The 150th Georgia General Assembly. convened its first session on January 12, 2009, at the Georgia State Capitol. in Atlanta, Georgia. The 150th Georgia General Assembly succeeded the 149th and served as the precedent for the 151st General Assembly in 2011.
The 150th General Assembly adjourned its first session on April 3, 2009. The second session of the 150th General Assembly convened January 11, 2010.
Glenn Richardson (R) served as Speaker of the House from January 2009 through Jan. 1, 2010. Mark Burkhalter (R) served as Speaker pro tempore during the same period, and was acting Speaker when the House reconvened on Jan. 11, 2010, at which time the House elected David Ralston and Jan Jones.[1][2]
While no seat changed party control from the previous session, the beginning of the 150th Georgia General Assembly still saw five new state senators. Two of these new senators defeated the incumbent in the runoff for their parties' primaries. Two replaced incumbents who had run for other office. Another replaced a senator who had retired.
There have been three vacancies in the State Senate as of December 25, 2009. All three have been due to resignations. Two have since been filled, both by members of the same party as the former incumbent. Another vacancy is expected at some point during the term.
Resigned to run for Mayor of Atlanta. A special election was held on November 3, 2009. Because no candidate gained a majority of the vote, a runoff was held December 1, 2009.
Resigned after being confirmed as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. A special election is to be held January 5, 2010 with a runoff, if necessary on February 2, 2010.[3]
As of December 25, 2009, six state senators have announced that they will not be running for re-election in 2010. One senator, Dan Moody (56th) is retiring.[5] The other five are seeking higher office.
Proposed cuts in aid to counties, which reduce property taxes they must charge their residents. These were not cut, meaning that the state, rather than the counties, will have to cut over 400 million dollars from the fiscal 2010 (July 2009 to June 2010) budget.
A bill to permanently remove the mandatory 50/50 split on capitalexpenditures, so that MARTA can postpone these and maintain service (operational expenditures) during periods of low sales taxrevenue. The failure of the legislature to pass this means crippling cuts in MARTA service because it cannot access its reserve account, and the MARTA board has requested a special session to correct the situation. The Atlanta Regional Commission has suggested giving MARTA enough money from the U.S. stimulus act to get it to the 2010 legislative session with minimal cutbacks to the already-limited public transit system.
Elimination of sales taxes and annual ad valorem taxes on new cars, to be replaced by a car title transfer tax of 7%, including transfers between family members, and possibly to or from charities. This would also take a significant amount of money (the 2-4% local portion of the sales tax) away from local government. The 2000-dollar cap on the tax also would make it a regressive tax. This did not pass.
Requiring pickup truck and other truck drivers to wear their seat belts like other motorists have been for years. This failed again as in years past.
Addition of a 200-dollar fine for excessive speeding, over 85 miles per hour (137km/h) on expressways and over 75 miles per hour (121km/h) on smaller roads. The money will go to trauma care in the state's hospitals.
