The 157th Georgia General Assembly consisted of two sessions of the Georgia General Assembly in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the first in 2023 and the second in 2024. It convened its first session on January9, 2023 at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, which adjourned sine die on March29; as stipulated in the Constitution of Georgia, the General Assembly can only hold a session "for a period of no longer than 40 days in the aggregate each year".
The Assembly's members were elected in the 2022 State Senate and State House elections.
On October26, 2023, a special session was called by Governor Brian Kemp for November28, 2023, to redraw congressional and legislative maps which were approved in the previous General Assembly.
During the first session, March6, 2023 was "Crossover Day", the informal name for the date by which bills must have passed through one chamber in order to remain on track to become law.
Activity Governor Brian Kemp's floor leaders for the 2023 and 2024 sessions are senators Bo Hatchett and Mike Hodges, and representatives Matthew Gambill, Soo Hong, Lauren McDonald, and Will Wade.
Legislation In late January 2023, Democratic lawmakers Sally Harrell and Shea Roberts introduced twin bills S.B.15 and H.B.75, both described as "long-shot legislation" by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that would repeal Georgia's 2019 anti-abortion law and add abortion protections to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.
Representative John Carson sponsored H.B.54, to increase Georgia's Qualified Education Expense Credit program cap from $120million to $200million.
Representative Darlene Taylor (R-Thomasville) introduced the Okefenokee Protection Act (H.B.71), intended to help protect the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from mining projects. The bill attracted bipartisan support from Buddy DeLoach and Mary Frances Williams, among about 36 others. Taylor had filed an ultimately unsuccessful similar bill in the previous assembly.
Sports betting Sports betting was federally banned in the US by the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 until the Supreme Court struck down the law in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (2018), allowing each state to regulate sports gambling. Governor Kemp had been opposed to legalizing betting in the past, but changed his position in 2023.
Several bills regarding sports betting were introduced during the 2023 session.
Post-sine die Governor Brian Kemp issued his first veto of the 2023 session on April 4, putting a stop to H.B.319, which would have required the General Assembly to approve any University System of Georgia tuition hikes of over 3%. Kemp issued a statement noting that the "Georgia Constitution makes plain the authority to govern, control, and manage the University System and all system institutions is vested in the Board of Regents". H.B.319 had passed the House by a vote of 1601 and the Senate unanimously; the tuition measure had been added on the last day of the legislative session to the bill, which originally aimed to abolish the Georgia Higher Education Assistance Corporation.
On October 26, 2023, a special session was called by Governor Brian Kemp for November 28, 2023, to redraw congressional and legislative maps which were approved in the previous General Assembly, following a ruling earlier in the day federal district judge Steve C. Jones that some districts in the U.S. House, Georgia Senate and Georgia House violated the Voting Rights Act.
Composition The lawmakers comprising the 157th Assembly were the most diverse in Georgia's history. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution counted 83 non-white members out of 236; 151 are white, 68 are black, 8 are AAPI, five are Hispanic, two are Afro-Latino, and one is Arab. Additionally, there were 81 women in the chamber.
State Senate Special elections Governor Brian Kemp chose state senator Dean Burke to be chief medical officer of the Georgia Department of Community Health in December 2022. Burke resigned on December 31, and an election to fill the Senate District 11 seat was scheduled for January31, 2023. Three candidates qualified for the election: John H. Monds (L), Sam Watson (R), and Mary Weaver-Anderson (D). Watson won the election easily.
Party composition
AffiliationParty (Shading indicates majority caucus)TotalRepublicanDemocraticVacantEnd of 155th Assembly 35 2156 0End of 156th Assembly 34 2256 0Beginning of 157th Assembly 33 2356 0 Latest voting share
Membership , the Georgia State Senate is composed of 56 members:
District Senator Party Since Residence 1 Republican 2015 Savannah 2 Democratic 2023 Savannah 3 Republican 2023 Brunswick 4 Republican 2020 Statesboro 5 Democratic 2019 Lawrenceville 6 Democratic 2023 Atlanta 7 Democratic 2023 Lawrenceville 8 Republican 2021 Cogdell 9 Democratic 2021 Grayson 10 Democratic 2005 Ellenwood 11 Republican 2023 Moultrie 12 Democratic 2009 Dawson 13 Republican 2020 Cordele 14 Democratic 2023 Sandy Springs 15 Democratic 1993 Columbus 16 Republican 2015 Tyrone 17 Republican 2018 McDonough 18 Republican 2015 Macon 19 Republican 2017 Vidalia 20 Republican 2015 Kathleen 21 Republican 2013 Alpharetta 22 Democratic 2015 Augusta 23 Republican 2021 Sylvania 24 Republican 2017 Grovetown 25 Republican 2023 Milledgeville 26 Democratic 2013 Macon 27 Republican 2019 Cumming 28 Republican 2017 Newnan 29 Republican 2019 Cataula 30 Republican 2013 Carrollton 31 Republican 2021 Dallas 32 Republican 2017 Marietta 33 Democratic 2015 Marietta 34 Democratic 2003 Riverdale 35 Democratic 2009 College Park 36 Democratic 2007 Atlanta 37 Republican 2023 Acworth 38 Democratic 1999 Atlanta 39 Democratic 2021 Atlanta 40 Democratic 2019 Chamblee 41 Democratic 2021 Stone Mountain 42 Democratic 2015 Atlanta 43 Democratic 2017 Lithonia 44 Democratic 2011 Jonesboro 45 Republican 2021 Buford 46 Republican 2007 Athens 47 Republican 2011 Royston 48 Republican 2023 Norcross 49 Republican 2023 Alto 50 Republican 2021 Cornelia 51 Republican 2011 Dahlonega 52 Republican 2013 Rome 53 Republican 2023 Trenton 54 Republican 2017 Dalton 55 Democratic 1999 Stone Mountain 56 Republican 2011 Roswell
House of Representatives Special elections After former speaker David Ralston's resignation and death, a special election was held on January3, 2023 to fill the seat in House District 7. Since no candidate reached a vote threshold of 50%, a runoff between Sheree Ralston, David Ralston's widow, and Johnny Chastain both members of the Fannin County Development Authority was held on January31, 2023; in an upset, Chastain defeated Ralston.
House District 119's previous representative Terry England did not seek reelection in 2022. After winning unopposed in the general election, former Barrow County Chamber of Commerce chair Danny Rampey was arrested in December 2022 and charged with stealing prescription medications. Bowing to pressure from the state Republican party, Rampey announced he would not take office, and Governor Kemp scheduled a special election to be held on January31, 2023. No candidate won a majority of the vote, so a runoff was held on February 28 between Republicans Holt Persinger and Charlie Chase; Persinger won the runoff.
State representative Sam Watson resigned from his seat in House District 172 in order to run for the newly-open spot in State Senate District 11. A special election was held on January31, 2023; the only candidate to qualify for the ballot was Colquitt County administrator Charles Cannon.
Democratic member Mike Glanton of District 75 resigned on January24, 2023 for health reasons; a special election was held on March21, 2023 to fill the seat. Eric Bell II was elected to fill the seat.
Democratic representative Tish Naghise died on March8, 2023; she had represented the 68th District. Former Representative Derrick Jackson was elected to fill the seat.
Party composition
AffiliationParty (Shading indicates majority caucus)TotalRepublicanDemocraticVacantEnd of 155th General Assembly105741791End of 156th General Assembly103761791Beginning of 157th General Assembly101791800July 11, 2023102781800Latest voting share
Membership , the membership of the House is as follows: