SESSION GUIDE
How to contact your legislators >>
Who are my legislators? >>
How to track bills >>
How to watch the action >>
How to follow the money >>
How to speak at hearings >>
Cool stuff to see >>
How the Legislature works >>
How to contact your legislators
In person: Look for legislators in the House or Senate chamber or in their offices. Volunteer pages (usually schoolchildren) will carry messages to legislators in the chamber. The public is not allowed on the House or Senate floor. Legislators will often leave the chamber to meet with anyone who summons them via a page, especially if it’s one of their constituents. Page desks are directly in front of the main doors leading to both chambers. Legislators’ offices are inside the Capitol and across Mitchell Street in the Coverdell Legislative Office Building. Be prepared to pass through metal detectors.
Online: www.legis.state.ga.us: The General Assembly’s home page links to House and Senate members by name and by district. The Directory lists the legislator’s office phone and e-mail. Some legislators also list home address and phone.
The White Book: Has photographs and bios of all 236 legislators. Download a copy from www.legis.state.ga.us (click on “picture book” at the bottom page).
To get a hard copy, drop by the House clerk’s office in Room 309 or the secretary of the Senate’s office in Room 353.
Who are my legislators?
Use the Secretary of State’s poll locator service to learn your House and Senate districts and who represents those districts: www.sos.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/Locator.asp. Or call 1-888-265-1115. Press “1” to find your polling places, along with your representatives.
How to track bills
In Person: Find copies of bills in the House clerk’s office (Room 309) and the secretary of the Senate’s office (Room 353). Each has a desk where you can request a bill. Committee hearing notices are posted daily on a bulletin board outside both offices.
House clerk’s office: 404-656-5015. Senate’s office: 404-656-5040.
Online: Go to www.legis.state.ga.us and click on the “legislation” icon under either the House or the Senate, depending on where the bill you are tracking originated. This allows you to view the bill in its entirety, track it through committees and see roll call votes.
How to watch the action
Business begins in the House and Senate chambers at 10am, but legislators often arrive before that time. If you want to catch a legislator before the day’s session, try waiting at the velvet ropes outside the chamber. The hallways on the third flood have TV monitors that carry live feeds from the House and Senate. You will have to jockey with the lobbyists crowding the hallways for a good spot. The live video feeds are also available online at www.legis.state.ga.us.
How to follow the money
At the State Ethics Commission’s Website – ethics.ga.gov – click on “report search” to see campaign finance disclosures, lobbyist disclosure reports and lawmakers’ personal finance disclosures. You can also request hard copies at the commissons’ offices in the James H. “Sloppy” Floyd Building.
Call 404-463-1980 or 866-589-7327 for information.
How to speak at hearings
The real work on bills is done in committees, and that’s the place to weigh in on them. Contact committee members by phone, mail or e-mail to make your voice heard. Speaking in person before s committee, though, is one of the most effective ways to reach legislators. The experience can be a little daunting, but legislators sometimes appreciate hearing from the little guy. Most committees have sign-up sheet for speakers. Try to keep your remarks short and to the point.
Cool stuff to see
The Georgia Capitol Museum, fourth floor. History of the Capitol and the state– and the two-headed calf and two-headed water snake.
The Capitol grounds feature more than a dozen monuments, including statues of several former governors, and a replica of the Statue of Liberty.
How the Legislature works
A legislative “term” consists of two sessions of 40 business days each. The first session begins in January following the November elections. The second session begins the next January. A bill introduced during the first session can come back up for discussion during the second session. If it fails to gain approval during either session it is dead.
The doors to the House and Senate chambers are closed every day for only one reason: the daily prayer.
Only a handful of people, other than legislators, are allowed inside each chamber. Legislative staff and working journalists are allowed on the House floor. Only legislative staff are allowed on the Senate floor.
A bill must cross from one chamber to another by the 33rd business day of the sessions to become law. If not, the bill is dead for the session. The catch is that legislators often hijack bills that have crossed over and amend them to include bills that didn’t make it by crossover day.
Legislators are allowed a “point of personal privilege” at the beginning of every workday in which they may take the podium and speak on any issue.