Key Dates
How many days are in the legislative session?
40 Days
What are Majority and Minority Leaders and what do they do (100)? 50 bonus points if you can name Majority or Minority leaders in the House or Senate.
Legislators chosen by the Majority and Minority caucuses respectively to lead the party’s members in their respective bodies of the House and Senate.
Majority Leaders: House, Chuck Efstration and Senate, Jason Anavitarte
Minority Leaders: House, Carolyn Hugely and Senate, Harold Jones III
What is a Bill?
Proposed legislation considered by the General Assembly. A bill may be general or local. With the exception of appropriation bills, general bills almost always propose changes to the existing body of statutory law, otherwise known as the Official Code of Georgia Annotated or OCGA.
What is the Hopper?
The symbolic name for where legislators file bills for introduction with the Clerk of the House or Secretary of the Senate. The hopper is located on the 3rd floor of the Capitol.
What Committees were SB 307 and SB 25 assigned to in the Senate?
SB 307- Health and Human Services
SB 25- Public Safety
What is Sine Die?
The 40th and final day that the Georgia Legislature meets every year. Sine Die means “last day” in Latin, and it’s the last day that legislation can pass during the legislative session
What are the responsibilities of the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate (200)?
50 bonus points each if you can name the current Speaker of the House and/or President of the Senate.
The Speaker of the House and President of the Senate preside over their respective bodies. They have the authority to name officers and name members to committees and assign bills to committees. The Speaker is elected by the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate is the Lieutenant Governor. The Speaker can vote in the case of a tie. The President of the Senate cannot vote because they are not members of the Senate.
The current Speaker of the House is Jon Burns and current Lieutenant Governor is Burt Jones.
What is a resolution?
A legislative proposal used to express the opinion or will of one or both houses. Resolutions are similar to bills and may or may not have the force of law, depending on the subject matter and intent of the General Assembly.
What is a veto, and who is responsible for taking this action?
Written disapproval by the governor of a bill or joint resolution (excluding proposed constitutional amendments, which are not subject to veto). In Georgia, with the exception of the "item veto," a governor's veto applies to the entire bill. A bill vetoed by the governor is dead unless the General Assembly overrides the veto by a two-thirds vote of the total membership of each house.
What is The Well?
The traditional name for the area at the front of the chamber containing the lectern or podium at which legislators address the full house during debate. The phrase "to take the well" means to come forward to speak to the full body after being recognized by the presiding officer for that purpose.
What is crossover day?
Crossover Day is the 28th Legislative day in the session. It’s the day by which a bill needs to cross from its chamber of origin to the other chamber to be considered during the current session.
What do Committee chairs do? 50 bonus points if you can name a Committee Chair
Committee chairs are appointed by the Speaker of the House or President of the Senate to leads their assigned committee, set its agenda, preside over meetings, and guide the committee's work on legislation. Key duties include calling meetings, maintaining order, directing staff, and preparing committee reports to be submitted to the full House or Senate. The chair also has the authority to create subcommittees.
What is a Caucus?
A group of legislators associated together in support of common interests (such as political party, race, or gender) and who meet to discuss policy and strategy and coordinate their legislative efforts.
What is the Coverdell Legislative Office Building or CLOB?
The building across the street from the Georgia State Capitol where many legislators’ offices are. Constituents can visit legislators’ offices in CLOB, and many committee hearings are held in CLOB. You need to bring a state photo ID to enter into the building.
How many Senators and Representatives make up the Georgia General Assembly?
56 Senators and 180 Representatives
What is the general calendar?
A daily listing of bills and resolutions that have been reported upon favorably from committee and are ready for floor consideration. Governs the daily agenda in the House and Senate until the Rules Calendar takes over.
What are Governor’s Floor Leaders?
Legislators designated by the governor to manage bills initiated or favored by the governor.
What are the legislative chambers or floor?
The large hall for each house of the General Assembly on the third floor of the state capitol where the entire body meets to act as a body. It is here that "floor action" (voting and debate) takes place during consideration of a bill. In the respective chambers of the House and Senate, each member has a designated desk. Additionally, there are galleries for the public to view both the House and Senate in action on the 4th floor.
What is the Biennium in relation to the Georgia General Assembly?
The two-year period that marks the legal existence of a particular General Assembly. The biennium begins in January when newly elected members of both houses take the oath of office and continues through the two-year terms of members of both houses, ending when members of a new General Assembly are sworn in. All general assembly members serve 2 year terms. At the end of each Biennium, bills that are not passed into law are “dead” and new versions of the bills would need to be introduced during the next Biennium for them to be considered.
What is the one piece of legislation that the Georgia Legislature must pass each session?
The budget, aka the General Appropriations Act which funds state agencies and programs beginning the following July 1, and the Supplemental Appropriations Act, that amends the General Appropriations Act from the previous year.
What is the Rules Committee and calendar?
The daily legislative agenda prepared from bills and resolutions on the general calendar by the rules committee in each chamber. The Rules Calendar is in effect in the House and Senate for the last 25 days of a regular session.
What do the Speaker Pro Tempore (in the House) and President Pro Tempore (in the Senate) do?
A representative elected by members of the House of Representatives or Senate to preside over the body in the event of the absence, disability, resignation, or death of the Speaker or President of the Senate.
What are First Readers?
A daily list of bills on the day of their introduction containing each new bill's number and title, so called because the day of introduction is the day of the first reading of each bill. When a bill is first read on the floor, the Speaker of the House or President of the Senate assigns it to a committee for their consideration.
What is legislative counsel and what do they do?
A full-time legislative staff agency consisting of attorneys who provide a variety of legal services to members of the General Assembly including researching proposed laws and preparing draft bill language in the proper format
What is a Conference Committee?
A special committee consisting of three members from each house appointed by the presiding officers to seek a compromise when the two houses have passed different versions of the same bill and insist on their respective positions. In the motion to create a conference committee, each house can vote to instruct or not instruct its members on that committee. If the members are able to reach agreement, a copy of the compromise version of the bill is distributed to members of each house. In each house, a vote is taken to agree or disagree with the conference committee report. If both houses agree, the bill is passed. If they cannot agree, another conference committee can be appointed; otherwise, the bill dies.