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Legislative Bulletins

Keeping our members informed.

GeorgiaLink Legislative Update:
What will be the successes of the 2008 session of the Georgia General Assembly ? What are some of the issues expected to highlight the session days? Will the House or Senate vote to override any of the Governor's vetoes from last session? Do the Presidential Preference Primary Elections to be held February 5th 2008 matter to Georgia Legislators? Since 2008 is the election year for all the 236 members of the House and Senate, do they want to complete the session quickly to begin campaigning and fundraising? Are the Speaker, Lieutenant Governor, and Governor at odds over major policy issues? Does the survival of Grady Hospital really matter to the General Assembly?

These issues and many more take "center stage" Monday January 14th, 2008 at 10 o'clock when the next session of the Georgia General Assembly convenes. The Session, however, would not be complete without the traditional Sunday evening Wild Hog Dinner. This annual event draws thousands of politicians from across the State to eat, meet and greet.

The first week of 2008 has been active with Committee meetings in preparation for next week's start of the Session. The House Ways and Mean's Committee recently held two days of hearings on House Resolution 900. This legislation, often referred to as the Speaker's GREAT plan, is still undergoing modification. Originally intended to eliminate all ad valorem taxes or vehicle and real estate, the latest version addresses only the school system portion of a property tax payer's tax bill. A companion Senate Bill will provide for tax assessment value freezes. Look for tax reform to be a big issue for 2008.

Also this week, a proposed state-wide water plan was submitted to the General Assembly. This product resulted from 2004 legislation and will most likely be debated further during 2008. The twelve planning districts will no doubt be competing for precious water resources.

This week also had a multiple city fly around with State leaders. Each selected community got the opportunity to hear from the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and either the Speaker or House Majority Leader. The audiences for these events were largely media and the topic most discussed was education.

This week was also filled with last minute fund raising activities. Some were small single candidate events while others featured two to six candidates all together at one location seeking contributions. The Governor also held an event to raise funds for his own PAC which is expected to be used to support other candidates in future elections.

GeorgiaLink's Trip Martin, Boyd Pettit, Skin Edge, and John Bozeman have each been active in events all this week. Denning Robinson continues to work with Jose Ignacio Gonzalez at our affiliate company, Hemisphere Trade Services, Inc.

For 2008 Georgia Link is proud to have three interns for the Session. They are Amanda Cook, John Mentzer, and Clay Byrd. Amanda will be primarily focused on Senate activities, John Mentzer on the House and Clay Byrd will be working with both. Each has unique backgrounds and interest in State Government and we look forward to you getting to know them.

As the Session begins next week, expect veto overrides to dominate the discussions. Georgia's three top leaders are expected to share the stage at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce annual Eggs and Issues breakfast. This 7:30am breakfast at the World Congress Center will be attended by 2500 plus civic leaders from across the state. We expect interesting discussions by these three leaders.

On Wednesday, the Governor will deliver his state of the state address. Expect some details then of his 2009 budget year spending priorities.

Following The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on January 21, the House and Senate budget committees will begin their hearings. These meeting will allow review of the mid year budget proposals.

GeorgiaLink is very proud to work with you. We appreciate the trust and confidence you place in us. We all wish you a very Happy New Year!

Upcoming Events:

Jefferson- Jackson Dinner, hosted by the Democratic Party of Georgia, will be January 30, 2008 at 5:30 pm at the Georgia World Congress Center Building C. Tickets are available online.

To find out more information visit: http://www.democraticpartyofgeorgia.org/jj08

January 16th the Hispanic Caucus Breakfast will be held at the Capital Education center at 7:30 in the Carl Sanders Room.

As a reminder, GeorgiaLink tracks legislation of importance for each client on a daily basis. Please remember to check your legislative tracking page by logging onto: www.ciclt.net/galk/client.asp. You should have received your login information, but if you are having any trouble at all accessing the page, please let us know.