January 13, 2014, marked the first day of the 2014 Georgia Legislative Session.
The General Assembly, consisting of 180 Georgia Representatives and 56 Georgia Senators, will gather inside the gold dome of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta to work vigorously on the 2014 and 2015 state budgets, discuss proposed bills and resolutions, and generally conduct the business of the state.
This, Georgia’s 152nd Legislative Session, will last 40 days. Each day the General Assembly convenes, a day is officially notched in the calendar, but the two houses can remain in recess for several days or even a week at a time.
Important Days During the Legislative Session:
- State of the State Address – Governor Nathan Deal sets the tone for the session by talking about the present and future concerns that the legislature needs to address. He also introduces his budget for both chambers to then review. This year, the State of the State Address will take place on Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 11 a.m. To read last year’s State of the State, visit the Governor’s website.
- Crossover Day – This day typically occurs on the 30th day of the session. All bills in each chamber must be approved by this day so that they can then move to the other chamber for discussion and review. For example, a bill in the Senate must pass the Senate by this day in order to be considered by the House. If a bill does not pass its initial chamber, it can no longer move forward this year, but its hopes for passage may lie for another year.
- Sine Die – This is the very last day of session. “Sine Die” is Latin for “without day.” In our context it means that we aren’t going to assign a day for a further meeting. By declaring Sine Die, we are adjourning the General Assembly, indefinitely causing the 40-day legislative session to officially come to an end.
Helpful Resources:
- You can keep up with what’s going on during the session with live broadcasts from the House, the Senate or both chambers at the same time.
- All pre-filed bills for the 2014 Legislative Session can be found at legis.ga.gov.
- The Georgia.gov Blog will feature frequent updates from legislators throughout the session.
- To find more events and the happenings around the Capitol, be sure to look at the calendar of events.
- The directory of Georgia’s state leadership can be found here.
- You can find a listing of Georgia agencies on Twitter (here) and on Facebook (here).
