Committees are the Best Place to Amend, Stop or Pass Legislation

Recently, someone asked why should anyone be interested in what happens in the Georgia General Assembly. Simply put, legislators determine how we are governed. They pass bills and resolutions that become laws that affect our lives, hopefully for the better, sometimes not so much or, perhaps, they diminish our liberties and increase the power of government.

When introduced, bills are given numbers, so they can be identified and tracked as they proceed through committees and, possibly, onto the House and Senate floors for passage or defeat. All legislators are assigned to committees (many to several committees) where bills are debated, amended, rewritten and passed as substitute bills or favorably reported in the original version. Committees are the best place to get legislation passed, stopped, or amended. Members are especially accessible when they have public hearings for speakers to present the pros and cons.

However, the House and Senate have a major committee stop-gap or gate-keeper, their Rules committee that works as a clearing house to decide which bills live or die. Rules Committees may amend a piece of legislation or hold it in committee (kill it), or pass it onto the House or Senate floor for passage or defeat. Committees are keys to the legislative process.

The master keys are the (a) Senate Rules Committee – one of 29 standing committees in the Senate – and (b) the House Rules Committee – one of 42 standing committees in the House. The list of Senate Rules Committee members remained the same from last session, while the House Rules Committee added three members, dropped one and the vice chairman switched positions with another member.

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