Georgia House adopts order of business, clears local calendar and privileged resolutions

ATLANTA —5 Feb. 5, 2025 —6 The Georgia House of Representatives adopted a resolution establishing the order of business for the day, adopted a set of privileged resolutions by unanimous consent and passed a package of uncontested local bills after a recorded roll-call vote.

The House first adopted a resolution that established the order of business for the session'including unanimous consents, introductions and first and second readings. The chair asked if there was any objection; the chair "heard none" and the resolution was adopted, the transcript shows.

Later, the clerk read a list of privileged resolutions honoring individuals and organizations. The chair asked whether there was any objection to adopting the privileged resolutions; the chair again "heard none," and the resolutions were adopted by unanimous consent.

The House then took up the local calendar for third reading and passage. The clerk read a set of uncontested local bills (including House Bills 5, 6, 13, 32, 33, 39, 160, 174, 28, 29 and 103, among others) and instructed members that three of the bills on the local calendar related to homestead exemptions and therefore required a recorded two-thirds roll-call vote. After the machines were unlocked and members voted, the clerk announced, "The yeas were a 60. The nays were 1," and said the bills "having received the requisite constitutional majority are therefore passed," per the transcript.

The House completed its business and, on the motion of the majority leader, voted to adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. The motion carried by voice vote; the chair announced the ayes had it.

Votes at a glance

- Resolution establishing the order of business for the day: adopted by unanimous consent (no objection recorded). Method: voice/consent. Referenced in the transcript when the clerk read the resolution establishing the day's order of business.

- Privileged resolutions (multiple, enumerated by the clerk): adopted by unanimous consent (no objection recorded). Method: voice/consent. The clerk read a list of resolutions honoring individuals and organizations; the chair adopted them without objection.

- Local calendar (third reading and passage of uncontested local bills, including homestead exemptions): passed by recorded vote. The clerk announced, "The yeas were a 60. The nays were 1." The clerk then declared the bills had received the requisite constitutional majority and were passed. The clerk had earlier rung the bell and unlocked the voting machines to permit the recorded roll-call.

- Adjournment motion (majority leader): approved by voice vote; the chair announced the ayes had it.

Context and procedure

The actions recorded on Feb. 5 were procedural but binding: adopting the order of business set which items the House would consider that day; the privileged resolutions formally recognized individuals and groups; and the local calendar vote enacted a set of local bills on third reading. The clerk, the presiding officer (referred to in the transcript as the chair or madam speaker) and committee chairs handled the readings and procedural confirmations.

The transcript notes that three local bills were homestead exemptions and required a recorded two-thirds roll call. The clerk rang the bell and unlocked the machines before members cast their votes, as required for a recorded local-calendar vote.

Details omitted or not specified

The transcript lists many first- and second-reading bills by bill number and short captions but does not record debate on those bills during this session. Individual recorded votes by roll-call name (which member voted which way) are not printed in the transcript excerpt; the clerk's announced tally is quoted above. Where exact numeric tallies or individual vote records were not provided in the excerpt, the article notes that those details were not specified in the transcript.