Sen. Judson Hill: Capitol Report Week Three

Your Georgia Desk:

Many Mayors and City Council members visited the Capitol on Monday for the Georgia Municipal Association annual Mayor’s Day. While Georgia has many wonderful cities, I just happen to be blessed to represent Marietta and Sandy Springs which are, without debate the two best cities in all of Georgia.

Monday was also a very special day as the Senate honored the Georgia National Guard to thank them for the outstanding work that they do for our stat and defend liberty and freedom for Americans. The ceremony became very emotional as we visited with deployed Georgia guardsman in Afghanistan via Skype and were surprised by the appearance of the son of one of our fellow senators who is now serving in Afghanistan. He informed his Dad that he “is fine” and that he has been recently ranked up to Sergeant.

On Tuesday I went out in the snow to greet the early arrivals for the rally to celebrate National School Choice Week and had a chance to visit with a number of children who are very thankful to have options regarding their education.

As the snow started to fall, I departed for home and like many of you spent hours in traffic. Thankfully I made it home after almost 8 hours later and minus a car. I understand the anger and frustration of those stuck in the snow because I was right there with you.

The work of the emergency personnel during this horrendous experience is truly appreciated.

Let’s celebrate the true miracles of this crisis, all across the metro Atlanta area people came together to help each other. Friends helping friends and more impressively, strangers helping strangers.

They did not wait for government to tell them, they did not need instructions from the government – they just acted as people and for people.

From police, firemen, paramedics, State Patrol Troopers, GDOT staff, the Georgia National Guard, doctors, nurses, HERO truck drivers, Georgia Power staff, 911 dispatchers, and teachers who would not abandon their students.

On Friday the Senate Appropriations committee meet during the afternoon to make final changes to the amended FY14 budget.

The State Budget

State revenues are showing signs of improvement. During Governor Deal’s recent “State of the State” address, he proposed a $20.8 billion budget for FY2015, which includes a large funding increase for K-12 and higher education initiatives. Georgia is home to nearly 90 accredited colleges, universities and technical schools who graduate a combined total of 50,000 students annually. Providing funding for Georgia’s educational programs is paramount to making our state an attractive destination for business and ensuring a talented, highly-skilled workforce.

Jobs in Georgia

The State of Georgia is home to hundreds of thousands of businesses who keep our local communities well and thriving. This remarkable trend in economic growth is the direct result of our state’s ongoing commitment to drive innovation, reduce business costs and cultivate an environment right for economic success. As a result of these pro-business policies, Georgia has added approximately 217,000 new jobs over the past three years. Another positive indicator of our state’s business climate is our unemployment rate, which has continued to decline steadily since the height of the recession.

2014 COMMUNITY TOWN HALLS

Once again, I will hold a series of town hall meetings with Rep. Matt Dollar, Rep. John Carson and Sen. Albers throughout the first three months of 2014. The meetings will be held at Mountain View Regional Library,Walton High School Auditorium and Sandy Springs City Hall from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on February 10, February 19, March 10 and March 15 (11am to noon).

All Marietta, Cobb County and Sandy Springs residents are invited to attend.

Mountain View Regional Library – 3320 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta

WHEN: Mondays – February 10 and March 10 from 7 to 8 PM

Walton High School Auditorium – 1590 Bill Murdock Road

WHEN: Wednesday February 19 from 7 to 8 PM

Sandy Springs City Hall – 7840 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs

WHEN: March 15 from 11 AM to 12 noon

Please join me for my Town Hall meetings every month to hear more about the 2014 Session and to share with me your ideas and thoughts.

At Your Service:

Capitol Office

421 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
404.656.0150
Fax: 404.651.6768

Legislative Assistant – Abigail Thompson