Election Results
In an election for the history books, Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton to become the 45th President of the United States. Trump needed an almost perfect run through the swing states, and he got it, winning Ohio, North Carolina and Florida. Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in Georgia 51.22% to 45.73%. Libertarian Gary Johnson had 3.05% of the votes.
U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson locked up a third term in the Senate Tuesday without being pushed to a runoff against Democrat Jim Barksdale by earning 55 percent of the vote. Georgia’s congressmen all won reelection. The only open seat was in the 3rd Congressional District, where Rep. Lynn Westmoreland did not seek re-election. Republican Drew Ferguson defeated Democrat Angela Pendley with nearly 68 percent of the vote.
Only one statewide elective office was on the ballot this year. Republican Tim Echols easily won a second six-year term on the Georgia Public Service Commission, amassing nearly 67 percent of the vote in defeating Libertarian challengerEric Hoskins.
The Georgia Legislature saw many tightly contested races as Democrats regained a state Senate seat they as former legislator Tonya Anderson defeated Sen. JaNice VanNess (R-Conyers) to win Senate District 43. Republican Ricky Williams won a House seat in Middle Georgia that had been held by Rep. Rusty Kidd of Milledgeville, the only independent member of the General Assembly, who did not seek re-election. Rep. Mike Cheokas (R-Americus) was narrowly defeated by Democrat Bill McGowan to lose a House seat he had held for 12 years. Republican attorney Meagan Hanson took back a House seat won by Democrats last year, defeating Rep. Taylor Bennett (D-Brookhaven) by 248 votes. Rep. Brian Strickland (R-McDonough) held off his Democratic opponent, Darryl Payton, by a margin of 950 votes.
In Gwinnett County, Democrat Sam Park, defeated incumbent Rep. Valerie Clark (R-Lawrenceville) by 445 votes. Rep. Joyce Chandler (R-Grayson) held on to defeat challenger Donna McLeod by 232 votes.
New to the GSU Delegation
David Dreyer (D-Atlanta), will represent House District 59 in Fulton County, replacing
Rep. Margaret Kaiser who did not seek re-election. David received his B.A. in religious studies from GSU in 2001. He is currently an attorney.
Rhonda Burnough (D-Riverdale), will represent House District 77 in Clayton County. Rhonda defeated incumbent Daryl Jordan in the Primary Election. She received her Gifted Certification from GSU in 1997 and her Instructional Supervision Add On in 2000. Rhonda is a teacher in the Clayton County School System.
Brenda Lopez (D-Norcross), will represent House District 99 in Gwinnett County, replacing Rep. Hugh Floyd who did not seek re-election. Brenda received her B.A. in Political Science and Sociolgy from GSU in 2005. She is the Principal Attorney at The Lopez Firm, LLC.
GSU Faculty Addresses Study Committee
Over the interim many House and Senate Study Committees have been meeting and will report their recommendations back to the General Assembly.
Dr. Richard Wright, Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology and Dr. Volkan Topalli, a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology addressed the Joint Study Committee on Industry Incentives for Financial Technologies and the Payment Processing Industry. The committee was formed to study the new forms of financial technology to protect consumers and citizens in Georgia and maintain its leadership in this industry.
Georgia ranked No. 1 state for business
Governor Deal announced last week that Georgia has been named the No. 1 state in the nation in which to do business for the fourth consecutive year by Site Selection magazine, a leading economic development trade publication.
Constitutional Amendments
Statewide, there were four proposed constitutional amendments.
Opportunity School District – The Opportunity School District amendment would create a mechanism to remove failing schools from their geographic school districts and put them under the leadership of the state. This new district would oversee schools that failed to meet specific, measurable goals for at least three consecutive years. FAILED
Safe Harbor Amendment – The Safe Harbor amendment would approve the creation of the Safe Harbor for the Sexually Exploited Children Fund. It allows for a dedicated revenue source to provide restorative services to child victims of sex trafficking. The amendment further allows for assessments on adult entertainment establishments. PASSED
Judicial Qualifications Commission – This amendment would abolish the existing Judicial Qualifications Commission to be replaced with a new 7-member Judicial Qualifications Commission. The newly formed commission would have the power to discipline, remove and force judges to retire based upon their investigations into alleged misconduct. PASSED
Fireworks Proceeds for Trauma Care – This amendment would allow the proceeds of excise taxes on the sale of fireworks be dedicated to the funding of trauma care, firefighter equipping and training, and local public safety purposes. PASSED
October Revenues Increase
Revenue collections for the month of October totaled $1.77 billion, an increase $140.2 million or 8.6 percent compared to the revenue collected in October 2015. Year-to-date, net tax revenue collections totaled $7.08 billion for an increase of $323.2 million, or 4.8 percent compared to the same point last year.
============================================================
Helpful Links
Information on legislative activities including bills and resolutions as well as webcast of daily sessions in both Chambers and committee meeting are available via the General Assembly website at ** www.legis.ga.gov (http://www.legis.ga.gov)
Legislative Reminder
The 2017 session of the Georgia General Assembly comes to order on Monday, January 9, at 10:00 am. The upcoming 40-day session marks the first year of the biennium and is expected to last until late March or early April.
Government Affairs Team
Tom Lewis, Senior Advisor to the President
Julie Kerlin, Director of Government & Community Affairs
Jason Thomas, Assistant Director of Government & Community Affairs
Debbie Jones, Associate to the Director