Welcome back, Georgia lawmakers. The state budget is in tatters; Georgians continue to die from COVID-19; demonstrators are in the street protesting police brutality and racial injustice; and many voters sweated through hours in line to vote last week. The General Assembly has 11 business days beginning Monday to decide what to do about those issues. Plus, there’s other unfinished business from mid-March, when House and Senate members hightailed it out of the state Capitol for fear of spreading the coronavirus.
And don’t forget, it’s an election year for every legislative position.
Things will be strange in a Capitol trying to enforce social distancing. Rope lines outside the chambers, normally clotted with lobbyists and citizens bending the ear of lawmakers, will be closed off with curtains to prevent crowds. House Speaker David Ralston said he believes the chambers will handle less legislation than normal because each vote will take longer.
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