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By Rep. Ron Stephens

Jan 30, 2012 - The 2012 Legislative Session continues to move forward, with legislation and committee meetings increasing.  In session for four days (Monday through Thursday) last week, the General Assembly has now completed nine, of the forty, legislative session days. 

On Wednesday, the Senate joined the House of Representatives for a joint session to hear the State of the Judiciary address.  The address was delivered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Carol Hunstein. On the other days of session, members of the legislature spent the majority of our time attending Committee meetings and voting on legislation, both in Committee and on the House floor. 

This Thursday was Chatham County Day at the Capitol.  It is a day that I look forward to every session as people from our community come to Atlanta and represent our County.  Elected officials, as well as citizens, came to the Capitol and heard remarks from the local delegation, as well as Governor Deal. 

As our days and time spent in Atlanta at the State Capitol increases, legislation is quickly making the journey through the legislative process.  To refresh the procedure of the bill process in House of Representatives, I will give a brief overview.  All legislation in the House must be read three times before it goes to the House floor for debate and possible passage. Once legislation is drafted and introduced by a member of the House, it is sent to a House Committee (or Sub-Committee) where the details of the bill are addressed. 

It is during these committee meetings that the legislation is debated and discussed with fellow committee members, including pros/cons and implications.  If the bill survives the committee process, it then goes to the House floor for debate, amendments, substitutions, and possible passage.  If passed, the legislation then goes to the Senate and through a similar process.

This week, the House voted on several bills that have made their way through the House Committee process discussed above.  Several local pieces of legislation were passed this week, but only one local bill specifically affected only our district.  I sponsored House Bill 709 and it relates to Bryan County Board of Education.  This legislation passed unanimously and was required to establish new districts approved unanimously by our local officials based on the 2010 census data. 

On Monday, the House passed the Adjournment Resolution (House Resolution 1140) which set our schedule for the remaining days of session throughout the next month.  On Tuesday, House Bill 424 passed 165 to 4 and it relates to death benefits under the Superior Court Clerks' Retirement fund.  Currently the law would only pay the death benefit to a member's beneficiary if the member dies in service; however, this legislation would extend the benefit to include any member that dies who is active or retired. 

House Bill 683 also passed (150 to 20) and would allow an authorized officer or employee of a business to respond to a garnishment request (instead of requiring that only a lawyer be able to respond to the request). 

House Bill 713 passed 162 to 1 and would make minor changes to the Quality Basic Education Act (House Bill 186) and would delay the implementation of some of the college and career readiness initiatives until the 2013-2014 school year.  In addition to that, this legislation would also establish a program of career education study in grades K-12.  The goal is to allow our students to explore various career opportunities throughout their educational experience.

On Wednesday, House Bill 351 passed 137 to 6 and this legislation would change current fines/fees collected by the Probate Court or State Court from the current rate which is based on a scale to a flat rate of $3.00 for each criminal or quasi-criminal case.  This makes the process more efficient and easier to determine.

The General Assembly will continue our work at the State Capitol on Monday, January 30th for the tenth legislative day of session. 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, ideas, thoughts or concerns.  It is both an honor and privilege to continue serving you in the Georgia General Assembly.  If you would like to reach me, please call me a (404) 656-5099  or write me at: State Rep. Ron Stephens, 226 CAP, State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334 or e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .