2005 Legislative Session Report #1

January 10 th was the first day of the 2005 General Assembly. The House elected their Speaker, Rep. Glenn Richardson from Paulding County. 18 Democrats and 1 independent voted for the new Republican Speaker to give him a vote of 117 to 60. Both the Senate and House adopted new rules. One of the new rules is called the "hawk" rule, which will allow for the Speaker to appoint floating committee members to enter a committee and vote at any time. [The "hawks" are Rep. John Lunsford (District 110), Rep. Stacey Reece (District 27), and Rep. Tom Graves (District 12).]

The Senate and House made new committee and room assignments. The House eliminated the Special Judiciary committee and instead split up Judiciary so that there are Judiciary and Judiciary Non-Civil committees. The General Assembly is in recess the rest of this week and all of next week (although there will be committee meetings) and will resume on Monday January 24, 2005, at 1:00 PM. The House Representatives will be moving offices during this time. There will be a joint session of the Senate and House Appropriations committees on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week for budget hearings. Georgia Public Defender Standards Council is scheduled to present on Wednesday.

The following is a list of the Senate Judiciary, Special Judiciary, and House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee members:

Senate:

Judiciary

Chair: Preston Smith (District 52)
Vice-Chair: Seth Harp (District 29)
Secretary: Judson Hill (District 32)
David Adelman (District 42)
Robert Brown (District 26)
Joseph Carter (District 13)
Bill Hamrick (District 30)
Michael Meyer von Bremen (District 12)
Kasim Reed (District 35)
Dan Weber (District 40)
John Wiles (District 37)

Special Judiciary

Chair: Michael Meyer von Bremen (District 12)
Vice-Chair: David Adelman (District 42)
Secretary: Steve Henson (District 41)
Vincent Fort (District 39)
Steen Miles (District 43)
Nancy Schaefer (District 50)
Doug Stoner (District 6)

House:

Judiciary Non-Civil

Chair: David Ralston (District 7)
Vice-Chair: Robert Mumford (District 95)
Secretary: Ed Setzler (District 35)
Roberta Abdul-Salaam (District 74)
Timothy Bearden (District 68)
Stephanie Benfield (District 85)
Tom Bordeaux (District 162)
Sharon Cooper (District 41)
Bobby Franklin (District 43)
Mike Jacobs (District 80)
Tom Knox (District 24)
Phyllis Miller (District 106)
Nikki Randall (District 138)

Judiciary Civil

Chair: Wendell Willard (District 49)
Vice-Chair: Edward Lindsey (District 54)
Secretary: Mark Hatfield (District 177)
Mack Crawford (District 127)
Barry Fleming (District 117)
Roger Lane (District 167)
Mary Margaret Oliver (District 83)
Larry O'Neal (District 146)
Pam Stephenson (District 92)
Rob Teilhet (District 40)
"Able" Mable Thomas (District 55)
Steve Tumlin (District 38)