State Lawmakers Want A Shorter Session, But Have A Lot On Their Plates

ATLANTA — Lawmakers return to the state Capitol today and are gearing up for what they hope will be a short legislative session. That’s because they all want to fundraise and can’t do so while working under the Gold Dome. But while your senators and representatives rush out the door, Georgians’ problems still need solving.

Don’t blink. Because you might just miss Georgia’s 2014 legislative session.

Lawmakers return to the state Capitol today. And everyone from Gov. Nathan Deal down to the cleaning crew who keep the Capitol looking spiffy say it will be a short legislative session.

Why? Well if you’re an elected official in Georgia, you can’t hit the campaign trail and stock the war chest while you’re working under the Gold Dome. And this being an election year (Oh hadn’t you heard?), lawmakers are looking to speed through the session. They might even be done by mid-March.

In fact, lawmakers may even work five-day weeks this session.

“I think this will be the shortest session since the 1980s,” said Tom Crawford with the Georgia Report, an online political digest.

The state legislative session lasts 40 working days each year. But lawmakers can string those days out over as long or as short a period as they want to.

Early Primary, Early Exit

What’s different this year is that primary elections will take place in May, instead of July. And Crawford says the quickie session might come at the expense of, ahem, legislating.

“There’s less time to take up any kind of bill that might be controversial, because you don’t want to get bogged down into a long debate about it,” he said in an interview.

via State Lawmakers Want A Shorter Session, But Have A Lot On Their Plates.