Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Committee Rules Quorum topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
State Planning & Community Affairs committee keeps five-member quorum after bid to raise it to nine fails
Summary
The Georgia House State Planning & Community Affairs committee adopted its rules and maintained a five-member quorum after Representative Derek Jacksons proposal to raise the quorum to nine failed in a voice/hand count; the panel cited scheduling conflicts as a reason to preserve a lower threshold.
The Georgia House State Planning & Community Affairs committee on Tuesday adopted its committee rules and declined a separate proposal to raise the quorum from five members to nine.
Representative Derek Jackson moved to increase the quorum to nine, saying the change "would give us a 50% composition when you have a body of 18," but the motion failed after a voice/hand count by Chair Karen Matheak that found more members opposed than in favor.
The committee then moved to adopt the rules as presented. Representative Robert Flournoy moved to adopt the rules and the motion was seconded; the committee approved the rules by an 8-3 vote.
Vice Chair Patty Marie Stinson, who voted to retain the five-member quorum, explained her reasoning after the vote. "It's because I know as it gets deeper into this legislative session, there's gonna be many times that there's gonna be two or three meetings going on at the same time," Stinson said. She said lower quorum thresholds help committees start and do work when members are pulled to concurrent meetings.
Other members echoed scheduling concerns. Representative Beth Camp said many committees have opted for lower quorums—"more of a 25 to 30%"—to avoid repeatedly failing to convene when members have conflicting obligations. Chairman Trey Rhodes said similar juggling of concurrent committee meetings motivated leaders to set smaller quorum percentages.
Chair Karen Matheak read a brief summary of the committee's jurisdiction for new members, describing Planning & Community Affairs as the panel that typically handles legislation affecting local governments, including annexation and zoning procedures, election law bills, municipal incorporation and county boundary issues.
After members introduced themselves and their districts, Matheak adjourned the meeting.
The committee did not adopt a change to the quorum threshold; the committee rules as presented were adopted and will govern committee procedure until amended at a future meeting.
