DISTRICT 74 Week kicked off on Monday, January 27th with Ministerial Day. Special acknowledgement was made during a morning order by Rep. Stovall asking the members to welcome Dr. Leon Beeler, Pastor William Ferrell, Dr. Evangelist LaWanda Folami, and Gail Lay to the Capitol.  While there, the ministers viewed a legislative session, held discussions on pending bills, met legislators, enjoyed lunch with Rep. Stovall, and received a special token of appreciation. The 2nd day came as a surprise for School Choice Day because the inclement weather postponed the visit from several students to the Capitol. Plans for the remainder of the week were cancelled due to the concerns for the safety of the residents.

The House resumed its legislative day on Friday, January 31st. The Chaplain of the Day was Bishop Paul L. Fortson, pastor of Paradise Church of God In Christ, in Forest Park, Ga. This was Rep. Stovall's first time introducing the Chaplain of the Day before the entire House.  This was an honor because prior to the start of each of the 40 Legislative Days, a chaplain is selected among the 180 representatives. The Chaplain delivers words of encouragement to help guide the legislators in their daily duties by reminding them of their commitment to the residents of Georgia. 

DISTRICT 74 February 7th 9:30am Rescheduled Date for
Business & Community Day/Family & Friends Day 

          
Recap: The second session of the 152nd General Assembly began on Monday, January 13th which is predicted to be the fastest session yet. On Wednesday, Governor Nathan Deal revealed his goals for the year in the State of the State Address. By the passage of House Bill 310, Georgia's state and partisan county primary elections will move from July to May 20, so that the state elections will coincide with the federally mandated elections. This bill also provides troops overseas with more time to vote via absentee ballot. Visit the Georgia Secretary of State's website www.sos.ga.gov for more information about elections and voter registration.  

 The General Assembly’s most crucial responsibility each session is to pass two balanced state budgets: an amended budget for the current fiscal year and a full budget for the following fiscal year.  The full fiscal year budget uses a projected state revenue estimate to guide state spending from July 1 to June 30 of the following fiscal year. All fiscal bills are required to originate in the House of Representatives. Because state revenues have increased, we were able to add $300 million to the budget for AFY 2014, which is about a 1.5% increase from when we started the fiscal year.  This will ultimately increase our overall state spending for 2014 from $19.9 billion to $20.2 billion.  Now that the amended budget has passed the House, it will repeat the same process in the State Senate.  Both chambers must completely agree on any piece of legislation before it can be sent to Governor’s desk to be signed into law.