157th Georgia General Assembly

157th Georgia General Assembly
← 156th 158th →
Great Seal of the State of Georgia
Overview
Legislative body	Georgia General Assembly
Meeting place	Georgia State Capitol
Senate
Members	Republican (33)   Democratic (23) (as of 8 March 2023[ref])
Senate President	Burt Jones (R)
Party control	Republican Party
House of Representatives
Members	180 Representatives   Republican (101)   Democratic (77)   Vacant (2) (as of 8 March 2023[ref])
Speaker of the House	Jon G. Burns (R)
Party control	Republican Party
Sessions
1st January 9, 2023 (2023-01-09) – March 29, 2023 (2023-03-29) 2nd January 8, 2024 (2024-01-08) – April 28, 2024 (2024-04-28)
Special sessions
Redistricting November 28, 2023 (2023-11-28) – December 7, 2023 (2023-12-07)

The 157th Georgia General Assembly consisted of two sessions of the Georgia General Assembly in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the first in 2023 and the second in 2024.^[1] It convened its first session on January 9, 2023 at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta,^[2] which adjourned sine die on March 29; as stipulated in the Constitution of Georgia, the General Assembly can only hold a session "for a period of no longer than 40 days in the aggregate each year".^[3]

The Assembly's members were elected in the 2022 State Senate and State House elections.

On October 26, 2023, a special session was called by Governor Brian Kemp for November 28, 2023, to redraw congressional and legislative maps which were approved in the previous General Assembly.

During the first session, March 6, 2023 was "Crossover Day", the informal name for the date by which bills must have passed through one chamber in order to remain on track to become law.^[2]

Activity

Governor Brian Kemp's floor leaders for the 2023 and 2024 sessions are senators Bo Hatchett and Mike Hodges, and representatives Matthew Gambill, Soo Hong, Lauren McDonald, and Will Wade.^[4]

Legislation

In late January 2023, Democratic lawmakers Sally Harrell and Shea Roberts introduced twin bills — S.B. 15 and H.B. 75, both described as "long-shot legislation" by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution — that would repeal Georgia's 2019 anti-abortion law and add abortion protections to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.^[5]

Representative John Carson sponsored H.B. 54, to increase Georgia's Qualified Education Expense Credit program cap from $120 million to $200 million.^[6]

Representative Darlene Taylor (R-Thomasville) introduced the Okefenokee Protection Act (H.B. 71),^[7] intended to help protect the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from mining projects. The bill attracted bipartisan support from Buddy DeLoach and Mary Frances Williams, among about 36 others.^[8] Taylor had filed an ultimately unsuccessful similar bill in the previous assembly.^[8]

Sports betting

Sports betting was federally banned in the US by the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 until the Supreme Court struck down the law in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (2018), allowing each state to regulate sports gambling. Governor Kemp had been opposed to legalizing betting in the past, but changed his position in 2023.^[9]

Several bills regarding sports betting were introduced during the 2023 session.^[9]

Post-sine die

Governor Brian Kemp issued his first veto of the 2023 session on April 4, putting a stop to H.B. 319, which would have required the General Assembly to approve any University System of Georgia tuition hikes of over 3%. Kemp issued a statement noting that the "Georgia Constitution makes plain the authority to govern, control, and manage the University System and all system institutions is vested in the Board of Regents".^[a] H.B. 319 had passed the House by a vote of 160–1 and the Senate unanimously; the tuition measure had been added on the last day of the legislative session to the bill, which originally aimed to abolish the Georgia Higher Education Assistance Corporation.^[10]

On October 26, 2023, a special session was called by Governor Brian Kemp for November 28, 2023,^[11] to redraw congressional and legislative maps which were approved in the previous General Assembly, following a ruling earlier in the day federal district judge Steve C. Jones that some districts in the U.S. House, Georgia Senate and Georgia House violated the Voting Rights Act.^[12]

Composition

The lawmakers comprising the 157th Assembly were the most diverse in Georgia's history. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution counted 83 non-white members out of 236; 151 are white, 68 are black, 8 are AAPI, five are Hispanic, two are Afro-Latino, and one is Arab. Additionally, there were 81 women in the chamber.^[13]

State Senate

Special elections

Governor Brian Kemp chose state senator Dean Burke to be chief medical officer of the Georgia Department of Community Health in December 2022.^[14] Burke resigned on December 31, and an election to fill the Senate District 11 seat was scheduled for January 31, 2023. Three candidates qualified for the election: John H. Monds (L), Sam Watson (R),^[15] and Mary Weaver-Anderson (D).^[16] Watson won the election easily.^[17]

Party composition

Membership

As of March 2023^[update], the Georgia State Senate is composed of 56 members:^[18]

House of Representatives

Special elections

After former speaker David Ralston's resignation and death, a special election was held on January 3, 2023 to fill the seat in House District 7. Since no candidate reached a vote threshold of 50%,^[b] a runoff between Sheree Ralston, David Ralston's widow,^[20] and Johnny Chastain — both members of the Fannin County Development Authority — was held on January 31, 2023;^[21] in an upset,^[22] Chastain defeated Ralston.^[23]

House District 119's previous representative Terry England did not seek reelection in 2022. After winning unopposed in the general election, former Barrow County Chamber of Commerce chair Danny Rampey was arrested in December 2022 and charged with stealing prescription medications.^[24] Bowing to pressure from the state Republican party, Rampey announced he would not take office, and Governor Kemp scheduled a special election to be held on January 31, 2023.^[25] No candidate won a majority of the vote, so a runoff was held on February 28 between Republicans Holt Persinger and Charlie Chase;^[23] Persinger won the runoff.^[26]

State representative Sam Watson resigned from his seat in House District 172 in order to run for the newly-open spot in State Senate District 11.^[27] A special election was held on January 31, 2023; the only candidate to qualify for the ballot was Colquitt County administrator Charles Cannon.^[28][23]

Democratic member Mike Glanton of District 75 resigned on January 24, 2023 due to health reasons;^[29] a special election was held on March 21, 2023 to fill the seat.^[30] Eric Bell II was elected to fill the seat.^[31]

Democratic representative Tish Naghise died on March 8, 2023; she had represented the 68th District.^[32] Former Representative Derrick Jackson was elected to fill the seat.^[33]

Party composition

Membership

As of July 2023^[update], the membership of the House is as follows:^[36]

References and notes