General Assembly• Reading for next time

Questions?

Objective

• Compare and contrast the U.S. Congress and the Georgia General Assembly

Professionalization

• The General Assembly is characterized by• Part-time nature of legislative service• Not regularly in the capitol• Low pay with few benefits• Very deferential to the governor

Tenure

• Members of both the state House and Senate serve 2 year terms

• Unlike some other states, Georgia does not place term limits on its legislators.

Personnel

• Georgia has one of the largest state legislatures---180 Representatives and 56 Senators

• The General Assembly was once almost exclusively composed of white, male Democrats

• By 2011, blacks made up 24% of House 23% of the Senate.

Personnel

• Women held 26 percent of the seats in the lower chamber in 2011.

• Two Latinos also served at this time.• Republicans have since gained control of both chambers as well.

Campaigning

• Georgia law limits contributions to $2000 per candidate, per race. An additional $1000 can be given should a runoff take place.

• Incumbents get reelected at extraordinarily high rates.

• This entices more contributions from political action committees.

• Challengers therefore generally must rely on their own fortunes to finance campaigns.

Structure in the House

• The Georgia House also has a Speaker who• Assigns legislation to committees• Decides which bills get called up off the Rules Calendar

for floor debate• Recognizing those wishing to speak

• Below the Speaker is a Speaker pro tempore• Third in command is the Majority Leader• Fourth in line is the Majority Whip

Structure in the House

• The minority party also has a Minority Leader who would likely become the Speaker should partisan control change hands.

• Below the Minority Leader is the Minority Whip and a number of assistant whips.

Structure in the Senate

• The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate.

• This position once came with much power but that is no longer the case.

• The highest ranking Senator is the president pro tempore.

• He or she represents the majority and is tasked with agenda setting and making sure the chamber operates efficiently.

Structure in the Senate

• Unlike the U.S. Congress and that of many other states, Georgia also has administrative floor leaders.

• The governor names his own floor leaders, and their primary function escorting the executive’s agenda through enactment.

Legislative Process

• The process of turning bills into laws is equally complicated and arduous at the state level.

• Figure 5.3 provides an excellent illustration of this process.

Legislative Process

1. Prefiling2. Introduction3. Designation4. Assignation5. Committee Action6. Committee Report7. Placement8. Call for Floor Action9. Debate10. Voting for Final Passage11. Repeat Process in Other Chamber12. Sent to Governor

Other Forms of Legislating

• The U.S. has ratified only on version of the constitution and amended it a mere 27 times.

• In contrast, Georgia has ratified 10 constitutions and has amended each version numerous times.

• The most recent constitution was put into place in 1983 and was accompanied with 4 amendments to it.

Other Forms of Legislating

• Amendments to the U.S. Constitution have been concerned with expanding or protecting rights.

• Many amendments to the Georgia Constitution are significantly less consequential.

For example…

• Limits to the ability of the city of Waycross to levy city taxes on property owned by person aged 65+

• Allow credit for work at a state prison to count against medical school loan debt

• Allow cities and counties to clear slums

Other Forms of Legislating

• Amending the Georgia Constitution requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the General Assembly.

• It then must be approved by a majority of voters in the next general election.

• These are not always made obvious or clear however.

• One of the primary reasons for doing this is to make change more difficult.

Questions?

For next time…

• Read Ch. 6 of Kollman• Quiz on Thursday• See me if you haven’t picked up your test yet