Governor Nathan Deal has issued the formal call for the Special Session on Reapportionment.  The Special Session will begin on Monday, August 15.  He has included two additional issues besides reapportionment for consideration during the Special Session:  1) changing the T-SPLOST election date from the July primary to the general election date of November 8, 2012 and 2) extending the suspension of Georgia’s gas tax which took place on July 1.

 

Press Release:  Deal Issues Call for 2011 Special Session

 

Governor's Proclamation

 

Local legislation may also be considered during the Special Session, but it is limited to what the General Assembly "deems necessary to avoid unreasonable hardship, or to avoid undue impairment of public functions if consideration or enactment thereof is postponed." 

 

 

Local Government Redistricting Legislation Information

 

ACCG has confirmed that the General Assembly will consider local redistricting legislation and developed the following information for counties:

 

Information for Counties Seeking Local Redistricting Legislation

 

The Office of Legislative Counsel for the General Assembly has provided ACCG with a questionnaire that they require all sponsors of local redistricting legislation to answer before they will draft the accompanying bill. Ensuring that your bill sponsor has the answers to all the applicable questions provided prior to their meeting with legislative counsel  should help to expedite the bill drafting process. Although you are not required to complete this questionnaire, legislative counsel will be asking the bill sponsor for this information so they will need to know the answers. Regardless as to whether your bill sponsor will be introducing redistricting legislation during the special session or during the 2012 regular session for your county, having the answers to these questions ahead of time will assist all parties in this process. If your county has already had their redistricting bill prepared by legislative counsel, there is no need to ensure that your bill sponsor has the answers to these questions because this phase of the process has already been completed.

 

Office of Legislative Council Questionnaire

 

 

Other Local Legislation

 

ACCG encourages counties that may have other local legislation that they want to have considered to contact their local delegation as soon as possible to determine if their proposed legislation meets the established guidelines.  

 

 

Reapportionment Maps

 

The Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office also released the reappointment maps on Friday, August 15.

 

Reapportionment Maps (8/12/2011)

 

 

 

Other Special Session Information

 

Several legislative committees have also scheduled meetings during the Special Session.  ACCG will track the Special Session and any other meetings and provide additional information as it becomes available.