Welcome to the 2015 Edition of the Council's "Under the Gold Dome," a weekly publication for the 2015 Georgia General Assembly Session. As a reminder, this publication comes out each Friday during the Session.
We will include weekly updates on the happenings in the General Assembly, analysis of legislation and topics of interest to Council Members on legislation "Under the Gold Dome," as well as updates from the Senate Press Office, House Communications Office and bill summaries from the Senate Research Office.
The opening week of Session, as expected, produced no surprises and left no doubt that this would not be a "do nothing" Session with respect to transportation and infrastructure funding. Georgia has a $1.5 Billion dollar need in transportation funding and the Governor, Lt. Governor and Speaker of the House all firmly charged the Georgia General Assembly's role and need for legislation to fully fund our growing transportation and infrastructure needs.
Many options are on the table, as a result of the 2014
Joint Study Committee on Critical Transportation Infrastructure Funding Final Report, which you can read
HERE.
The Council for Quality Growth's President & CEO Michael Paris serves on the Board of the Georgia Transportation Alliance (GTA), a coalition of industry and business leaders whose mission includes "...improve transportation funding and improve our state's transportation infrastructure. " The coalition, whose efforts are supported by the Council for Quality Growth, will be working tirelessly to ensure we keep Georgia moving forward economically by passing a bill that ensures Georgia's transportation funding needs are met.
Look for the UBER - Rideshare bill to make an appearance, as well as education funding overhauls and potential tax legislation to come out of this Session.
The Council will be at the Capitol daily and will work to ensure to advocate, educate and inform not only you, but the members of the Georgia General Assembly on the issues outlined in the Council's Legislative Agenda.
Look for the next Under Gold Dome on January 22nd for a recap of the Budget Week.
The House and Senate will not be in formal Session next week, and will resume on Monday, January 26th until Thursday January 29th for Legislative Day 8. They have also set a schedule that has them in Monday - Wednesday the following week and Monday - Thursday the week after, putting the Session at Legislative Day 15 on Thursday, February 12.
