Georgia State Sen. Lee Anderson, R-Grovetown, is sworn into the Georgia Senate on the first day of the legislative session, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
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The scaffolding has been removed from Georgia’s freshly-gilded gold dome, lawmakers have been sworn in and the House and Senate hoppers are already filling with newly-filed bills. A new 40-day session of the Georgia General Assembly is officially underway.
Republicans again control both chambers and are expected to take up issues like civil litigation reform, hurricane relief and school safety, but their key task is passing the multi-billion dollar state budget.
Republican House Speaker Jon Burns told reporters last week that the November election results have emboldened his party to stay the course pressing ahead with a conservative agenda.
“I believe a clear mandate came from that election, not only for Washington, but also for us here in Georgia,” Burns said.
Gov. Brian Kemp is scheduled to give his annual State of the State address this week, which will further clarify what Republicans intend to do with their power. The critical Crossover Day deadline is scheduled for March 6, and the final day of the session, Sine Die, is slated for April 4.
Georgia senators cast their votes on the first day of the legislative session, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Here are five themes the WABE politics team is keeping tabs on this year:
What’s old is new
Perennial issues and unfinished business may characterize a chunk of the legislature’s priorities this year.
Senate Republicans, led by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, want to prohibit Georgia public high schools, colleges and universities from allowing transgender girls to play on girls’ sports teams.
“The Senate has always led the way on protecting women’s sports and with Senate Bill 1, we will continue to be on the right side of this common-sense issue,” Jones said.
If this sounds familiar, the Georgia High School Association already voted to block trans girls from girls’ teams, after a 2022 state law urged the body to make rules on transgender student athletes.
“Once again we find the majority party wasting our time attacking vulnerable youth when we could be doing really important work like actually protecting and helping children to have access to child care and to have quality education,” Democratic Sen. Kim Jackson told reporters.
Georgia Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch stands on the Senate floor during the first legislative day on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Senate Republicans have also swiftly passed a resolution to reauthorize a special committee investigating Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis, who the Georgia Court of Appeals recently ordered removed from the Georgia election interference case.
Lawmakers also need to make some tweaks to the landmark bill passed last year that extended public funding for private school tuition to students in low-performing schools. When a state agency began preparing to implement the law, the rules were written in a way that would have made more students potentially eligible than lawmakers had intended.
Lawmakers may also make another attempt at legislation that has long been discussed but has never gotten across the finish line, including civil litigation or tort reform and legalizing online sports betting.
How will ongoing fissures between House and Senate Republicans over their approach to some of these issues shape what gets done?
And once again, lawmakers are looking at a multi-billion dollar budget surplus, renewing the long-running disagreements between Republicans and Democrats about what to do with it.
Lawmakers were at the Georgia State Capitol for the first day of the 2025 legislative session on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Mathew Pearson/WABE)
Pressure to respond to current events
Lawmakers are expected to consider legislation in reaction to events that unfolded in the last year.
One priority is passing relief for those recovering from Hurricane Helene, which affected communities this fall across a swath of the state stretching from Valdosta to Augusta.
The House, with the backing of Speaker Burns, is expected to redouble efforts to pass a resolution affirming protections for invitro-fertilization, which some worry could be under threat due to recent court rulings.
Lawmakers are also facing pressure to come up with a policy response to the deadly school shooting last fall at Apalachee High School. Kemp is expected to address the topic at a Monday press conference.
Lawmakers convened at the Georgia State Capitol for the first day of the 2025 legislative session on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
New Democratic leadership
Nearly two dozen new lawmakers of both parties have taken their seats under the gold dome. This is also the first session since new maps were in place following a court-ordered redistricting.
While the House and Senate’s top Republican leaders remain unchanged, Democrats begin the session with new leadership.
Sen. Harold Jones, a 55-year-old from Augusta, will take over as Senate Minority Leader from veteran lawmaker Gloria Butler. Rep. Carolyn Hugley, a 66-year-old from Columbus, assumes the role of House Minority Leader vacated by James Beverly. Both Butler and Beverly did not run for reelection.
A key question: how will Democrats take advantage of divisions within the GOP to pursue their own legislative agenda? Will they mostly work to block legislation they don’t like or make any progress on long-term priorities like Medicaid expansion? And where can they work across the aisle to pass bipartisan bills, like legislation incentivizing the safe storage of firearms around children?
“There’s more that we should be doing,” Jones told reporters.
Georgia State Sen. Josh McLaurin, D- Sandy Springs, and Minority Leader Harold V. Jones, D-Augusta, look for the results of a vote on the first day of the legislative session, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Top Republicans lay groundwork for higher office
Gov. Kemp is term-limited, so he cannot run for a third term in 2026, and several top Republicans are already plotting or weighing bids to succeed him.
That could shake up leadership roles up and down the party within the state legislature and the executive branch.
Attorney General Chris Carr is already actively pursuing a run for governor. Lt. Gov. Jones is widely expected to announce a campaign after the legislative session. Other players like Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger could also be considering a bid for higher office.
And of course, Kemp will be looking to further cement his legacy and record, with just two years left in office. He could also be exploring a bid for the U.S. Senate in 2026 or even the White House in 2028.
Georgia State Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, raises a thumb to signal a yea vote during the first day of the legislative session at the State Capitol on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Trickle down from new Trump Administration
While the arc of the next legislative session may unfold broadly as it has for the last several years, with Republicans controlling the main levers of power, Georgia will also be dealing with the fallout from a new and unpredictable administration in Washington.
Republicans will soon control the U.S. House, Senate and the White House. Will controversial policy debates in Washington crop up in the General Assembly? How will federal policies on immigration, healthcare and the economy play out for communities in Georgia?
“It’s also changed some things in Washington, but they’ll do their business there and we’ll do ours here, but this chamber will be effective and impactful,” Burns told reporters.
WABE Politics Reporter Rahul Bali contributed reporting.
