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Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2024 #12 — Sine Die!

The Sausage Factory – Sine Die Style Laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made. — Otto von Bismarck The Republican Sausage Factory Kicks Into Overdrive Driving to the Capitol this week, I felt like I was headed to a Republican bill-making factory. Fortunately most of the bills were harmless, but occasionally […]

Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2024 #11

The Closing Act Setting the Scene: Long Days and Lots of Bills As the curtain opened on legislative days 36, 37 and 38, legislators deliberated bills in Committees until midnight, sending a regular flow of House bills to the Senate floor. As Senators came to the well to give quick bill summaries, I started documenting […]

Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2024 #10

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around every once in a while, you could miss it.” — Ferris Bueller Follow the Leader Medicaid Expansion and Hospital “CON” Reform Instead of using hospital regulatory reform (Certificate of Need, aka CON) as a bargaining chip for Medicaid Expansion as North Carolina did, Georgia […]

Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2024 #9

Screeching to a Halt The State Budget Slows Down the Senate The Senate Majority Leader set the pace for the week Monday morning when he announced that the House was late in sending the FY25 budget to the Senate. He also said that since the Senate was ahead of the House in passing their bills, […]

Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2024 #8

Crossover Week Georgia’s Crossover Hurricane Downgraded to a Tropical Depression At the Georgia Capitol, there are two words that elicit both the excitement of parties and food alongside the dread of long working hours and mischief — Crossover and Sine Die. Crossover Day: A “crossover” deadline is the last day for a bill to pass […]

Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2024 #7

Bills Are Flying Well, some bills are flying. Number of Republican Bills on Senate Floor: 69 Number of Democratic Bills on Senate Floor:  0 Crossover Day is this Thursday, the deadline by which bills have to pass one chamber to get to the other. Under pressure to make this do or die deadline, legislators were seen running […]

Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2024 #6

Working Smart I’ve never read “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” but I think I’ve been doing some of it anyway! Habit 6: Synergy The Good Faith Grant: A couple of years ago a group of high school counselors reached out to legislators to discuss the need for a comprehensive scholarship program for students who […]

Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2024 #5

Using a Megaphone Being political means taking a risk and using your voice to communicate a shared vision based on values. For me, using the Senate to amplify my voice has been a journey of growth! New Video Launch: I’ll be honest, I’d much rather write a newsletter than record a video. But young people take […]

Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2024 #4

The Georgia Senate Goes to the Salon A Bad Hair Day A touch of humor erupted this week on the Senate floor Monday morning that lightened my load. Cosmetology Licensing: Last summer a Senate Study Committee conducted a critical review of all Georgia’s licensing laws. Out of that work came SB 354, which proposes to eliminate […]

Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2024 #3

Politics Under the Gold Dome are Heating Up Republicans and Medicaid Expansion – Is There a Spark of Interest? There’s been some talk recently about a handful of Republicans in the Georgia House who’ve voiced support for expanding Medicaid. And indeed, the Speaker of the House, Jon Burns, actually brought up the subject in his […]