Georgia lawmakers highlight priorities for upcoming session

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Lawmakers hope to tackle healthcare, inflation, and education in the upcoming legislative session.

Gov. Brian Kemp, Speaker-elect Jon Burns, Speaker Jan Jones, and Lt. Gov.-Elect Burt Jones spoke about the upcoming legislative session. They said economic relief from inflation is one of their top priorities.

“Hard-working Georgians have had to fight record high inflation, mostly because of bad policies coming out of Washington D.C.,” said Kemp.

Republican leadership is pushing for a homeowner tax relief bill. Kemp said his new plan could save the average homeowner $550 on their next property tax bill.

“With these applications, we agree that Georgians should keep as much of their hard-earned money as possible. It’s not our money it belongs first and foremost to the taxpayers of the state,” said Burns.

Minority leader James Beverly (D-Payne) is hoping that Kemp could amend his healthcare plan to extend Medicaid coverage to more Georgians.

“We have to do that Georgia cannot continue to be the number one state to do business and not have our citizens healthy,” said Beverly.

The 79 Democrats in the House are outnumbered by 101 Republicans. Lawmakers will have 90 days to work together to pass legislation. Beverly says the issue of education seems bipartisan; he’s calling for incentives for teachers and money for broadband expansion so kids in rural areas can use technology in schools

“Hopefully, our Republican colleagues will join me and the Democrats in an effort to retool those teachers, but also to make sure that our students get what they need for emerging markets that have surely come,” said Beverly.

Democrats plan to propose changes to Georgia election law. Beverly reports a discussion to change the threshold for a winner to 45 percent or opt for rank-choice voting. Beverly says there is too much money spent on local elections that could be used to help the community.

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