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Change is Inevitable With Crossover Day and Candidate Qualifying Week for the 2026 elections behind us, tensions are rising at the Georgia Capitol as the big election nears. The slightly slower pace this week allowed a bit of time for reflection. Where We’ve Been Monday evening, City Councilwoman Madeleine Simmons hosted a Legislative Town Hall […]
Crossover Day Chaos Crossover Day is the last day a bill can pass its chamber of origin so it can be considered in the other chamber, continuing its progress toward becoming law. Deadlines like Crossover and Sine Die create logjams of bills. This year from the start of session to Day 26, there were about […]
The Agony of Defeat Just before this year’s legislative session began, a good friend shared with me a Richard Reich blog outlining a state-by-state approach to eliminating the impacts of Citizens United. The post explained how states have the sole authority to define the parameters of corporate powers. Reich says that states can actually pass […]
It’s All About the Money I got sick this week. I love it when the Capitol is packed with people, and I love coming to the ropes outside the chamber to greet people, but I don’t love the germs. Being home gave me time to think about how the 2026 legislative session is going so […]
No Man is an Island I’ve been thinking about the word “constituent” lately. The word comes from two Latin roots that when combined mean “to establish together.” By the 17th century, the word evolved to mean someone who appoints a representative, leading to its modern usage referring to a voter. Simultaneously, the word also evolved […]
Despair Breeds Hope, and Hope brings Action This week I was reminded of the work of Cesar Chavez during the 1966 Delano Grape Strike, when 100 farmworkers marched 300 miles over 25 days, arriving at the State Capitol in Sacramento on Easter Sunday to present their list of demands. By the end of the march, […]
Outside In and Inside Out Typically, actions taken inside the Capitol are meant to impact people outside the Capitol. But this week things felt backwards. Events happening outside the Capitol drove the action inside the Senate chamber. Outside In Murder in Minnesota: I wish you could have heard all the speeches made on the Senate […]
Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2026 #2 Budget Week — Rhetoric vs. Reality The second week of Georgia’s legislative session is reserved for what we colloquially call “budget hearings.” Officially, these are Joint Committee meetings of the House & Senate Appropriations Committees. The “hearings” give agency heads the opportunity to pitch their budget proposals to legislators. Most […]
Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2026 #1 First of Session Jitters I get the jitters before the start of every new legislative session. When I reflect on the years I’ve been in the Senate, there’s reason to be anxious! My first year, the abortion ban was slammed through. The next year we shut down early due […]
Capitol Chaos: Peak Mayhem Mode It’s that time — the wild, whiplash-inducing final days of session. Bills are getting gutted, stuffed, and pushed through faster than you can say “committee substitute.” Thank goodness for our hardworking Senate Democratic Caucus staff, including our team of externs, that help us keep track of it all. Staying Focused […]