ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s General Assembly is being sworn in for a new two-year term on Monday, with 180 state representatives and 56 state senators taking office after winning election in November.
Republicans will continue to control both chambers, returning to the Senate with the same 33-23 majority they had in the previous term. Republicans’ majority in the state House narrowed by two seats to a 100-80 edge after court-ordered redistricting.
There are only 18 new House members and four new senators taking their oaths.
Top issues will include Gov. Brian Kemp’s push to limit lawsuit verdicts and proposed responses to September’s deadly shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder. Revenue growth is slowing, but Georgia has an $11 billion surplus lawmakers can spend if Kemp, a Republican, lets them.
Here’s a look at some other key issues:
Doing more to ease Hurricane Helene damage
Georgia leaders are generally applauding a relief package that Congress passed in December. But they say more needs to be done after Hurricane Helene cut a swath from Valdosta to Augusta in September, causing billions in damage.
After Hurricane Michael in 2018, Georgia allocated $470 million on top of federal spending. That included $200 million in income tax credits for timber and pecan farmers to replant trees and $69 million to help state and local agencies cover emergency response costs, $55 million to assist farmers suffering crop losses and $20 million for timberland cleanup.
State officials have already approved a plan for $100 million in loans to affected farmers and timber owners.
House Speaker Jon Burns in particular wants more money to clean up downed timber, saying fallen trees will become a wildfire risk if not removed.
Republicans push to ban transgender women in school sports
Georgia Republicans in both chambers, including Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Burns, have promised to prioritize banning transgender women and girls from competing in women’s school sports.
The General Assembly in 2022 left it up to the Georgia High School Association to make decisions about transgender women and girls in sports. The association, mostly made up of public high schools, then banned transgender women and girls from participating in its sports events.
Top Republicans now say that’s enough, after Donald Trump and others have made opposition a political issue.
“I have four granddaughters, and they’re engaged in athletics, and they work hard spending hours a week preparing themselves to participate,” Burns said at a recent press conference. “We want them to have the opportunity to excel and to win and to be first.”
Jones has said Senate Republicans will seek a ban at the college level as well as in high school athletics, but it is unclear if the House will go that far.
Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, noted there are no known instances of transgender athletes in Georgia participating in school sports.“They are really putting a lot of time and effort into solving a problem that does not exist,” Graham said.
Spending could improve conditions in Georgia’s prisons
Lawmakers in both chambers have said they will pursue legislation to address violence and deaths in Georgia’s prisons.
The U.S. Department of Justice said in November that conditions in state prisons are “inhumane” and prison officials are violating prisoners’ Eighth Amendment protections against cruel punishment.
In a meeting earlier this month with lawmakers, Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver said Kemp is proposing to spend more than $600 million to renovate prisons and hire more staff, among other investments. Oliver also said the state would build another new prison.
Lawmakers want to cut off access to cell phones and drones, which officials say bring contraband inside. Others have suggested increases in mental health staff.
Fighting over election rules may persist
Georgia’s 16 presidential electors met in December and cast their votes for Trump with nary a peep of opposition, much less the avalanche of activity that followed Joe Biden’s 2022 win in Georgia.
But that doesn’t mean fighting over election laws is over. The state Republican Party wants to cut off automatic voter registration when Georgians get a driver’s license and end no-excuse absentee voting.
Lawmakers could also consider some of the State Election Board rules that a court blocked. Those include include counting the total number of ballots by hand on election night and making it easier for county election board members to refuse to certify an election.
Other possibilities include requiring voters to fill out ballots by hand and having election officials count those ballots by hand, reflecting distrust of Georgia’s electronic voting system. Some lawmakers may want to make it easier to challenge a voter’s eligibility.
Can sports betting come up a winner?
Despite support from Jones, the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Atlanta’s pro sports teams, legalizing sports betting in Georgia has gone nowhere in recent years. Proponents will certainly try again to legalize it.
There are multiple issues that need to be resolved before legislation can move forward. Some argue that legalization requires an amendment to the Georgia Constitution, which would require a two-thirds vote in each chamber, followed by approval from a majority of those voting in a statewide referendum. Others say only a simple majority vote would be required if sports betting is regulated by the Georgia Lottery.
There are also disagreements about how the proceeds should be spent, and how heavily the state should tax the activity. ___
Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.
