Georgia's General Assembly: Masters of Procrastination

Georgia taxpayers pay around $75 million every year to operate the General Assembly, and this year, taxpayers paid another roughly $300,000 on a special session. At some point the people are asking: What exactly are Georgians paying for?

At this year’s Georgia General Assembly, the politicians have shown that they’ve mastered the art of procrastination. The politicians have mastered the art to the point that it has become a spectacular exercise in showmanship and political theater. Through the past several years the elected state politicians have become experts at kicking the can down the road.

The Movement to Elsewhere

In the past decades, something serious happened to the Georgia General Assembly as it has slowly began reflecting more of Washington D.C. than Georgia. Over time, the politicians have become something else entirely and are operating the government accordingly.

There was a time when the General Assembly had earned respect and had a reputation for confronting problems instead of managing them. Not too long ago, legislators understood that leadership meant doing things right. The difficult issues were expected to be debated, refined, and resolved, not preserved for another legislative session. Lawmakers acted as elected officials and statesmen, instead of just politicians, responding with urgency when the people demanded action.

However, that governing culture seems to have been replaced by today’s political nonsense. Somewhere along the way, kicking the can down the road became a spectacular art form, and the activity never seemed to stop.

The Politics of Property Taxes

Nothing illustrates the politicians’ spectacular art of kicking the can down the road better than property taxes. For years, Georgians have demanded meaningful property tax reform, and have loudly been voicing their disgust, packing meetings, flooding legislators with letters and emails, and demanding for the system itself to be fixed.

After an initial constitutional amendment effort failed, what followed was the nonsense of institutional politics instead of structural reform. What the people got was a tax swap through the gutted SB 33 bill that transformed marijuana legislation into the Local Homestead Option Sales Tax (LHOST) because of the failed constitutional amendment resolution and the continual feet dragging of the politicians that hijacked another bill after crossover.

The politicians proudly called all of this “Property Tax Relief” and celebrated it as a major accomplishment. Tax swaps are neither relief nor reform. Relief reduces the burden and reform fixes the problem. A tax swap just adds complexity without solving it.

Even after SB 33 passed, it had one major flaw. The local governments still needed legislative approval before a property special purpose tax referendum could appear on the ballot, but the regular General Assembly session adjourned before passing it. Essentially, this was more of the Big Government eclipsing local control from Atlanta.

Then, in grand fashion, the spectacular art of kicking the can down the road was on full display in the General Assembly special session. In the end, this Big Government overreach proved to collapse on itself as none of the local government referendums were passed.

So, again, the people get the shaft as the politicians didn’t fix anything.

Manufacturing an Elections Crisis

Another example of the spectacular art of kicking the can down the road is the politicians manufacturing their own election integrity and voting crisis. Back in 2024, the politicians voted to end QR codes on ballots by July 1, 2026, and it passed into law. However, the new law was never funded or given the necessary resources to be implemented.

Over the past two years, the Secretary of State’s office and other election officials repeatedly told General Assembly politicians that implementing the 2024 law and eliminating QR codes would require funding, resources, and preparation. While there is a huge debate over the actual cost and resources required to complete this, the bottom line remains in that after passing the law, the politicians did nothing.

The politicians were given multiple plans, told exactly what was needed to implement the new election law, including the funding and resources. Yet the politicians chose to do nothing and never made the appropriations. Instead of taking action, the politicians waited until the system was on the verge of breaking down, while largely shifting the blame to the Secretary of State’s office and other election officials.

Incredibly, some of the very politicians that either caused the issue or continued it were campaigning for re-election on fixing the very mess that happened on their watch. The politicians manufactured their own crisis and only acted when the crisis they had created was about to explode. However, the people should never have to pay the cost for something multiple times because the politicians either cannot, or refused, to do the job right the first time.

A Legislative Shell Game

A shell game keeps people’s attention focused on movement instead of what’s under the shells. The shells move, the hands move, and the audience becomes distracted by the activity that they lose sight of what truly matters. Today, the politicians have made the legislative process become mastered the political version of that same shell game.

The legislative shell game begins long before a bill reaches the Governor’s desk. It begins when leadership gives way to legislative nonsense. Instead of passing legislation on its merits, politicians use procedural tactics to keep failed bills alive. Politicians who look busy but do nothing are masters of impression management.

The property tax legislation, elections legislation, or most any other legislation these demonstrate the same pattern of nonsense. This legislative shell game shifts attention and accountability by turning failed bills into zombie legislation through gut-and-replace tactics. Yet, legislative activity is not always legislative achievement.

The Illusion of Progress

While the politicians are busy with fundraising, blue ribbon committees, and press conferences, another legislative session arrives and is gone. As politicians point to all the movement as evidence of progress. or blame the latest bogeyman, the problems still exist and nothing was really done to fix anything.

Ultimately, the illusion of progress becomes the product being sold. Meaningful reform keeps getting postponed, problems never get solved, and nothing truly gets fixed. As the politicians kick the can down the road for another day, another session, or another election.

The people are tired of the nonsense and don’t see all of this political gamesmanship as a success like the politicians do. The people are measuring success by results and are not impressed by procrastination or political theater. The people of Georgia are tired of paying for politicians to kick the can down the road.

Through all of this, the people are the ones who get the shaft and keep getting kicked to the curb. The illusion of progress has been exposed, and the truth is clear: We the People are tired of the nonsense.

“

This year, your lawmakers have been fighting the good fight and it looks like before the end of the day on Friday cornbread will finally be the official bread of Georgia. I’ve lost sleep over that one.

— B.T. Clark

Buy the Book on Amazon →

JJ Lewis

thejjvision@gmail.com

JJ Lewis is a constitutional conservative and independent consultant who works with businesses, nonprofits, political organizations, candidates, government agencies, and education institutions on strategy, operations, and leadership. A graduate of Tennessee Temple University, he lives in Rossville, Georgia, with his wife and family.