Thursday, January 4, 2024–11:03 a.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
Apart from the acceleration of a decrease in the state’s income tax rates, Georgia lawmakers are expected to tackle several other big issues when the legislative session gets underway.
According to State Representative Katie Dempsey, a House work group has been studying early childhood education.
“There have been some great discussions about how to expand Pre-K opportunities and also to build on legislation that we passed last year, and was signed into law, to work on literacy to children,” she said. “There was a move to not teach phonics across the nation. Georgia is going back to teaching phonics.”
There could also be legislation dealing with public safety.
“We had a House working group on public safety to recruit and retain law enforcement officers across the state,” Dempsey said. “This is a challenge—all areas of the workforce are a challenge, but particularly when it comes to making sure our citizens are safe and communities are prepared. Some of that involves competitive salaries and benefit packages. The goal is to get our state patrol numbers up to 1,000.”
Dempsey added that another big issue will be the budget, as it is every year.
She also believes housing will be pivotal during the upcoming session.