ATLANTA – The General Assembly gaveled into session Monday with the usual pageantry and little of the heavy lifting that will be required to make it through the 40-day session.
House lawmakers voted 153-21 to reelect Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, to preside over the chamber during the next two years.
“I like doing that!” Burns said as he brought the gavel down to open the 2025 legislative session. “Let’s get to work.”
Burns vowed to support “strong, common-sense policy” in keeping with the Republican-controlled House’s track record of tax cuts, cracking down on illegal immigration, and investing in critical infrastructure.
Over in the Senate, John Kennedy, R-Macon, was reelected president pro tempore by unanimous consent of his Senate colleagues. Rep. Jan Jones, R-Milton, won another term as House speaker pro tempore by a vote of 158-19.
Eighteen of the 180 House members took the oath of office for the first time, while four newly minted Senate freshmen were sworn in on the Senate side of the Capitol.
At the opposite end of the time-served spectrum, Sen. David Lucas, D-Macon, began his 50th legislative session under the Gold Dome.
“It’s been a good 50 years,” said Lucas, who was elected to the Georgia House in 1974 and moved over to the Senate in 2012. “I never thought I’d be here that long.”
Monday kicked off a busy week for the General Assembly. Lawmakers will hear Gov. Brian Kemp outline his priorities for the session Tuesday morning at the annual Eggs and Issues breakfast sponsored by the Georgian Chamber of Commerce. Then on Thursday, the governor will deliver his annual State of the State message to a joint session of the House and Senate.
The legislature also set the full 40-day schedule for the session on Monday, voting to adjourn for the year on Friday, April 4. Crossover Day, the deadline for bills to pass either the House or Senate to remain alive for the session, will take place on Thursday, March 6.