Hall commissioners head to Atlanta to talk issues

Members of the Hall County Board of Commissioners are in Atlanta today and Tuesday to advocate for legislation the Georgia General Assembly will consider this session and to learn the impact of laws already passed.

Forsyth County official targets right to secret ballot

A freshman lawmaker from South Forsyth County has introduced a measure that proposes amending the state constitution to protect the right to secret ballot.

Road sales tax penalty to be addressed in Ga. Senate

A thorny issue during last summer's transportation sales tax debate has found its way to the Georgia legislature during this year's General Assembly.

House OKs ‘bed tax’ bill to fund Medicaid

House Speaker David Ralston said the Georgia House of Representatives took an important step Friday when it passed a bill to allow the state draw more than $450 million in federal money for Medicaid next year.

House bill bans gifts by lobbyists

State House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, endorsed ethics legislation Tuesday that includes banning most lobbyist spending on individual elected officials in the Georgia General Assembly.

Ga. legislature unlikely to take up gun control

In the wake of the December mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., wide ideological differences in gun control are being reflected in legislative proposals across Georgia and the nation.

Georgia's budget bind: More needs, but less money

Gov. Nathan Deal talked about moving forward with a focus on progress in his State of the State address last week. But his 2014 fiscal year budget still suffers from a lack of revenue from a briskly growing economy to fully fund the state's growth in population and need for services.

Ga. school chief to delay teacher evaluation plan

GOP lawmakers: We put jobs first

State Rep. Doug Collins, now campaigning for a seat in the U.S. House, calls the recently-closed session of Georgia's General Assembly a "banner year" for Gov. Nathan Deal.

The fate of pre-filed bills

At the beginning of the session we told you about several bills that were filed ahead of the legislative session. Here's a look at what happened to them:

Top issues in legislature

Budget Georgia lawmakers approved a $39.5 billion budget plan for the coming financial year that earmarks roughly $100 million in last-minute money for infrastructure. House and Senate lawmakers voted last week to approve the spending plan for the financial year starting in July. It awaits the governor's signature. Under the plan, Georgia would spend roughly $39.5 billion in state and federal money to fund its operations. That includes $19.4 billion of money generated by the ...

Legislators pass flurry of bills to end session

In what would be their final chance to make an impact on Georgia's laws this year, legislators hustled bills Thursday that banned some abortions, reformed the state's criminal justice system and changed how special sales taxes are divvied up among school districts.

Criminal justice bill could boost alternative courts

Georgia's criminal justice overhaul bill, passed Thursday by the Georgia House and now headed to the Senate, is expected to raise standards and accountability for a growing wave of drug and mental health courts, according to a Hall County superior court judge.

Bill could cost Gainesville schools $650K in funding

A bill that would repeal a special grant giving enrollment-based funding to charter school systems has passed the House and moves on to the Senate.

Flood of bills fills Georgia's Crossover Day

It was the beginning of the end of the 2012 legislative session. The Georgia Capitol, normally cleared by 4 p.m. each afternoon, was occupied well beyond nightfall Wednesday, as lawmakers fought the clock to get their bills to the other side. The day was called Crossover Day, the final day of reckoning for most bills seeking to become law this year. Any bill that didn't pass out of at least one chamber by the end ...