Overview

The 150th General Assembly of the

U.S. state of Georgia Georgia is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina; to the northeast by South Carolina; to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean; to the south by Florida; and to the west by ...

convened its first session on January 12, 2009, at the

Georgia State Capitol The Georgia State Capitol is an architecturally and historically significant building in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The building has been named a National Historic Landmark which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As t ...

in Atlanta, Georgia. 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 (R) served as Speaker of the House from January 2009 through Jan. 1, 2010. Mark Burkhalter (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 Daniel James Moody Jr. (June 1, 1893May 22, 1966), was an American lawyer and Democratic politician. Originally from Taylor, Texas, he served as the 30th governor of Texas between 1927 and 1931. At the age of 33, he was elected and took offic ...

(56th) is retiring. The other five are seeking higher office. Jeff Chapman (3rd) is running for governor. Following State Insurance and Fire Commissioner John Oxendine's decision to run for governor,

Seth Harp Seth Harp (born February 26, 1943) is an American politician who served in the Georgia State Senate from 2001 to 2011. Harp was a delegate of the Republican National Convention in 2000. Harp got a Bachelor of Pharmacy at Auburn University and a ...

(29th) and

Ralph Hudgens Ralph Hudgens (born November 21, 1942) was the Commissioner of Insurance of the state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia from January 10, 2011, to January 14, 2019. Hudgens served in the Georgia House of Representatives as well as the Georgia Senat ...

(47th) announced that they will seek the Republican nomination for the office.

Lee Hawkins B. Lee Hawkins (born August 22, 1950) is an American dentist and politician from Gainesville, Georgia. He is a Republican. He is a member of the Georgia House of Representatives representing the 27th district, elected in 2012. The district cove ...

(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 of the Georgia Public Service Commission, by allowing

Georgia Power Georgia Power is an electric utility headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was established as the Georgia Railway and Power Company and began operations in 1902 running streetcars in Atlanta as a successor to the Atlanta Consolida ...

to charge power company customers (which includes most Georgians) for two new nuclear reactors at

Plant Vogtle The Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, also known as Plant Vogtle (), is a two-unit nuclear power plant located in Burke County, near Waynesboro, Georgia, in the southeastern United States. It is named after a former Alabama Power and ...

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 without being originated in the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

. *Proposed cuts in aid to counties, which reduce property taxes 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 A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...

. *The massive

food recall A product recall is a request from a manufacturer to return a product after the discovery of safety issues or product defects that might endanger the consumer or put the maker/seller at risk of legal action. The recall is an effort to limit ruin ...

caused by the Peanut Corporation of America in Blakely, Georgia, 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 Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) :István Márta composer * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river), an ...

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, which did not pass. *A bill to permanently remove the mandatory 50/50 split on

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

expenditures An expense is an item requiring an outflow of money, or any form of Wealth, fortune in general, to another person or group as payment for an item, service, or other category of costs. For a leasehold estate, tenant, renting, rent is an expense. Fo ...

, so that MARTA can postpone these and maintain service (operational expenditures) during periods of low

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

revenue. The failure of the legislature to pass this means crippling cuts in MARTA service because it cannot access its

reserve account Bank reserves are a commercial bank's cash holdings physically held by the bank, and deposits held in the bank's account with the central bank. Under the fractional-reserve banking system used in most countries, central banks typically set minim ...

, and the MARTA board has requested a special session to correct the situation. The Atlanta Regional Commission 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 system. *Reinstatement of the

on groceries, allegedly to target

illegal immigrant Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

s. This failed. *Elimination of sales taxes and annual

ad valorem tax An ''ad valorem'' tax (Latin for "according to value") is a tax whose amount is based on the value of a transaction or of property. It is typically imposed at the time of a transaction, as in the case of a sales tax or value-added tax (VAT). An ...

es 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. The 2000-dollar cap on the tax also would make it a regressive tax. This did not pass. *Banning of all stem-cell research, passed by the Senate. *Gutting most of the

Georgia Department of Transportation The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is the organization in charge of developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the U.S. state of Georgia. In addition to highways, the department also has a limited role in developin ...

, merging all of its planning authority into a new State Transportation Authority along with the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority 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 fund from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the U.S. "stimulus act"). This became law, but no help will get to the unemployed until May 25. *Requiring

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

and other truck drivers to wear their

seat belt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduc ...

s 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 follo ...

s have been for years. This failed again as in years past. *Addition of a 200-dollar fine for excessive speeding, over on

expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...

s 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

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

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)