2014 Legislative Session Kicks Off With Talk of Gun Bill and Education Spending

On the House side, Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) welcomed back lawmakers.

“Well good morning everyone. Hope you are all as excited to be back as I am and ready to go work.”

In terms of actual legislation, the day was uneventful. But in short order, lawmakers are expected to consider loosening gun restrictions.

Last year, a gun bill stalled in the final hour of session. Instead of continuing debate on that bill, House Majority Leader Larry O’Neal (R-Warner Robins) wants the House and Senate to each introduce brand new bills.

“That way the Senate’s not waiting on us to finish or we’re not waiting on the Senate to finish because it’s important enough and people in Georgia are certainly tuned in to it enough to where it needs to get a very, very detailed vetting still.”

The main disagreement last year involved expanding gun carry areas to college campuses. The Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s colleges and universities, lobbied hard against the looser restrictions, especially in the Senate.

State. Rep Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus) expects the Board of Regents to once again play a key role in the upcoming debate.

“We’ve put the responsibility of running our campuses in the Board of Regents and the Board of Regents have been unequivocally opposed to guns on campuses so it’s an issue troubling a lot of people.”

Outside of the gun debate, education is expected to be a big issue this session. Wednesday, Gov. Nathan Deal will deliver his proposed state budget. It’s widely expected to include a significant increase in education spending, including possible pay raises for teachers.

Otherwise, the consensus seems to be this session will be one of the quicker ones in recent memory, wrapping up as early as March. That’s because it’s an election year and since lawmakers are prohibited from fundraising during session, everyone’s eager to end early and start building up their war chests.