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Sen. Frank Ginn: A Strong Start to the 2025 Legislative Session

The Senate has accomplished a great deal in just one week under the Gold Dome.  Bills have already begun to move through the committee process, and the 2025 Legislative Session is underway.

We began the legislative session by voting on the Senate calendar, holding Senate elections, and establishing the Senate rules by which we operate throughout the session. We also established Senate committees and laid the groundwork for another productive biennium.

I am pleased to warmly welcome Sen. Drew Echols (R–Alto), one of my district neighbors and the newest member of the Republican caucus. His wife, former Sen. Shelly Echols, served with great distinction during the previous biennium. I am confident that Sen. Drew Echols will build on that legacy as a valuable addition to our team.

We have already made significant progress this legislative session. Gov. Brian Kemp has set a strong foundation with initiatives to increase funding for school safety, enhance our state’s skilled workforce, provide necessary aid to Georgia families impacted by Hurricane Helene and continue to provide accessible healthcare for all hardworking Georgians and their families. By expanding opportunities for high-demand, high-skill and high-wage careers, we are taking essential steps to secure Georgia’s economic future.

This week, I was proud to co-sponsor “Ricky and Alyssa’s Law,” or Senate Bill 17, sponsored by Sen. Jason Anavitarte (R–Dallas). This bill will ensure the safety of our school teachers and students by requiring education boards to place mobile panic alert systems in schools that will provide real-time coordination among state and local first responder agencies during any emergency. School safety is a top priority for both the Senate and the Governor’s Office, and we remain committed to ensuring the safety of Georgia’s students. I also introduced Senate Bill 12, which will reform laws related to open records laws in Georgia. This bill will ensure public entities conform with open records requests while protecting private businesses from nuisance interference.

I was proud to serve on Gov. Kemp’s escort committee for the “State of the State” address. (My friend and reporter, Abby Kousouris, snapped the photo above at the event.) During his annual “State of the State” address, Gov. Kemp highlighted the need for tort reform, a cause I have long supported. The American Tort Reform Foundation’s current designation of Georgia as “the #1 judicial hellhole in the country” is unacceptable. We must tackle rising insurance premiums and ensure that frivolous lawsuits or excessive litigation costs do not burden our businesses.

Additionally, we must prioritize recovery efforts for the communities impacted by Hurricane Helene. Gov. Kemp has announced $100 million in initial funding to address the damage, but we know the road to recovery will be long. The Georgia Senate will continue to work diligently to support local governments and their communities to ensure they have the necessary resources to rebuild.

Committee assignments for the session were released, and I appreciate Lt. Governor Burt Jones and the Committee on Assignments for assigning me to serve on various meaningful committees. I am thankful to serve as Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Tourism and the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Overview Committees. I look forward to serving as an ex-officio on the Senate Committees on Natural Resources and the Environment and Regulated Industries and Utilities, respectively and as a member of the Senate Committees on Appropriations, Transportation and Rules.

As always, I want to invite students between the ages of 12 and 18 to serve as a Senate Page. This highly informative program allows students to participate in the state legislative process at our State Capitol for a day. Interested students may apply for the program by emailing me or my administrative assistant at my office. (Frank.Ginn@senate.ga.gov.)

I am honored beyond measure to serve the citizens of the 47th Senate District. Please do not hesitate to contact my office for any legislative matters, and I hope to see you soon under the Gold Dome.

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Sen. Frank Ginn represents the 47th Senate District, which includes Madison County and portions of Barrow, Clarke, and Jackson Counties. He can be reached at (404) 656-4700 or by email at Frank.Ginn@senate.ga.gov

For all media inquiries, please reach out to SenatePressInquiries@senate.ga.gov.

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Capitol Recap: Budget Week

By: Sen. Larry Walker (R – Perry)

We traditionally set aside the week following the convening of session for Joint House and Senate Appropriations Committee meetings, where we begin the process of evaluating the budget and dive into the Governor’s recommendations for adjustments to the current budget and setting the next fiscal year budget. As you may know, the only action required of the Georgia General Assembly stipulated in the state constitution is that we pass a balanced budget each year, and I do not take this responsibility lightly.  The budget reflects our priorities as a state, and it is imperative we thoroughly and thoughtfully allocate funding in a manner that best serves the needs of all Georgians. Georgia is a large and growing state with a complex budget, and there is simply no way to cover everything that I would like to cover here.  Therefore, I will focus this week’s column on some of the highlights of the proposed Amended FY 2023 and FY 2024 budgets that have generated the most interest.

In the Amended FY 2023 budget, the Governor recommends $100 million of our revenue surplus be returned to all Georgians that paid individual state income tax in 2022. If passed, individual filers will receive up to a $250 tax refund and joint filers will receive as much as a $500. All state revenue comes from you, the taxpayer.  So, it is very appropriate that we return surplus funds to the taxpayer rather than growing government even more.

As has been widely reported, the Governor’s FY 2024 budget includes an across the board pay raise for state employees and educators, providing a $2,000 cost of living adjustment. I strongly support this and believe that our dedicated teachers and state employees have earned and deserve this COLA.

Each year, education in Georgia accounts for over 50% of the state’s budget. This year is no different. We must continue to invest in our education system at both the K-12 and higher education levels. Last year, a large portion of funds were appropriated to fund the K-12’s QBE formula. This year, an additional $745 million is recommended in the Amended FY 2023 and more than $1.1 billion in FY 2024 for K-12 education, fully funding the Quality Basic Education formula. It is imperative that we continue to build a workforce our growing state needs and that can only be achieved through providing our young Georgians with the highest level of education that will lead to fulfilling employment.

Healthcare in Georgia continues to remain a top priority. More specifically, we know that healthcare remains a significant cost for many Georgia families. With that being said, I am pleased to see the FY 2024 budget recommends including $52 million to implement the Georgia Pathways Coverage program which was established pursuant to the Patients First Act, legislation passed in 2019. The Georgia Pathways Coverage Program will increase access to adequate health insurance statewide and give Georgia families who struggle to find coverage through their workplace a better opportunity to provide care for their families. When the Patients First Act was signed in 2019, Georgia only had four carriers offering plans in the individual market. Today, we have seen an astonishing 250% increase with 10 carriers offering plans for 2023.

Agriculture is Georgia’s number one industry, providing jobs, goods and infrastructure, boosting our economy despite the record high inflation we have experienced in recent years. I am pleased to see that Governor Kemps FY 2024 budget proposal includes recommending funds be allocated to the Georgia Agricultural Trust Fund which is generated through agricultural tax exemptions to provide funding for the maintenance and operations of state farmers’ markets and marketing to promote the production of Georgia’s agricultural products. In addition, the Governor recommends providing funds to the Department of Transportation to replace lost motor fuel tax revenue resulting from the temporary suspension of this tax in order to help Georgians cope with exorbitant fuel costs.

While this is just a small fraction of what is recommended for the completion of this fiscal year and the upcoming fiscal year, I am pleased with the progress we have made thus far and look forward to getting these budgets vetted and passed through the General Assembly and signed by the Governor.

Next week, we will reconvene in the Senate Chamber Monday through Thursday for legislative days 5-8. We also plan to get back to work in our committees to assess legislation brought before us. If you have any questions or concerns related to the budget or any potential legislation that may come up this year, please do not hesitate to contact my office. I am here to serve you.

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Sen. Larry Walker serves as Chairman of the Insurance and Labor Committee.  He represents the 20th Senate District, which includes Bleckley, Dodge, Dooly, Houston, Laurens, Pulaski, Treutlen and Wilcox counties.  He may be reached by phone at 404.656.0095 or by email at larry.walker@senate.ga.gov.   

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DUGAN: An Update from the Capitol

By: Sen. Mike Dugan (R – Carrollton)

Over the last few weeks, the Senate has worked around the clock to put the finishing touches on legislation before Crossover Day, which the occurred on Tuesday last week. In the lead up to this important deadline, our committee workload increased dramatically in order to have as many quality pieces of legislation available for a floor vote as possible. On Crossover Day itself, we considered over 45 measures over an 11 hour period, and entered into the home stretch of the 2022 session.

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Capitol Recap: Week 9

By: Sen. Larry Walker (R – Perry)

As Crossover Day continues to inch closer, our days debating legislation in the Chamber have grown longer and more urgent and committees have worked long into the night to bring additional improvements to the legislation before their consideration. With many bills still available for action in the Senate, it will be nigh impossible to reach all of them before our Tuesday deadline. However, we are working to ensure we are prioritizing legislation of the most importance to our constituents statewide. 

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