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THE LEGISLATURE IS SLOWING DOWN
In all the years I've reported on the activi
ties of the General Assembly, a criticism I
have heard many, many times is that Georgia's
legislators introduce too many bills and pass
too many laws.
Back when Democrats held control of the
House and Senate, their Republican coun
terparts would often make the point that
someday, when their party was in power, they
would stop introducing so much legislation.
That was in keeping with the quote that's
usually attributed to Thomas Jefferson: "That
government is best which governs least."
When Republicans assumed control of the
House and Senate after the 2004 elec
tions, they were finally in a position
to deliver on that promise.
"I don't have any predisposed
agenda, other than less is more,"
said the first Republican House
speaker, Glenn Richardson. "It's
okay with me if we do very little.
I believe we have enough laws
for our citizens."
As it turned out, once they
grabbed the levers of political power,
Republicans introduced and passed
just as many measures as their Democratic
colleagues once had, if not more. In 2001,
the starting year for the last session where
Democrats controlled both chambers, a total
of 1,290 bills were introduced by lawmakers,
and 396 of those bills were passed by the
House and Senate. In 2005, the first year in
which Republicans controlled both the House
and Senate, there were a total of 1,304 bills
introduced, with 408 of them being passed by
the two chambers.
Wither they are Democrats or
Republicans, legislators are going to introduce
legislation. That's what they are elected to
do. In this year's legislative session,- however,
the advocates of smaller government and less
legislation are finally having their day. For’the
first time in a long time, there are fewer bills
being drafted and introduced by the members
of the House and Senate.
As of Feb. 10, there had been 240 bills
introduced and formally assigned to a com
mittee in the House of Representatives. There
were only 63 bills introduced and sent to com
mittee in the Senate. That's a big reduction
from the activity of past sessions.
In 2007, by contrast, 376 House bills and
143 Senate bills had already been introduced
as of the Feb. 10 date. In 2005, the number
was 419 House bills and 167 Senate bills.
Two factors could account for this slow
down. For one, there's very little money in the
budget for legislators to divide among them
selves. Without an influx of money to fund
new programs, there's no use in introduc
ing bills to create them.
There are also fewer lobbyists
showing up at the capitol for this
session. On most days, you can
walk through the third floor hall
ways without having to elbow
them out of your way. The lack
of budget money could be one
reason for the thinner ranks of
lobbyists.
Another factor could be the $320
registration fee they are now required
to pay when they register for the session. For
whatever reason, you've got fewer lobbyists
urging legislators to introduce bills for them.
Lawmakers have also been very slow to
vote on the bills that they do introduce. The
legislative session formally convened on Jan.
10, but the House didn't get around to pass
ing its first bill—a measure renaming the
technical college board—until Feb. 8.
The Senate did not pass its first bill, a
measure requiring municipal court judges to
be attorneys, until Feb. 10.
I never thought I'd see the day when
Georgia legislators actually slowed down and
introduced a smaller number of bills, but it's
happening.
Maybe with less legislation, they'll be
involved in less mischief.
Tom Crawford tcrawford@gareporl.com
THIS MUklH W*KL» by TOM TOMORROW
THE ADVENTURES OF...
A FEW SHORT DAYS AGO: FROM
HIS SECRET H.O, DEEP 8 £ MEATH
THE WHITE HOUSE, MIDDLE-MAM
COMFERS WITH HiS ERSTWHILE ALLY—
THE EGYPTIAN STRONGMAN!-
FOR THIRTY YEARS, your NATION
FINANCED AND SUPPORTED ME—
POLITELY OVERLOOKING CORRUPTION
AND REPRESSION ALL THE WHILE'
YOU MAY REMEMBER HIM—AS
THE CIA'S POINT MAN IN EGYPT
on EXTRAORDINARY REN
DITIONS!
YOU YOURSELF CALLED ME A
FRIEND—AND DELIBERATELY CHOSE
NOT TO PRESSURE ME OVER ALL
THAT MUM AN RIGHTS NONSENSE'
WHOOPS! CHANGE oF PLANS'
MY GENERALS INFORM ME I'LL
BE STEPPING DOWN ENTIRELY—
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY!
IN FACT—I WAS THINKING, IT
MIGHT BE BEST IF YOU, UH, MAYBE
STARTED THINKING ABOUT—OH, YOU
KNOW-HOW CAN I PUT THIS—UH—
AND A FEW HOURS LATER...
EVENTS HAVE, UH, OCCURRED.' HIS
TORY HAS, UM, BEEN MADE.' AND
JUST TO BE CLEAR, WE BARELY
EVEN KNEW THAT STRONGMAN GUY.'
□ m a —an
REMEMBER—OUR SUPPORT FOR DEM
OCRACY IS STEADFAST!
UNDOUBTEDLY TO BE CONTINUED.'
6 FLAGP0LE.C0M • FEBRUARY 16,2011
iJMeRRoWsaOII — www.thismodcmworld.com...twitter.com/tomtomorrow
