Session Begins
Monday, legislators from across the state filled the Senate and House Chambers excited to begin the first term of 153rd Georgia legislative session. As the session begins, I look forward to once again working with colleagues and newly elected members. Each term brings new challenges and we must strive to continue to take the necessary steps toward a great state of Georgia.
Since the first week of session is typically devoted to ceremonial procedures, my colleagues and I took the oath of office and were sworn into our elected titles by State Supreme Court Justice Hugh Thompson. This week was very light on legislative action. Just like any other operation, we must first take care of housekeeping resolutions, like House Resolution 3 which informs Governor Nathan Deal that the Senate has adjourned.
On Tuesday, we received our committee assignments. I am honored to be selected as Chairman of the Banking and Financial Institutions Committee. This is my first chairmanship and I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure policies and protections are in place for our banking institutions and consumers.
In addition to the Banking Committee, I will also be Secretary of the Higher Education Committee, and a member of the Transportation and Insurance and Labor committees.
Wednesday, we gathered for a joint session with the House of Representatives for Gov. Deal’s fifth State of the State Address. This speech prepares and informs the legislature on what the Governor’s priorities and goals are for the upcoming legislative session. This year, the Governor focused on a number of topics, but primarily honed in on our increasing economic developments, outdated education practices, and transportation funding.
Gov. Deal began his address with “in short, I’m here to report to you today that the state of our state is strong….and getting stronger every day.” For Georgians, this is true. Gov. Deal reported that Mercedes-Benz USA is moving its North American headquarters to Georgia, our revenue is up 4.8 percent, and our unemployment rate is falling back in line.
While our economy continues to thrive, our education system has seen over 19,000 students drop out of grades nine and 12 over the past year. The Governor will focus on making K-12 education more accessible and more effective through the creation of an Education Reform Commission, modernization of the outdated Quality Based Education funding mechanism and establishment of an Opportunity School District.
As legislators, we have an obligation to provide our children with schools that prepare them for the workforce and for life. Education will not be the only topic of interest this session; our transportation system will also receive attention as we are in need of some $1.5 billion in funding to maintain our infrastructure.
Our state is now the eighth most populous state, home to the tenth most mainline highway lanes in the nation, and more than 14,000 bridges, but we are heavily dependent on federal highway funds (68 percent of our total funding is federal dollars). We are currently at a crossroads, with transportation funding; we must do something to ensure future generations of Georgians are provided with the same, if not better infrastructure conditions.
Gov. Deal told the legislature that we must find a new strategy for transportation investment, without one, our roads will no longer be repaired, safety will be jeopardized and economic development will stall due to increased road congestion. As you can tell, this is a very important priority that I will continue to monitor to ensure citizen’s voices are represented throughout this process.
Next week, legislators will be in budget hearings. These hearings take place at the Capitol and provide a time for state agencies to propose their budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. We will listen to countless testimonies from agency leaders in order to allocate the necessary funds in the FY ’16 budget. Due to budget hearings, we will be back in the Senate Chamber and ready to begin debating legislation on Monday, January 26.
I remain committed to supporting policies that promote business growth and get Georgians back to work. It remains a pleasure to serve you, the constituents of the 25th Senate District. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 404.656.0082 or via email at burt.jones@senate.ga.gov.
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Sen. Burt Jones represents the 25th Senate District which includes Baldwin, Butts, Greene, Jasper, Morgan and Putnam counties and portions of Bibb, Jones and Walton counties. He may be reached at 404.656.0082 or via email at burt.jones@senate.ga.gov.