150th Georgia General Assembly
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Overview

The 150th General Assembly of the U.S. state of Georgia convened its first session on January 12, 2009, at the Georgia State Capitol in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
. The 150th Georgia General Assembly succeeded the 149th and will serve as the precedent for the 151st General Assembly in 2011. The 150th General Assembly adjourned its first session on April 3, 2009. The second session of the 150th General Assembly convened January 11, 2010.


Officers


Senate


Presiding officer


Majority leadership


Minority leadership


House of Representatives


Presiding officer

Glenn Richardson James Glenn Richardson (commonly known as Glenn Richardson) (born January 12, 1960) is an American attorney and the former Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, in the state of Georgia. In late 2009, following the announcement of a s ...
(R) served as Speaker of the House from January 2009 through Jan. 1, 2010.
Mark Burkhalter Mark Burkhalter (born December 12, 1960) is an American politician and real estate developer who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1993 to 2011. Early life and education Mark Burkhalter was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He gradua ...
(R) served as Speaker pro tempore during the same period, and was acting Speaker when the House reconvened on Jan. 11, 2010, at which time the House elected David Ralston and Jan Jones.


Majority leadership


Minority leadership


Members of the state senate


Changes in membership from previous term

While no seat changed party control from the previous session, the beginning of the 150th Georgia General Assembly still saw five new state senators. Two of these new senators defeated the incumbent in the runoff for their parties' primaries. Two replaced incumbents who had run for other office. Another replaced a senator who had retired.


Changes in membership during current term

There have been three vacancies in the State Senate as of December 25, 2009. All three have been due to resignations. Two have since been filled, both by members of the same party as the former incumbent. Another vacancy is expected at some point during the term.


Announced retirements

As of December 25, 2009, six state senators have announced that they will not be running for re-election in 2010. One senator, Dan Moody (56th) is retiring. The other five are seeking higher office. Jeff Chapman (3rd) is running for
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
. Following State Insurance and Fire Commissioner John Oxendine's decision to run for
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
, Seth Harp (29th) and Ralph Hudgens (47th) announced that they will seek the Republican nomination for the office. Lee Hawkins (49th) announced that he will run for the Congressional seat to be left open by incumbent Nathan Deal's campaign for governor. Finally,
Gail Buckner Gail Buckner was a Democratic member of the Georgia State Senate, representing its 44th District from 2009 to 2011. She was formerly a Georgia State Assembly representative of district 76, encompassing parts of Clayton Countybr>from 1990 to 2006 ...
is running for state secretary of state, a position she also ran for in 2006.


Members of the House of Representatives


Major issues

*Severe budget cuts due to the
2009 recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...
. *
Circumvention Anti-circumvention refers to laws which prohibit the circumvention of technological barriers for using a digital good in certain ways which the rightsholders do not wish to allow. The requirement for anti-circumvention laws was globalized in 1996 ...
of the
Georgia Public Service Commission The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) is a statutory organ of the state government of Georgia; elected among five commission districts, the board consists of a Chairman, a Vice-chairman, and three Commissioners. PSC regulates telecommunica ...
, by allowing Georgia Power to charge
power company An electric utility is a company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major pr ...
customers (which includes most Georgians) for two new
nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat fr ...
s at Plant Vogtle years before they are built. The bill exempts businesses, putting the entire burden on residential customers. This passed in both chambers and was signed by the governor, but has been challenged in court as having raised
revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
without being originated in the lower house. *Proposed cuts in aid to counties, which reduce
property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inhe ...
es they must charge their residents. These were not cut, meaning that the state, rather than the counties, will have to cut over 400 million dollars from the fiscal 2010 (July 2009 to June 2010) budget. *The massive food recall caused by the
Peanut Corporation of America Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) was a peanut- processing business which is now defunct as a result of one of the most massive and lethal food-borne contamination events in U.S. history. PCA was founded in 1977 and initially run by Hugh Parn ...
in
Blakely, Georgia Blakely is a city and the county seat of Early County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 5,068. It is located approximately halfway between Columbus and Tallahassee, Florida on U.S. Route 27. History Blakel ...
, and the role that the
Georgia Department of Agriculture The Georgia Department of Agriculture is the oldest state department of agriculture in the United States of America. Summary In 1874, the Georgia Department of Agriculture was established. The department regulates food, fiber, and the agricultura ...
and lax state laws may have played in allowing it to happen. Food-processing companies will now be required to notify the state within 24 hours of any test results indicating contamination, among other changes. *A bill to move MARTA
oversight Oversight may refer to: Governance *Regulation – rulemaking *Separation of powers in state governance (checks and balances) - the concept of separate branches of government or agencies exercising authority over one another *Checks and control ...
from MARTOC to
GRTA The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA, "Greta") is a government agency in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It was set up under former governor of Georgia Roy Barnes, in order to address mobility, air quality and land ...
, which did not pass. *A bill to permanently remove the mandatory 50/50 split on capital
expenditures An expense is an item requiring an outflow of money, or any form of fortune in general, to another person or group as payment for an item, service, or other category of costs. For a tenant, rent is an expense. For students or parents, tuition is ...
, so that MARTA can postpone these and maintain service (operational expenditures) during periods of low sales tax
revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
. The failure of the legislature to pass this means crippling cuts in MARTA service because it cannot access its reserve account, and the MARTA board has requested a
special session In a legislature, a special session (also extraordinary session) is a period when the body convenes outside of the normal legislative session. This most frequently occurs in order to complete unfinished tasks for the year (often delayed by confli ...
to correct the situation. The
Atlanta Regional Commission The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency for the metro Atlanta, Georgia, USA region, defined as the 11-county area of Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, F ...
has suggested giving MARTA enough money from the U.S. stimulus act to get it to the 2010 legislative session with minimal cutbacks to the already-limited
public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typic ...
system. *Reinstatement of the sales tax on
groceries A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...
, allegedly to target illegal immigrants. This failed. *Elimination of sales taxes and annual ad valorem taxes on new cars, to be replaced by a car title transfer tax of 7%, including transfers between family members, and possibly to or from charities. This would also take a significant amount of money (the 2-4% local portion of the sales tax) away from
local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...
. The 2000-dollar cap on the tax also would make it a
regressive tax A regressive tax is a tax imposed in such a manner that the tax rate decreases as the amount subject to taxation increases. "Regressive" describes a distribution effect on income or expenditure, referring to the way the rate progresses from high ...
. This did not pass. *Banning of all
stem-cell research In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of ...
, passed by the Senate. *Gutting most of the Georgia Department of Transportation, merging all of its planning authority into a new State Transportation Authority along with the
Georgia Regional Transportation Authority The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA, "Greta") is a government agency in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was set up under former governor of Georgia Roy Barnes, in order to address mobility, air quality and land use and how they rela ...
and the
State Road and Tollway Authority The State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is responsible for financing transportation initiatives and operating the state's toll roads. A proposal to merge SRTA and GRTA, and most of GDOT ...
. This failed, an instead other changes were made to put more power in the hands of state politicians. *Changing state law in order to accept money for the state
unemployment insurance Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...
fund from the federal
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
(the U.S. "stimulus act"). This became law, but no help will get to the unemployed until May 25. *Requiring pickup truck and other
truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
drivers to wear their seat belts like other
motorist Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and bicycles. Permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met and drivers are required to fol ...
s have been for years. This failed again as in years past. *Addition of a 200-dollar fine for excessive
speeding Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed - expres ...
, over on expressways and over on smaller roads. The money will go to
trauma care Major trauma is any injury that has the potential to cause prolonged disability or death. There are many causes of major trauma, blunt and penetrating, including falls, motor vehicle collisions, stabbing wounds, and gunshot wounds. Depending ...
in the state's hospitals.


References


External links

{{portal, Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia General Assembly website
**2009-2010 Representatives b



**2009-2010 Senators b
Name


Georgia (U.S. state) legislative sessions 2009 in American politics 2010 in American politics 2009 in Georgia (U.S. state) 2010 in Georgia (U.S. state)